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Take Care of Your Feet
When we walk or run, our body goes through a complex set of steps that makes movement seem smooth and easy. It's actually a complex cycle called the "gait" or walking cycle. A smooth walking or gait cycle means that the forces from the ground should be absorbed by your heels and feet each time you take a step. Energy from the ground and healthy movement is transferred through the feet up into ankles, knees, hips and into the spine, all the way up to the head.
Foot anatomy also plays an important role in foot function. For example, do you know how many arches each foot has? If you answered one, you answered like 95 percent of people do - incorrectly. Each foot actually has three arches: one on the inside of the foot, one on the outside and one across the ball of the foot. These arches are all important and must all be functioning properly to facilitate healthy movement and weight-bearing.
When our feet do not have the arch support we now know to be so important, our bodies can start having problems. These problems can start innocently enough, but the consequences can be severe. Here are a few of the common problems that can affect your feet:
If your arches are too high or over-supported, we call this "excessive supination." A more common occurrence is something called "excessive pronation," which means the arches actually fall toward the floor or flatten out. More serious conditions attributable to foot dysfunction include plantar fascitis (inflammation of the thick tissue on the bottom of the heel), Achilles tendinitis (inflammation of the Achilles tendon), Morton's neuroma (thickening of nerve tissue between the third and fourth toes, causing sharp pain on the ball of the foot), anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears, arthritis, and hip and lower back pain.
There are many factors that affect your feet (for better or worse). Here are a few:
Genetics: You cannot outrun your genes. Flat feet or excessively pronating feet run in families. Parents pass it on to their children. If one parent has flat or collapsed arches, their children will have it also to some degree. If both parents have overpronated feet, their kids will absolutely have flat feet as well. I check children for this around age 7.
Surfaces: Concrete and stone are the worst surfaces for the feet. Generally, the harder the surface, the more stress on the arches and the faster they will collapse. Dirt, rubber tracks, carpeting and grass are all softer surfaces that offer some cushion to the feet and help to reduce strain and shock.
Shoe types: If you look inside almost every shoe, sandal, flip-flop, boot, etc., you will notice that there may be some inner arch support. Hardly any shoe has outer arch support or support for the arch under the ball of the foot. For this reason, looking for "good" shoes is often a myth.
We spend much of our lives taking our feet for granted - if we are lucky. If we're not, we suffer one or more of the painful, often debilitating conditions that can affect the feet. That's why your feet are so important and why you need to take care of them. Talk to your doctor about the importance of foot health and what you can do to ensure the stability of your foundation- your feet.
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The Power of Nutrition
Several health issues predominate in men as they age including the metabolic syndrome, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, depression, erectile dysfunction, prostate hypertrophy (enlargement) and cancer, and loss of muscle mass and vitality. In many cases, medications are prescribed for these conditions, even though in general they cannot correct the problem, because the problem is caused by overeating and a lack of exercise.
The good news is that the correction simply requires doing what we already know is good for us. That is, we need to exercise more and eat better, and research has demonstrated that the combination of exercising and eating nutrient-rich foods that are low in calories can lead to rapid fat loss and a reduction of chronic inflammation.
The best foods to focus on when pursuing an anti-inflammatory diet are fish, lean animal proteins, vegetables, fruits, sweet potatoes, and nuts. Certain supplements are also beneficial for reducing chronic inflammation, especially magnesium, omega-3 fish oil, and vitamin D.
Many men notice a positive change in their health status within a week if they adhere to the dietary and supplemental changes, and as time goes on, many who are taking medication for one or more of the above conditions are able to discontinue their medication. The focus should be on pursuing an anti-inflammatory lifestyle and letting your body respond as it sees fit.
It's actually a simple process: Before preparing, ordering or eating a food, test yourself by asking the following question: "Will this food increase or decrease inflammation?" If it increases inflammation, you may want to avoid it or certainly limit consumption. If it decreases inflammation, then dig in! Talk to your doctor for more information.
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3 Ways to Stick With It
Stick with what, you ask? Well, whether you're trying to lose weight, beginning an exercise program or doing just about anything else to maximize health and wellness, you need to "stick with it" or you'll end up frustrated and fail to accomplish much of anything. Here are three considerations to, well, consider as you pursue your health and wellness goals:
 Slow & Steady: When it comes to health, you have to be in it for the long haul. Health is a lifetime pursuit, which is the challenge and the opportunity. Whether you're committing to a better diet, a consistent exercise program, etc., recognize that lasting changes start slow and stay the course. Jump in without proper planning or pacing, and you'll find yourself jumping right back out again.
 Break Time: Your body and your mind both need a rest if you're going to stick with a diet and exercise program for more than few weeks or months. If it's diet, designate a "cheat" day once a week and indulge (don't overload) on one or two of your favorite less-than-healthy foods. With exercise, avoid working out on consecutive days, and take a whole week off every 6-8 weeks and rejuvenate.
 Goal in Sight: Without a goal, you can't achieve it, and to achieve lifelong health and wellness, you need short-, medium- and long-term goals. It could be losing 5 pounds this month or 25 pounds this year, improving your cholesterol or body-fat percentage by next year's physical (and the one after that), fitting into a smaller size, running a longer distance; you name it. Set it and then work to achieve it.
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