Saw another article on the positive health effects of barefoot walking, so thought to share. A cardiologist has found barefoot walking helps thin the blood. More excuses for me to be outside walking shoeless. "Study identifies 6 factors predicting heart attack risk" http://articles.***********/sites/articles/archive/2015/03/12/6-factors-predicting-heart-attack-risk.aspx
I think it fights heart disease because when you're barefoot you WANT to continue walking for all the pleasure it brings. Muscles exercised, stress levels reduced, overeating eliminated!
So if you walk in shoes your stress levels aren't reduced, it gives you no pleasurable feelings, you will over eat and your muscles haven't been exercised? Lol. Okay.
Here's what it says: When you walk barefoot, free electrons are transferred from the earth into your body, and this grounding effect is one of the most potent antioxidants known. Grounding also helps thin your blood by improving its zeta potential, which means it improves the energy between your red blood cells. Grounding is a powerful way to reduce inflammation throughout your body. Inflammation thrives when your blood is thick and you have excess free radicals and excess positive charges in your body. Grounding alleviates inflammation because it thins your blood and infuses you with negatively charged ions, which enter through the soles of your feet. Surfaces that allow for proper grounding include sand and grass, bare dirt, and untreated concrete or brick. Leather-soled shoes also allow you to ground while walking, whereas rubber-soled shoes disconnect you from the earth and block this beneficial electron flow.
This really only works on natural surfaces dirt. Beach. Forrest.grass. natural is the key. Of course i am testemony that barefooting brings great mindbody health.
I can't read the study in the link, since I have tracking cookies blocked. I also don't trust Mercola as a reliable source for medical info. In priniciple, walking barefoot might produce some beneficial effect. I don't know how that conclusion was reached. If you simply observe that people who walk barefoot have less heart disease, or thinner blood, that does not necessarily mean that barefooting is the cause. Could just be that laid-back barefooters have less stress. It's a testable hypothesis in principle, but you'd have to use randomized control groups
