"As has been done with smoking in the past few decades, we can change unhealthy but normal community behaviours to healthy ones via education and those willing to lead by example."
–Daniel Howell, PhD
Can you guess what behaviour the author is referring to? While too much sugar, sedentary behaviour, and not enough sleep would have all been good guesses, it is none of the above: the answer is wearing shoes. That's right. Wearing shoes! Many of us have been shoddies (a person who typically wears shoes) for most of our lives. Aside from things like cold weather and working on a construction site, the reasons for this are primarily cultural; we respect our bosses and want to represent our companies well; we've been taught from childhood to wear shoes nearly every place we go, from school to the park to the farmer's market; shoes are fashionable; we don't want to break a cultural code-of-conduct by going out in public barefoot. But is wearing shoes healthy? To imply that wearing shoes is anything but protective of the foot is rather a countercultural claim to make, but Daniel Howell, PhD does just that. The Barefoot Book is not only compellingly well-researched, but adopts an informed, practicable, and richly evidence-based approach to the question. One of the most revealing parts of Howell's book (for me) was a side-by-side comparison of a human foot that had never been in a shoe and a foot that had been typically shod; when seen in comparison, it was clear that the shod foot was deformed. The verdict? That the wearing of shoes can literally amount to a form of body modification (think earlobe spacers and neck-lengthening rings). What may look like a 'normal' foot to many Westerners is a modified rather than a natural human foot.
The never-shod foot (on the left) has toes that are neatly fanned out and widely spaced whereas the typically shod foot (on the right) has toes that are scrunched together and a big toe that inclines inward (this is due to the narrowing caused by the toe-box of the shoe). And the damage doesn't stop at the foot. Because of the way shoes alter the natural gait and stance of the wearer, along with the added weight of the shoe (that can astoundingly accumulate to a weight measurable in tons over the course of a single day) there are also negative effects to the knees, Achilles tendon, calf muscle, and spine associated with excessive shoe-wearing. Furthermore, Howell posits, it's not just "bare feet" that are positive for human health, but bare feet in motion. So often, our (limited) barefoot activities are sedentary (reading, sleeping, or watching television), but walking, running, and experiencing different textures underfoot are important biomechanically and metabolically; "Walking without shoes is crucial for healthy feet," says Howell. Of particular consequence is the issue of shoes and children:
"A child's foot takes years to fully develop, and normal development cannot occur when the foot is constantly enclosed within a shoe."
–Daniel Howell, PhD
A main point of the book, I would say, is to acknowledge that while there is some natural risk to living a barefooted life (you might step on something sharp!), wearing shoes can present a greater long-term risk to foot health and beyond, including its association with athlete's foot and other fungal infections, Morton's neuroma, ingrown toenails, blisters, lower-back pain, hallux valgus, and knee arthritis (just to name a few). That awful odour that we often recognize as "smelly feet"? It's caused by the undesirably accommodating environment within enclosed shoes; "The dark, warm, moist conditions in a sock and shoe provide a magnificent environment for many bacteria and fungi to thrive" (Daniel Howell, PhD). On the flip side, these organisms don't easily proliferate in the open air, and there is evidence that exposure to the soil bacterium Mycobacterium vaccae via direct contact with the earth beneath our bare feet can increase serotonin levels and actually boost our moods biochemically. Howell also notes that barefoot walkers are naturally more perceptive of their surroundings–they walk differently, look differently, and feel the world around them differently. Walking in shoes has simply taught us to walk carelessly.
"In 2010, the Guardian reported “a growing belief among experts that when it comes to children’s footwear, the best shoe may be no shoe at all.” Some podiatrists contend that walking barefoot develops foot muscles, ligaments, arch strength, and… can actually be safer than wearing shoes… One reason is that going barefoot improves proprioception – awareness of where we are in relation to the space around us. Barefoot walkers are more likely to look down, to take care where they step, [and] are less likely to fall… "
Richard Louv, Vitamin N
Whether it's a $500 stiletto or an athletic shoe marketed for its comfort and optimal performance, nothing beats a bare foot. 52 of the 206 odd bones in the human body are in the feet. Our feet are made for motion and flexibility–it's a beautiful design–but most shoes essentially immobilize the foot and rob it of its intrinsic facility, lengthen our stride, alter our gait, and add dead weight.
"Twenty out of the last twenty-two winners of the Boston Marathon have been Africans (not African-Americans), many of whom grew up and trained barefoot."
–Daniel Howell, PhD
One of my favourite scenes in the movie Cashback is when the protagonist, Ben, recalls being a little boy and watching Zola Budd run in the (real) 1984 Olympics. Ben narrates that this is the first time he has ever experienced having a crush on someone; "...it was the fact that Zola Budd defiantly ran barefoot that made her so attractive to me." It is one of those wonderful little scenes that you might find in a movie like Amélie (which I would describe, in part, as a gorgeous cinematic feast of such particularities) and all this talk of barefootedness naturally reminded me of it. Zola represented Great Britain in the 1984 Olympics and ran for her birthplace of South Africa in the 1992 Olympics. She broke the world record for the 5000-metre run in 1985, and it would have been the second time she'd done so in as many years, had her world-record-breaking performance in 1984 been ratified. Turns out, she didn't need the shoes. She just did it.
"I suppose hobbits need some description nowadays... [they] wear no shoes, because their feet grow natural leathery soles..."
–J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
While The Hobbit (and subsequent Tolkien books) may be the epitome of high fantasy, this bit is actually not far from biologically accurate when it comes to the human foot. In The Barefoot Book, Howell describes the scene in The Matrix when Neo first leaves the Matrix, opens his eyes, and finds that they hurt; "That's because you've never used them before," Morpheus informs him. Our feet are the same. Typically shod feet may at first be very sensitive when used for their natural purpose, but the more our bare feet are used, the more they develop that smooth, resilient quality that Tolkien describes in his hobbits.
Suffice to say, there are a lot of great reasons to kick off your shoes this summer. Even if you can't go barefoot all the time, which is likely the case for most (Howell describes "social pressure, cold weather, and jobs" as the three main hurdles) there are many minimalist options to explore. While nothing is as good as simply going barefoot, minimalist options like topless sandals, moccasins, and flip-flops are discussed in The Barefoot Book.
Here are some more great book suggestions if The Barefoot Book sounds like your speed:
The Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
Vitamin N by Richard Louv
A Country Called Childhood by Jay Griffiths
The Barefoot Hiker by Richard Frazine
Barefoot Walking by Michael Sandler
Barefoot and Balanced by Angela J. Hanscom
I also stumbled across a couple of articles that might be of interest:
Barefoot Hiking
Canadian Geographic
Harvard Evolutionary Biologist Daniel Lieberman Turns His Attention to Walking The Harvard Gazette
I thought that The Barefoot Book was a good read and was delighted to see the world revealed in such an interesting new way. As always, be inspired, be free, and be kind–even to yourself.
Victoria Murgante
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