195: Feet first
Wise Traditions
Weston A. Price Foundation
4.7 • 2.4K Ratings
🗓️ 8 July 2019
⏱️ 32 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
Plantar fasciitis, back, knee, and leg pain all seem to be nothing out of the ordinary these days. And yet, up until roughly 50 years ago, we walked with little complaint. That's when modern shoe companies began designing footwear with so much padding and arch support that—instead of allowing our feet to flex, bend and move—they have unintentionally weakened our muscles, ligaments, and tendons.
Steven Sashen, the co-founder of Xero Shoes, a minimalist footwear company, makes a case for why we need a more ancestral, natural barefoot experience. Today, he talks about the problems most footwear creates, the challenges of transitioning back to bare feet (or minimalist footwear), and why not all shoes called "barefoot" shoes are good for us. He also tells stories (including his own) of those who have benefited from the freedom and fun found in allowing our body to do what is natural—namely, giving our feet the freedom of connecting with the ground, unhindered.
For more from Steven, visit his website, xeroshoes.com.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Your foot and ankle have one quarter of the bones and joints of your entire body and the soles of your feet have more nerve endings than anywhere but your fingertips and your lips. |
| 0:08.0 | Clearly that means you're supposed to use these things and they're supposed to bend and flex and move and feel the world. |
| 0:14.6 | They're the thing that tells you if you're standing on something good or bad and how to move |
| 0:17.5 | efficiently. |
| 0:18.9 | If you don't get that feedback to your brain, your brain doesn't know how to work with the rest |
| 0:22.3 | of your body. |
| 0:23.5 | And we also know that if you immobilize a joint, like imagine putting your arm in a cast, |
| 0:28.1 | if you immobilize a joint, it comes out weaker over time. |
| 0:30.8 | In fact, research shows that if you put arch support in your shoes, your |
| 0:34.7 | feet get up to 17% weaker within 12 weeks. And this is a serious case of user or lose it. It. From the Weston A Price Foundation, welcome to the Wise Traditions Podcast for |
| 0:51.2 | wise traditions in food, farming, and the healing arts. |
| 0:54.9 | We are your source for scientific knowledge and traditional wisdom to help you achieve optimal |
| 0:59.5 | health. Hey guys, I'm your host Total Abrada Gore and this is episode 195. Our guest today is Stephen |
| 1:15.0 | Stephen is a self-described serial entrepreneur who has never had a job, |
| 1:20.0 | a former professional stand-up comic, |
| 1:22.0 | an award-winning screenwriter, and a competitive |
| 1:25.0 | sprinter, one of the fastest men over 55 in this country. I think it's safe to say that |
| 1:30.7 | we've never had a guest quite like him on our show before. |
| 1:33.7 | Stephen and his wife Lena Phoenix co-founded the footwear company Zero Shoes |
| 1:39.6 | and they're creating a movement movement which has helped hundreds of thousands of people live life feet first with happy healthy strong feet |
| 1:47.7 | Stephen takes it way back to the beginning to an unearth 10,000 year old sandal that inspired his getting into this field in the first place. |
| 1:56.7 | And then he brings it to where we are today and how our current footwear could be negatively |
... |
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