Feet Like a Hunter-Gatherer

When I was a teenager I had the belief that my feet were flat, and that was due to some bad genetics. The only way to change my flat, defective feet was to wear orthotics. I had this belief until the second year of chiropractic school, when one day I took the orthotics out of my shoes and never wore them again. I didn't know at the time why I did it. I just knew it was the right thing. It made sense that some people might have flatter feet than others. 

One critical thing I noticed at the time I took my orthotics out of my shoes was how weak my feet felt. My feet felt weak and sore. Not a plantar fasciitis sore, but a muscle sore. My feet muscles were sore. Now this was interesting to me. After years of wearing orthotics in my shoes I thought my feet should be perfect. Why were they sore? 

My feet were sore because the muscles were getting a workout. The muscles in my feet were starting to shape and strengthen properly. My feet were becoming what they were supposed to be. Strong, powerful, sturdy supports for my body. After I started attending Applied Kinesiology seminars the reasons why I took the orthotics out began to make sense. Every single body is different. Every single body functions at a different optimal. Every single body has a different movement pattern. Every single foot is different, and who are we to try and make every foot have the 'optimal' arch? Then, I started thinking, 'What does this do to the neurology?' Changing someone's foot has to mess with the neurology. It changes the way people feel the ground. This cannot be good.

Last week while doing research on the Hunter-Gatherer lifestyle I read some articles on shoes and running that supported the original epiphany I had in the second year of chiropractic school. Certain shoes, usually the more expensive ones, tend to splint the foot, cast the foot in the shoe which ultimately causes atrophy of the musculature, shortening of the tendons, weakening of the foot and lower leg muscles, stiffening of the ligaments, etc. This is exactly what I felt in my feet once I took the orthotics out. (One other thing I left out from above was I also started wearing barefoot type shoes, like the Nike FreeRun.) Now what is the consequences of having weak muscles in the foot and lower leg? Injuries such as plantar fasciitis, ankle sprain, Achilles tendonitis, hamstring tears, and low back pain. These injuries are so prevalent in today's world. I can't think of a single person who hasn't had at least one of those injuries. So, with all the advancement in shoe technology we are making our feet weaker, and ultimately, our entire structure from the ground up weaker.

The journal Ergonomics has an article which specifically addresses this issue. The article states that although barefoot running may not be advantageous for all in today's world, a barefoot simulated shoe will greatly improve orthopedic health in the long term. So, moving back to a simpler shoe may be better for orthopedic health than the expensive alternatives. This is great news, and exciting to see that now we are using technology to better orthopedic health. There is a huge barefoot movement going on right now, and many different shoe companies have great barefoot simulated shoes. I would recommend everyone start wearing barefoot simulated shoes some of the time, walk barefoot in the grass whenever possible, take a walk in the woods because we know a nature scene calms us down more than an urban environment, and finally live like our ancestors. By that I mean eat real food, exercise, early to bed, early to rise, and most importantly LOVE.

When strengthening the foot, it might be a good idea to see a chiropractor, one who specifically uses kinesiology to balance the neurology. As the foot changes and becomes stronger, good structural care will be pivotal. Think of a broken arm. Once the cast comes off you go to physical therapy to help with proper healing and strengthening. Once you unleash your foot from the years of casting, it will take a chiropractic kinesiologist to properly align and aid in the strengthening process.

Live like your ancestors, but do it in a smart way. Use technology to better your life, as with the new lines of barefoot simulated shoes. Try them out!

-Dr. Kurt

References:

Lieberman DE, Venkadesan M, Werbel WA, et al: Foot strike patterns and collision forces in habitually barefoot versus shod runners. Nature 2010;463:531-535. PMID: 20111000

Digby CJ, Lake MJ, Lees A: High-speed non-invasive measurement of tibial rotation during the impact phase of running. Ergonomics 2005;48:1623-1637 PMID: 16338728

Berman MG, Jonides J, Kaplan S: The cognitive benefits of interacting with nature. Psychol Sci 2008;19:1207-1212. PMID: 19121124

 

You can't fight feelings with logic

A couple weekends ago and throughout my professional life so far this is something I have learned to embrace. Sometimes logic tells us to do one thing, but our feelings (our gut) tells us another. Recently, I have given this advice to a number of different people, all experiencing different problems. It seems to make sense and ease the decision making. 

