Shoes.

Have you ever considered that they were invented?

We didn’t just evolve to be wearing shoes.

I mean, something being ‘invented’ doesn’t mean much.

After all, our ancestors ‘invented’ spears and stone tools over 2 million years ago.

But shoes are a very recent invention.

The earliest examples of actual footwear are only about 9000 years old. This footwear was very simple and was closer to sandals than shoes.

Footwear similar to the type most people wear today didn’t appear till only a few hundred years ago.

Those periods are minuscule on the scale of evolution. Our bodies take hundreds of thousands of years to change and adapt.

Yet most people in Western societies wear shoes as if they are essential for our bodies to function outdoors.

The truth is, that our feet have evolved over millions of years to handle rough terrain, varying climates, and all types of physical exertion that humans can perform.

One of the core physical activities of pre-agricultural humans was running. In fact, humans can run for longer than pretty much any other animal, and exhausting their prey was often how humans carried out a successful hunt.

And for most of evolution, humans have run barefoot. Without the need for footwear.

Why Modern Shoes Are Terrible For Your Health

So why does everyone feel the need to slip on a pair of excessively cushioned shoes every time they leave the house?

Shoes do indeed have utility. They keep your feet warm and protect you from sharp objects on the ground. But that’s about where it ends.

Any other reasons for wearing shoes are probably a result of societal conditioning.

#1 Joint issues

A common rationale for wearing shoes with very thick soles is that they cushion the impact when you walk or run, therefore reducing the impact that travels through your joints.

As I said before, humans spent all of evolution running without shoes, and we scarcely had knee pain or other joint-related issues.

If anything, these thickly cushioned shoes promote joint issues.

This is because they don’t stop the impact from travelling through your leg, they merely stop you from noticing it. This means they are far more forgiving of bad running technique.

Many people nowadays run with a stride called ‘heel-striking’.

Heel-striking increases injury at the knee and the hip. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors would have never run like this because heel-striking while barefoot is simply too painful.

However, the cushioning on modern shoes prevents us from experiencing this pain and allows us to run with this bad running form.

#2 Weakened Feet

If you try to walk on concrete barefoot straightaway, you will notice that it will be painful to begin with.

This is because a lifetime of protecting your foot with thick, cushioned material has made it weak.

Imagine if you always kept your hand enveloped in a thick glove.

When you finally took the glove off, the muscles in your hand would have atrophied and your hands would be very frail.

The same thing happens when you wear shoes every time you leave the house.

Weak feet are the reason for many foot injuries such as plantar fasciitis. Simply strengthening your foot will remedy such injuries.

The supports in the shoes mean that your feet don’t have to use their own muscles. This is also why many people get fallen arches in their feet — the muscles in the arch of their foot are simply too weak to support it.

#3 Loss of sensation

Once again using the example of a glove on your hand, if you always kept the glove on, your hands would become less sensitive to stimulus.

You would lose dexterity and your control between individual fingers would diminish.

As you can probably guess, that’s exactly what happens to your feet when you are always in shoes.

Most people have a hard time moving their toes individually like you would with fingers — this is why.

With a thick pad beneath your foot, you are unable to feel fine details in the ground beneath you.

The reduced ‘ground feel’ means you are less aware of what is going on underneath your feet. This has two drawbacks.

Your balance literally becomes worse.

And there’s an increased risk of you rolling your foot or spraining your ankle.

If you can feel every bump, every rock, every crevice in the ground, you will be able to respond far quicker when your foot rolls.

#4 Reduction In Athletic Performance

Sure, shoe technology has come a long way. Big companies like Nike have implemented carbon fibre plates which are supposed to enhance performance.

But can it surpass the millions of years of evolution that our feet have experienced?

In my opinion, no.

In 1961, Abebe Bikila ran the London marathon barefoot and won.

Sure, this is just one example. But it’s proof that a strong foot can exceed thousands of runners in shoes.

Even if you still believe that competing in shoes is better for performance, I can guarantee that having a stronger, more ‘sensitive’ foot will still be beneficial.

What Is The Solution Then?

Alright, so I’ve spent long enough telling you why I think modern shoes are a step backwards for our foot health.

And clearly, getting out barefoot as much as possible is the healthiest thing — using your feet the way they were intended to be used.

But for a few reasons, the biggest one being social ideals, that isn’t always possible.

With this in mind, there are a few companies who have developed a solution.

They are called barefoot shoes.

You may have heard of them — they are picking up in popularity as more people realise the benefits of being barefoot.

They are designed to allow the foot to function as freely and as naturally as possible — allowing the foot to work the same way as if it was barefoot.

These shoes have 4 main characteristics that make them a healthier choice for your feet.

#1 Wide toe box

The front portion of these shoes — where your toes would be — is far wider than ‘normal’ shoes.

This is because our toes are naturally supposed to ‘spread out’.

Yet modern shoes prevent this from happening.

The widest part of a human foot is supposed to be at the tip of the toes.

But if you look at your foot right now, you can probably see that the widest part of your foot is at the point below your little toe.

My foot is exactly like that.

And it’s because modern shoes, with their narrow toe boxes, have contorted our feet into this shape over years and years.

#2 Thin Or Minimal Sole

This is to provide that ‘ground feel’ that I mentioned before.

By having a thin sole, and therefore minimal obstruction between your foot and the ground, you can feel every detail in the surface you are walking on

This forces your foot to work harder and will strengthen the muscles over time.

#3 Zero Heel Drop

Barefoot shoes have a flat sole which is called zero heel drop.

This mimics the dynamics of your foot and allows you to maintain proper posture without shifting your body’s alignment.

#4 Lightweight And Flexible

As I mentioned before, barefoot shoes aim to allow the foot to function as freely and as naturally as possible.

By being lightweight, the shoes provide as little interference as possible and make it easy to walk with a natural gate.

The flexibility means that the shoes can bend and adapt to the natural movement of the foot, without limiting it in any dimension.

My Experience With Barefoot Shoes

Now you know my opinion on conventional shoes and that I think the solution is barefoot shoes.

But what was my experience when transitioning to barefoot shoes, and what can you expect?

I purchased a pair of barefoot shoes from a brand called Vivobarefoot — one of the leading companies in the barefoot space.

The first time I slipped on these shoes, I noticed they felt far more open and less restricting for my feet.

Usually, when taking long drives or flights, I remove my shoes because my feet become very uncomfortable after long periods in conventional shoes.

But with these barefoot shoes, I felt I would be far more comfortable keeping them on for long journeys because they let my feet remain ‘free’.

This was mainly due to the wide-toe box.

After taking my first steps in the shoes, I could feel the ground in much more detail. It was very obvious that there was very little separating me and the ground.

I enjoyed the walk a lot more than usual. I’ve never paid this much attention to how the concrete around my house felt.

One thing to note is that a lot of people report feeling soreness in various parts of their feet and their calf muscles straight after switching to barefoot shoes.

I didn’t experience this, but many people do, so it’s important to take it slow when transitioning to barefoot shoes. The muscles which have been lying dormant for many years need a little bit of time to adjust.

One thing I did experience at first, is that I wasn’t able to walk as fast as I could in normal shoes. That’s because my feet weren’t yet strong enough to endure the force coming from the ground without any cushioning in between.

As a result, I had to learn to walk slightly lighter on my feet.

But this is how you are meant to walk. And after a while, my feet adjusted.

Overall, I can feel that my feet are much more strong and it is liberating to be able to explore the world without the need for a protective cast.

Disclaimer: I do not have any affiliation with barefoot shoe brands and do not gain any benefit from promoting them. I simply wish to share genuine and logic-based health advice.