On Minimalist Shoes

Link to the podcast shown above

Peter Attia’s podcast is my go-to source for more knowledge about diet and health. His views are quite compatible with mine. And where Peter and I disagree, I believe him rather than me. (I still think I have a place in the ecosystem: Peter’s podcast is often more technical than my diet and health posts on this blog. I hope I simplify in a useful way!)

Peter Attia’s Podcast #128 is one of several of his podcasts that have changed my life. In this podcast he interviews the remarkably persuasive Irene Davis. Irene points out that in every area of physical therapy other than the feet, it is taken for granted that the relevant muscles should be strengthened. But when it comes to the feet, the standard approach has been to baby them in a way that leaves them weaker, not stronger. Irene recommends minimalist shoes in order to make one’s feet stronger; making them stronger makes feet more resistant to problems. She does note how important it is to adjust to minimalist shoes gradually.

Persuaded by that argument, I have some minimalist Xero shoes that I am enjoying. It is strange, but my after gradually getting used to them, my feet feel smarter and are enjoying their contact with the ground. (It may be that my adjustment process was a little easier because I ordinarily walk around barefoot or with only socks on in my house—a habit I got into when I spent 1979-1981 as a Mormon missionary in Japan, where it is rude to wear shoes inside a house.)

I expect to write many more blog posts based on what I have learned from Peter Attia and those he interviews. So far the most important blog posts I have based on Peter Attia’s podcast are these two:

• Hope in Returning to the Road Not Taken in Psychiatry

• Appropriately Dosed Rapamycin and Metformin Can Improve Immune Function and Seem to Be Partial Preventatives for COVID-19

• Journal of the American College of Cardiology State-of-the-Art Review on Saturated Fats

• My Pillbox