As you may know, I’m a big supporter of minimalist or “barefoot” shoes that let our feet work the way they were designed to. This also lets the rest of the body align correctly and improves the mechanical and neurological experience of walking, leading to better overall health. I wrote a series of short articles last year on this subject that you can read on our website at: http://www.drhogg.com/Health_Tips_and_Articles_Archive.php dated July 1 through July 12.
The last in the above series contains a review of various shoes that fit the minimalist criteria from inexpensive Converse and Keds to minimalist “Hitech” shoes from New Balance, Nike and Merrill.
A year later I like converse for knocking around, doing yard work etc. I like Merrill for more athletic activities and Terra Plano for exercise and dress shoes.
Karen and I just returned from shopping at TJ Max on 53rd and Utica Ridge next to HiVee. We found that they have women’s Merrill casual/dress flats for half price at $50! These are not athletic shoes. They’re made to replace flats with a barefoot alternative. We found off-white, light blue and fuscia colors. The off-white definitely can be worn in place of dress flats and the blue and fuscia shoes have attractive patterns on them like you’d expect from women’s causal shoes. Karen was delighted to buy the off-white and blue for the price she’d usually pay for one pair!
I’m hoping to see more examples of these types of healthy barefoot shoes creeping into mainstream stores and styles. After all, we spend most of our time in non-athletic activities. It’s nice to see some healthy shoes for everyday use!
