I don't think arch has much to do with shoe wearing and RPD in some cases. My mom's arch is much higher than mine and she doesn't do RPD and wore shoes her whole life. She's 60.
Agreed and I certainly wasn't trying to imply that everyone with good arches must be eating RPD and barefooting (and I
never mean to imply that my results apply to everyone else--see #3 in my signature below). I would have to be crazy to think that, as it's obviously not true (one only has to look around at people on the beach or their footprints to see that all SAD dieters do not have flat feet or other obvious issues like obesity and many people are able to do quite well despite eating crappy diets and following unhealthy lifestyles)--though I have been called crazy by some folks for eating a RPD.
I'm puzzled why you would think I was thinking that just because in response to "Hmm I'm not sure about the arch" I shared how RPD and barefooting improved my arches in case my experience may
potentially be of service to others. If my experience is of no use to you, feel free to ignore it.
I actually think a low arch is common in tribal people walking bare most of their life.
http://www.readingonthetoilet.com/horror-modern-shoes/
Perhaps so, do you mean you have seen more flat-looking feet on tribal people than that example? As a child, when my arches looked like that image, probably a bit flatter looking, my parents were told that my feet were too flat and I was given orthotic arch inserts for my shoes. Since I went Paleo I developed more of an arch, so I thought there
might possibly be
some potential for further arch development in feet that look like that, but if not, so be it. Has no one else here experienced any improvements in their feet arches from RPD or barefooting?
I also found this image of Barefoot Ted, showing his similarly flat-looking feet--more so than Miles--and he's been running barefoot for quite a while (though I don't know what his diet is), so there may be no advantage to a somewhat higher arch. Who knows.
Umm??? I've ran and walked barefoot for 3-4 years. There's nothing wrong with the arch in my foot. If you have a big gap it's because you have no muscle.
All I know is, my feet looked flat and I was told they were too flat, then I ate Paleo and developed more of an arch and more of a muscular springiness in my feet and became stronger, not weaker, and I can run faster and longer, and since I started barefooting my arches developed a bit further. If this doesn't apply to you, fine. No need to get bent out of shape. I was only trying to share a potentially useful experience in response to your comment: "Hmm I'm not sure about the arch" from Miles. Why did you say that if you didn't think there was
potentially something suboptimal about your arch? Please also note that I said "The arch
looks a
little flat to me"--I didn't say it
is flat or say that you have clinical pes planus.
My foot has muscle... it flexes.. If I am standing with my feet flat why would it be arched?? This is my foot just normal off of the ground.
Yup, I can see the arch better in that photo. It looks like the other photo was just deceiving. I don't have a camera, but mine is like this image:
and this:
and this from Luna Sandals:
The arches in these feet look a bit higher than in your first image, yet these feet still have muscle, as you can see. And this guy looks like he has higher arches than me and is a barefoot runner:
I don't know why my increased arch would necessarily mean that RPD and barefooting had eliminated or reduced my arch muscles, especially given that my feet feel stronger and I can run better. So it's possible to have an even higher arch than mine and still have muscle. However, too high an arch is, like flat feet, considered suboptimal, such as this example:
Again, I wasn't trying to imply that you or anyone has completely flat feet, just guessing that
maybe there was potential for more arch development, which I read somewhere comes from strong connective tissues as well as muscle, but I don't claim to be an expert on this or anything else. If my guess was wrong, so be it and I'm sorry if you took any offense, as none was intended and I hope you'll forgive any poor wording on my part. The second photo you provided makes your arch much easier to see and since you're already barefooting extensively as well as eating RPD it's pretty much a moot point anyway.
