Healthy Feet

As an “older” woman, I have begun to have some foot problems.  To keep me from the podiatrist’s knife, I bought some “Yoga Toes” which I’ve been wearing 3-4 times a week while bathing or reading or watching TV. Whenever I can put my feet up to rest.

Recently I’ve been reading the book, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall which has made me want to go a little further with my natural healing. In the book, McDougall quotes Dr. Paul Brand, a professor of surgery, who says, “foot ailments such as corns, bunions, hammer-toes, flat feet, and fallen arches are nearly nonexistent in countries where most people go barefoot.”

Stanford’s track and cross-country coach, Vin Lananna said, “If you strengthen the foot by going barefoot, I think you reduce the risk of Achilles and knee and plantar fascia problems.” According to McDougall, Lananna made sure his runners always did part of their workouts in bare feet on the track’s infield.

Dr. Gerard Hartmann, a physical therapist who works with the world’s finest distance runners said, “the best injury-prevention advice he’s ever heard came from a coach who advocated ‘running barefoot on dewy grass three times a week.’”

The fascinating part about reading this book was that I began to think of myself as a runner, even though I probably haven’t run more than a few hundred feet at a time in years. So one warm evening recently, I challenged my husband to a short race on the golf course… barefoot.

In my mind I could see me taking off and running like the wind leaving my husband in my dust. He wanted to give me a head start, and I looked at him like he was crazy. So we started off. “Oh, my gosh…” I could barely even get started and by the time I did, I was the one left in the dust. We did 3 or 4 more races and I got a little better, but never did beat him. The next morning when I got up, my back was really knotted up and I ended up in the chiropractor’s office before the day was over. After a couple of days of rest, I do plan to go out to the golf course once again and practice running barefoot. Maybe I’ll get better… or maybe I’m too old?

Decide To Be Healthy

Do you want to be healthy? Do you want to live a life that is full of energy and free of disease? I think we all want that, but are we willing to do what it takes to get it?

One of the things we must do is to learn how to be healthy. Healthy, energetic people have learned what it takes to be healthy. Learn those skills, practice them, and you will be healthy and fit, too.

Being healthy calls for making many unconventional choices. If you can surround yourself with other healthy, fit people it will make it easier to make those hard choices. Becoming healthy and maintaining that health and fitness is a day-in, day-out endeavor. You may not make healthy choices 100% of the time, but the healthier you become, the easier and more automatic healthy choices will become.

Eat a plant-based, whole food diet as much as you can. Before buying foods that come in packages, learn to read the ingredient list. Don’t buy foods with lots of added fats and sugars or with a long list of ingredients you don’t even recognize.

Learn to drink water or herbal teas. Regular and diet soft drinks acidify your body, decay your teeth and leach minerals like calcium out of your bones. Fruit juices and other sweetened drinks stimulate a pro-inflammatory insulin response.

You must take responsibility for your own well-being and your own daily choices. Don’t rely on doctors to save you from heart attacks with fancy surgery or from diabetes with insulin or from cancer with toxic chemotherapy and radiation treatments. It is your body. Take care of it.

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© 2007-2015 Melinda Coker

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