In one foot you have over 7,000 nerve endings, that means between both feet you have about 14,000 nerve endings. That’s a heck of a lot of tiny pin size points in one area to send your brain messages all day long. Today we’ll discuss why wearing the right kind of shoes if any shoes is important for foot health and overall health throughout the body.
Now, first and foremost the best footwear is no footwear at all. Yep, you read correctly being barefoot as often as possible and on many different surfaces as possible is going to be the very best! Walking barefoot on grass, gravel, rocks, hot surfaces and cold surfaces will help us strengthen our feet and allow for our foot/ toes to spread and splay out naturally as nature intended. Plus, with all those nerve endings sending thousands of messages to our brain with each step it’s like a foot massage everywhere you go.
Now, I know it’s not plausible to be barefoot all the time due to health laws and restrictions, or even harsh winters and desert hot summers. We don’t want to damage our feet from to harsh environments, so what can we wear to help our feet when we can’t be barefoot say at the gym, or shopping, or even walking around work. The answer is to find a comfortable minimalist shoe or a barefoot shoe.
Barefoot/Minimalist shoes are shoes designed with your feet in mind.
Here our the key points to look for-
- Wide toe box to let tour toes spread.
- Zero Heel lift or toe lift, the shoe is flat so you walk with your natural gate.
- Very pliable, the shoe is made to move and bend just like your foot.
- Minimal cushion, you want to be able to feel the ground you are walking, running, jumping or standing on.
These are some of the key factors to look at when looking at minimalist shoes. I linked below two of my favorite Barefoot Shoe companies that I personally wear everyday for every occasion!
I hope to see all you walking barefoot! Get out and enjoy the earth as nature intended, with naked feet!