PQTD #124 Barefootin'

I know- this seems like a small, inconsequential thing- going barefoot??  What is the big deal with that?

Well, like most things Paleo or ancestral, the big deal is that we just stopped doing basic things!  And have for a long time!

Most non-Paleo folks never, ever make bone broth- taking bones to slow cook in water to make broth, and extract all the nutrients… (and incidentally collagen, and everything else that we haven’t even identified yet that heals our leaky guts, gives us vital, focused nutrition, and, incidentally, doesn’t waste food!)  Bone broth also helps with digestion, helps our skin, hair and nails, and helps to prevent osteoarthritis, among other benefits. 

The point here is that making bone broth used to be just “common sense”.  As was going barefoot- just common sense! Now, if you don’t know it, most podiatrists, or “foot doctors”, recommend never going barefoot.  They say it is damaging, and will lead to foot pain- we need that elevated heel, and ample cushioning, or our feet will fall apart in pain!

B.S.  Our bodies have functioned very well indeed for millennia before foot doctors tread the earth in their Birkenstocks, and our feet are highly evolved “tension bridges” of elaborate tendons, bones and ligaments that are very sophisticated, and can adapt very well to what our bodies need on their own.  They didn’t evolve to need, or want shoes!

Strangely enough, cushioned running shoes did not become available until the 1970’s!  This is when the “running boom” started; also the low-fat high carb and sugar diet was recommended. 

All of these are unmitigated DISASTERS, and have left us with people of my age (50’s and 60’s), with permanently damaged joints, from their feet to their hips and back, and a leaky gut from all the wheat and carbs and sugar they were encouraged to consume!

NOW, we all KNOW to eat a high fat, low carb, wheatless diet with minimal sugars and maximum nutrition, or nutrient density. 

But, have you learned to “walk like a man” and go barefoot?  Even just standing barefoot, on the earth or grass, gives you earthing benefits, which means you are grounded with the earth (as we were all throughout history), and it equalizes your electrical energy with the earth.  (You are finally GROUNDED to Mother Earth!) 

This is not a small thing.  Just by being periodically grounded, inflammation in your body is lowered dramatically, leading to vastly improved sleep, less or eliminated snoring, and relief of muscle tension and headache, among many other benefits. 

And so, just standing barefoot for brief periods is hugely beneficial.  What about walking and running?

I do virtually ALL of my running barefoot, as I do my walking, at least in the warmer months.  When you walk barefoot, or with minimalist footwear, the multi-faceted suspension bridge that is your foot, legs, knees, hips and back works in synergy, like a fine-tuned machine.

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