Depending on your beliefs concerning human evolution, some have estimated that about 7 million years ago knuckle walkers began to evolve into bipedal walkers. Bipedalism required a lot less energy to ambulate and by about 4 million years ago, our ancestors were mostly bipedal. About 2 million years ago the ice age began, and many plant foods were disappearing. There was a shift in food sources around this time, and bipedal ancestors could run on foot while carrying rudimentary tools such as clubs and spread to dispatch their mobile animal food sources.
By about 50,000 years ago, shoes were somewhat common. Today, at least in this country, almost everyone wears shoes. However, people who do not wear shoes are doing well. In some societies, walking barefoot shows humility and even spiritualism.
The Society for Barefoot Living was established in 1994. They have declined to believe the myths that going barefoot is unhealthy, could make you more likely to catch a cold or spread germs and disease. Humans evolved to walk barefoot. There are 26 bones and over 30 joints in the human foot which allow for optimal muscle development and agility. Also there are over 20,000 nerve endings in the soles of the foot making feet one of the most sensitive parts of the body.
Walking is the most basic form of human physical activity and those who go unshod for their entire lives do just fine. There is, however, a somewhat more recent school of belief that walking barefoot in contact with the earth's surface promotes a healthier life than when wearing shoes.
Earthing – also known as grounding – is the term used when making barefoot contact with the earth's surface. The earth's surface electrons are thought by some researchers to induce several favorable physiological changes. When the body is grounded, its electrical potential equalizes with the earth's potential through the transfer of electrons from the earth to the body. The earth's negative potential could possibly create a beneficial bioelectric environment in our bodies. Some have even stated that an influx of electrons could neutralize harmful free radicals that are involved in the body's inflammatory and immune responses.
In a small study, participants who slept on conductive carbon fiber mattress pads that were corded and grounded outside to the earth reported favorable results. They reported better sleep, less stress and in some cases less musculoskeletal pain as compared to those who slept on the same mats which were not grounded.
All of this is entirely new to me, and then I learned that the study – which was published in the Journal of Environmental Health in 2012 – was written by those who manufacture the carbon fiber mats. Also, the study was not set up to assess barefoot walking outside. There appears to be a commercial aspect to that article. However, a small list of other studies show that grounding is probably helpful.
If you are interested, check out the topic of Earthing on the internet. It is stimulating reading, maybe even a little bit shocking. Keep your feet happy, wear shoes if you want but realize that going barefoot is not unhealthy.
