A new study confirms that it is still quite unstable to conclude whether or not ditching running shoes and option to go running bare foot is more beneficial to one's health, according to Reuters.
Despite the buzz surrounding the benefits of barefoot running, researchers confirmed that this may still not be the answer to every stress fracture or shin splint people acquire. Daniel Lieberman, chair of the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts said, "barefoot running is not a panacea."
"The fact is we evolved to run barefoot, but that doesn't mean it's the best thing for everybody." Lieberman studied barefoot running but was not directly involved in the research, according to Yahoo! News. There have been several theories as to why barefoot running may be deemed more beneficial and how they can help prevent more injuries. First is the idea that humans evolved to run long distances not wearing shoes. Thus, putting on sneakers may alter a person's natural running form.
Running without shoes also helps lessen the impact of certain parts of the leg and the foot and helps build foot strength. However, none of these theories have been proven. "A lot of people are saying it's like a miracle cure for injury and you have performance increases," said Nicholas Tam, lead author of the study.
"Not many of us kind of ambulate around without shoes on every day," Tam, from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, told Reuters Health. "We don't necessarily have those calloused feet and all that kind of stuff." For now, Lieberman suggests that if you want to shift from running with sneakers to running barefoot, make sure to do so gradually. "If you're going to try this you should be cautious and careful," Lieberman told Reuters Health.
