10 Health Crazes That Will Actually Damage Your Health

What Is It?

You may have seen people wearing barefoot running shoes before, with the separated toes and skin tight fit, but what's it all about?

The general idea is that humans evolved to run barefoot and we were evidently very good at it before anyone had even come close to inventing running shoes. The logic, therefore, is that our bodies our "designed" to run barefoot.

So, What's So Bad About It?

However, studies have shown that it can actually do more harm than good in the long run (no pun intended). A group of volunteers were each given minimalist running shoes and told to slowly increase their distances when they ran in them over a number of weeks. They were measured against a control group who were told to do the same, but in their normal running shoes.

After 10 weeks, the control group showed no significant changes, but many of the minimalist runners had begun to show signs of bone injury in their feet, some even developing full-blown stress fractures in the bones in their heels.

So were all our ancestors limping around with broken feet? Well, no. The problem comes from the fact that we have become used to running in shoes, and that alters our technique, creating a much more prominent heel strike. Prehistoric man also didn't do that much running on hard surfaces such as concrete and tarmac, meaning some of the impact was absorbed.

Running barefoot may well work for someone with a perfect mid-foot striking technique running on grass, like our ancestors, but for those taking up the habit after a lifetime of running in shoes, the risk of injury is high.