SoleFit pedorthist Ryan Grant recently attended the Ancestral Health Symposium in Seattle, Washington
and here are a few of his takeaways.
At SoleFit, we are always looking for ways to ensure we are addressing the source of an injury.
Our assessments aim to speed up healing while also identifying possible underlying causes.
Stemming from our work in running biomechanics, we’ve been big fans of viewing health problems through
an evolutionary lens. From the
Ancestral Health Symposium website:
Our goal is to examine current health challenges through the context of our ancestral heritage.
In modern science, evolution is the default perspective for inquiry, yet in modern healthcare,
evolution is almost nowhere to be seen.
Here are a few of my main takeaways from the 3-day conference!
✔ Important to differentiate between “exercise” and “movement”
We’ve always been big fans of
Katy Bowman’s message,
and it was great to hear her speak again.
Many patients get plenty of exercise but very little movement during the day
(e.g. sitting 8 hours and running for 1).
Breaking up sedentarism with general movement can make a huge difference.
We previously wrote an
article
on this and highly recommend Katy’s book Move Your DNA.
A great short video by Katy Bowman explaining the importance of movement.
Someone who runs an hour per day may still only move for 4% of the day.
✔ Look “outside the box” for undiagnosed issues
From a talk by Chris Masterjohn
on protein intake.
While excessive protein issues are rare, the key takeaway is this:
if someone experiences persistent symptoms (fatigue, brain fog, GI issues),
macro ratios may be worth examining.
In a pedorthic setting, if conventional approaches fail,
referring out to nutrition or sleep specialists may uncover underlying causes.
✔ The importance of being “diet agnostic”
From a talk by Adele Hite.
Nutrition is often an experiment of one.
While general principles apply (eat real food, vegetables matter),
individuals respond differently.
In our pedorthic setting, nutrition choices can influence
inflammatory-based injuries.
✔ Hug it out!
From a talk by Tony Frederico on tactile sense and oxytocin.
Many of us substitute dopamine (social media) for oxytocin (connection),
leaving us feeling unfulfilled.
Ways to boost oxytocin:
be barefoot, eat with your hands, massage, get outside.
In a pedorthic setting… maybe we should hug more
(20+ seconds for optimal oxytocin 😉).
https://www.solefit.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/hug.jpg
Keep oxytocin levels high by engaging more tactile senses.
✔ Consider more movement-based “play”
From a talk by Darryl Edwards.
Long-term exercise reduces inflammation when movement is varied and well executed.
I joined one of Darryl’s group play sessions — challenging, functional, and fun.
✔ Sleep is essential — and still poorly understood
From a talk by Dan Pardi.
- Time in bed ≠ time asleep
- Younger adults naturally skew later
- Chronotype rigidity may be harmful
- Some hunter-gatherer groups sleep less than modern humans
- Dream recall depends on sleep phase
In a pedorthic setting, sleep quality may influence injury recovery.
https://www.solefit.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/oura-ring.jpg
Tools like the OURA Ring
help optimize sleep quality.
✔ We largely control gene expression through epigenetics
From a talk by Lucia Aronica.
Environmental factors often determine how genes are expressed —
nurture may matter more than nature after all.
