Barefoot Lifestyle - Free your Feet!

We are taught to believe that shoes are good for us. Nobody will dispute the fact that high heels might not be all that healthy, but when it comes to sports shoes, it's almost unimaginable that they are less healthy than going barefoot. After all, with all the cushions and design, how can it be?

(Image by dhammza)

A 1991 article in a publication titled Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise states:

"Modern athletic footwear provides remarkable plantar comfort when walking, running, or jumping. However, when injurious plantar loads elicit negligible perceived plantar discomfort, a perceptual illusion is created whereby perceived impact is lower than actual impact, which results in inadequate impact-moderating behavior and consequent injury."
- Steven E. Robbins and Gerard J. Gouw: "Athletic footwear: unsafe due to perceptual illusions"

The same article points out that users of more expensive and extensive shoes get injured significantly more frequently than people using shoes less than $40.

Podiatrist Dr. Wickler wrote a book about going barefoot and its health benefits. The above image is taken from there. In the same chapter, Dr. Wickler states:

"[I have] examined thousands of children's and adults' feet, both in the United States and in foreign countries, determined to learn to what extent shoes can disable naturally healthy feet. I have conducted numerous tests in accredited hospitals and published my observations in widely distributed medical journals, presenting my views for the scrutiny and criticism of other doctors. There is now no question in my mind but that THE MAJOR CAUSE OF FOOT TROUBLE IS THE TYPE OF SHOES WE WEAR.

There is nothing astonishing about this theory. What is astonishing however, is that while the cause of foot trouble is so evident a child could understand it, few persons know about it. Most people continue to acquire permanently and unnecessarily deformed feet simply because of the evolution of a fashion which started a hundred years ago."

- Dr. Wickler: "How Shoes Cripple Our Feet", 1961

Research in 1949 in India even pointed out that rickshaw pullers who run barefoot on tough surfaces for many hours per day have feet "more perfect than others".

Image by Nir Nussbaum.

Flatfoot, a medical condition in which the arch of the foot collapses, is relatively common with children in the West, yet rare in India. Other research pointed out that "the best lateral stability can be observed in the barefoot condition".

All in all, there is quite some scientific evidence that proves going barefoot is actually better for your feet than wearing (the wrong type of) shoes. The following quote really says it best:

"A recent study demonstrates that the skin on the soles of your feet resists abrasions and blistering and that going barefoot is beneficial to the musculoskeletal structure of your feet and ankles. ... Kicking off your shoes can help prevent a host of foot injuries: bunions, heel spurs, and bone deformities, among others. "Shoes act like casts, holding the bones of the foot so rigid that they can't move fluidly," [Steven] Robbins [MD and adjunct associate professor of mechanical engineering at Concordia University, Montreal] explains. "The foot becomes passive from wearing shoes and loses the ability to support itself.""

- Cheryl Sacra in Women's Sports & Fitness, August 1994

So kick off those shoes and go outside!! :-)

Image by adwriter.

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Barefoot lifestyle is not only healthy for every day activities, but even for fitness purposes like running. This section talks about the health benefits of barefoot running and how to go about it.

(Image by mikebaird)

For most of us, the story is as follows. One day, we decided we wanted to take up running, so we went to the shop and looked at all the models of shoes they had. Such wide choice, such careful design, such great support for the feet. It turns out though that you don't need this support and that actually, this support does more bad than it does good. Why? Because this cushion gives the illusion that shocks are reduced, causing us to land in shock-heavy ways. The fact that we don't feel this shock go through our heels, up our legs, via our knees, straight to our hips, doesn't mean that there's no negative impact.

Image by Eliya.

There's a book called "Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen" which is, in part, about athletes that run ultramarathons, which are 40 miles instead of 40 kilometers. One of these athletes joins a tribe of Native Americans in Mexico who are known for their long-distance running abilities.

"Isolated by the most savage terrain in North America, the reclusive Tarahumara Indians of Mexico's deadly Copper Canyons are custodians of a lost art. For centuries they have practiced techniques that allow them to run hundreds of miles without rest and chase down anything from a deer to an Olympic marathoner while enjoying every mile of it. Their superhuman talent is matched by uncanny health and serenity, leaving the Tarahumara immune to the diseases and strife that plague modern existence."

Read the rest of the amazing description and interview with the author of the book here: http://bit.ly/mc3fy.

Wall Street Journal, 06-06-2006.

An article, published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise over 20 years ago, states:

"A paradox in presented of lower extremity fragility associated with the wearing of protective footwear and relative resistance to injury in the barefoot or unprotected state. To explain this paradox, the authors hypothesized that there exist adaptations associated with barefoot activity that provide impact absorption and protection against running-related injuries. An adaptation involving foot arch deflection on loading is hypothesized to be an important adaptation providing impact absorption. In contrast, it is hypothesized that the known rigidity of the shod foot may explain the reported high injury frequency in North American runners.

- Steven E. Robbins and Adel M. Hanna: "Running-related injury prevention through barefoot adaptations", 1987

After all, we have these feet for a reason, so we might as well use them.

Before you start running barefoot however, consider consulting a doctor. Especially people with diabetes should be careful as potential foot wounds could lead to complications.

Alternatively, you can get shoes like the Vibram Five Fingers, VivoBarefoot, or Nike Free, which are all shoes that attempt to mimic the sensation of barefoot running while offering certain degrees of protection.

Image by ashe-villan.