As a kinesiologist, I see people everyday that are ignoring feelings, and quite possibly ignoring all logic as well. As we begin to ignore feelings we start to lose touch with ourselves, our body, our mind, our spirituality. Once we start ignoring this innate sense of feeling, our body becomes detached from our soul. Is this one of the reasons for disease? Are we as a society detached from feeling?

The answer is a daunting YES. We as Americans, are very detached from feeling. Look at the progression of TV throughout the last couple decades. We have lost the ability to feel and now think it is pleasurable to not feel. One major way we have stopped feeling is our lifestyle. We live for pleasure, but don't find it pleasurable to live. We treat our bodies in ways that would make our Hunter-Gatherer counterparts cringe, and probably make fun of us, if not destroy us for being inferior. We take drugs without questioning the consequence, eat processed foods genetically engineered to be addictive, we pollute the Earth without question, give birth control to young teens knowing it increases their risk of cancer later on in life. What is the logic behind this? 

Is it logical to FEEL like crap? Is it logical to live in pain and not try to correct the problem? Is is logical to take pain blocking medication and not change the reasons for pain? It is time to change this epidemic of unfeeling. It is time to use logic to feel properly. Time to logically feel. Treat your body like a temple. As Dr. Bob Rakowski to eloquently states, and I personally think embraces the concept of using logic to feel:

EAT RIGHT

DRINK RIGHT

THINK RIGHT

MOVE RIGHT

SLEEP RIGHT 

POOP RIGHT 

TALK RIGHT

And probably the most important one of all is LOVE RIGHT.

Love is a feeling. Love doesn't know logic. 

-Dr. Kurt

Innocence 

Last night I went on a walk around midnight. It was cool outside and very pleasant. The air smelled nice, the sounds were that of night. The occasional car drove by, the other night owls were out walking around, and high school kids scurrying through the alleys, just happy to be out and away from the house. It was these very high school kids running around, 3 girls, 2 boys, that got me thinking. They seemed to all have this innocence which was priceless. 

As I walked past them I saw the boys and girls all at arm distance from each other. There was awkward laughing and giggling. The girls talking to the girls, and the boys talking to each other. Innocence was still a virtue. These young teenagers weren't out experimenting with any number of things, they were simply enjoying company. The boys thinking, wow we are hanging out with girls, and the girls thinking wow these boys are so cute. Pure innocence.

Now onto another note about innocence. Doesn't the world seem so much nicer before we know more about it? Why does the pursuit of knowledge lead to loss of innocence? For example, think of food. When we are kids we know good food and we know bad food. The difference is good food is the food mom makes for dinner, and bad is food is that food from the local gas station. Now as we get older and more knowledgeable we start looking at food differently, yet again. We see processed food and real food. Some of us even move a step further and see organic food, quality free-range meats, eggs, etc. from conventional food. It is this step where we begin to loose even more innocence. We start seeing the evils of the conventional food industry. 87% of all antibiotics are not used in the treatment of humans, but the treatment of animals in feed lots. Pesticides, which cause cancer, sickness, and death are sprayed on our food, and that food is marketed as healthy. Chemical companies own life and genetically modify it and claim it makes us healthier and is better for the planet. Studies out of Europe have confirmed the exact opposite. GMOs shut down 2 primary detox organs, the liver and kidneys. The question then remains what kind of health are they helping? The answer is this so called 'healthcare' industry. Who makes money from this 'innocence' of the American public on the issue of food?

This is just one case of innocence in American society. I like the word innocence because once people become educated about what is really going on it is a loss of innocence. It is something you will never get back. It is like your first kiss, your first girlfriend, your first sexual encounter, etc. You can be naive over and over again, but you can only loose innocence once before a new baseline is established. The new baseline is then set at your new level of innocence.

Now back to the innocent teenagers in the night. It was pleasant seeing such a wealth of innocence walk by me, but they too will someday become less innocent. Let's hope this loss of innocence will lead to a better, healthier life. For all of you reading this, let your loss of innocence in life be for the better. Loose your innocence with knowledge. Become smarter and spread that knowledge.

-Dr. Kurt