Barefoot on the Beach is the Best Way to Walk: MD Podiatrist
It’s not a matter of opinion any longer, and it’s certainly not some fringe conclusion based on “back to nature” theorists: bare feet are healthy feet. Most people already know that pointy shoes, high-heeled shoes, and ill-fitting shoes are bad for their feet, but research now conclusively proves that all shoes have the potential to negatively affect both their feet and the way in which they walk. Daniel Michaels, DPM is unsurprised. He has always maintained that walking barefoot on the beach is the best way to go. Now, there’s a peer-reviewed study to prove the point.
A study was published in the podiatry journal The Foot that shows evidence that the emergence of “˜forefoot pathology’ as a common problem is a relatively modern development that can be linked to walking on unnatural substrates and the wearing of shoes. The researchers compared groups of people with a tribal lifestyle who were less likely to spend a lot of time wearing shoes, to habitual shoe-wearers and, as a clincher, the foot bones of 2,000 year old skeletons of people who certainly never wore a shoe or trod on tarmac throughout their lives. The latter group appeared to have the healthiest feet while the habitual shoe-wearers had the least healthy feet. A lead researcher commented that podiatric associations should more actively encourage barefoot walking, at least among folks with healthy feet.