In the modern industrialized world, we’re taught, we’re walking most of time on hard surfaces, concrete, asphalt, wood subfloor. I looked into buying Vibram minimalistic shoes and even tried them. Comfortable for sure, but my understanding is that in order to get the full benefit from barefoot walking or running, our feet need organic matter, Earth, to grasp onto for the majority of the time. Plus I live in a place geographically where I could walk in minimalistic shoes only about five months of the year because of cold temperatures. I decided it may not be worth buying some. I also question how good it would be for my feet and structure flipping back and forth between regular shoes and minimalistic shoes. Would you be able to shed some light on my concerns?

Chris Kresser: Yeah, I mean, I think if you’re trying to mimic the evolutionary template, the best option would be minimalistic footwear in very geographic terrain. So I’m not sure that organic matter is the most important factor, but varied surface is probably more important, like the thing that distinguishes concrete, asphalt, and wood from what our ancestors were walking on is concrete, asphalt, and wood are all typically flat. So you know, completely flat and that would’ve been really rare in a natural environment. We were typically walking on surfaces that were rocky or grooved or had depressions and elevations and our feet are negotiating that terrain.

But in the modern environment we’re often not dealing with what’s ideal; we’re trying to sort of mitigate damage. And for me personally, I find it very difficult now to wear shoes that aren’t minimalistic. Once I went to a minimalistic shoe, I found it very difficult to put shoes on with thick soles now. And I find that it’s much better for me. I do walk a fair amount on non-flat terrain just because I happen to be lucky enough to live next to a regional park that has a lot of hiking trails on it. But even if I didn’t, I would still probably wear minimalistic footwear over thicker sole shoes.

Now I’m not an expert in the physiological mechanics of all this and there may be other people that would be better to consult with, but that’s just my take and my personal experience.