5 Ways to Fix Sore Feet

Sometimes the bottoms of my feet hurt.  It hurts to walk and it hurts to stand.  

There are two common causes:  Plantar Faciitis  and Achilles Tendonitis.  And it is even possible to have both at the same time.  In fact there is a study that suggests that increasing the load on the Achilles Tendon can impact the Plantar Fascia (thick band of tissue that covers the bones on the bottom of the foot). National Library of Medicine  

Regardless of what it's called and the medical explanations for each type of injury, I just want my feet to feel better.  

The best way to reduce pain is to figure out why your feet hurt, rest, stretch, strengthen and ice.  

1.   Figure Out Why Your Feet Hurt

Determine what has changed to cause the pain.  

• Are you using worn out shoes?  
• Did you buy new shoes that bother your feet?  
• Did you increase your distance in walking or running?  
• Did you climb a hill or walk in the sand?  
• Are you standing longer than normal?  

Whatever changed stop doing it immediately!

2.  Rest Your Feet 

It may take a week or several months for your feet to heal.  Reduce the total time you spend on your feet each day.  Reduce distance for walking or running.  And reduce the amount of time you are just standing.  

Standing on your feet for one hour is actually worse than walking. It is the lack of blood flow that causes muscles to tire more easily and causes pain in the feet, legs, back, and neck.  Coastal Podiatry

During recuperation make sure to only walk or run on a level surface.  

In my experience if you don't rest, your foot pain will just continue to get worse.

3.  Stretch

It is important to stretch your feet, toes, ankles and calves every day.  Two times a day is even better.  A 3" massage ball and a lacrosse ball are good tools for stretching and massaging the bottoms of your feet.

Putting your fingers between your toes and rotating your ankle is a good way to stretch your toes and ankles. Also push your toes forward and backward.   

     And don't forget to stretch your calves by leaning against a wall.

4. Strengthen 

Although it is important to rest your feet when they are sore, it is also important to strengthen them so that they will not be injured again.  Therefore, when the pain starts to recede start to slowly strengthen your feet, toes, ankles and calves.  

This video on youtube from Frank Ng is a quick, easy way to strengthen your toes and ankles.  

The best way I have found to strengthen my calves is on the stairs:

• Start standing on a stair, or similar so your heels can drop lower than your toes. Keeping the balls of your feet on the stair, lower your heels as far as you can toward the floor. Then press your heels up as high as you can.  WebMD

5.  Ice the Bottoms of Your Feet 

To reduce inflammation put ice on the bottoms of your feet one or two times per day.  It also feels good on sore feet!

A bag of frozen peas works great!

Make sure to visit your doctor if the pain does not get better.  

 

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Cheerios Have More Nutrients Than Lettuce

A fresh salad with tomatoes, onions, peppers and cucumber is a delicious, healthy meal.  However, if you are like me, your salad is mostly lettuce. 

I started to wonder about the nutrition of lettuce.  I compared the vitamins and minerals of iceberg lettuce to Honey Nut Cheerios.  (One serving of cereal and one cup of lettuce.)  I was very surprised, except for Vitamin K, the cereal had more vitamins and minerals than iceberg lettuce!

Of course the vitamins and minerals are added to the cereal ....but I thought that lettuce would naturally have more nutrients.

So I started wondering about other salad greens such as romaine, arugula, spinach, kale, cabbage, and collards.

A comparison table is given below.  It is based on 1 cup of raw greens and provides the percentage of the recommended Daily Value.

All of the greens listed above have more vitamins and nutrients than iceberg lettuce!

Spinach is the winner.  It has more Iron than the other greens.  And it has significantly more Vitamin A and K then the other greens.

Vitamin K helps your bones stay strong and your blood clot. Cleveland Clinic  Vitamin A is also important.  Vitamin A promotes healthy vision and helps to make sure you organs and immune system are working properly.  Health Line

Based on the table I am going to start adding spinach to my salads to get more nutritional value.

I was surprised that cabbage has so much Vitamin C. One cup of chopped red cabbage has 54% of the recommended Daily Value for Vitamin C, which is the same amount found in a small orange. Health Line Next time I have a cold I will eat a big salad with red cabbage.

I don't like kale or arugula but I tried collards when I found out they have more nutrients then lettuce. I really like them!  They are less bitter than kale and arugula and last a long time in the refrigerator.

Healthy Plant Based Protein

Did you set a New Year's Resolution to eat more plant based protein?  

That's great! But BEWARE! 

Manufactured plant based products are not necessarily good for you.  Plant based protein is highly processed and has many ingredients.  For example the Impossible Burger has 8 grams saturated fat and 370 mg sodium per serving.  The Impossible Burger has over 19 ingredients.  RD

Did you know that Daiya Dairy Free Shredded Cheese has 240 mg sodium per serving and no protein? It has 16 ingredients!   Daiya  Kraft shredded cheese has 7 grams protein per serving. Kraft

Instead of buying processed unhealthy foods try chickpeas/garbanzo beans and quinoa.  They both taste great, are not processed, simple to make, and inexpensive.  They also have a significant amount of protein.

Garbanzo beans have 14.5 grams protein per 1 cup serving.  They also have lots of fiber, manganese, folate, copper, iron, zinc and many other vitamins and minerals.  Healthline  They taste great with many types of foods and fill you up!  Garbanzo beans can be added to salad, soup, rice, pasta, stew, and even be roasted.

You can cook a big batch of dried garbanzo beans in a crockpot  and eat them all week, or you can freeze them. Hummus is easy to make with olive oil, tahini and lemon juice.

I recently made Chickpea Tangine.  It has some interesting ingredients like lemon, olives and cinnamon that tasted great together. 

Quinoa has 8 grams protein per 1 cup serving.  Quinoa also has important nutrients, such as folate, magnesium, zinc and iron.   Healthline

Quinoa does not have very much flavor by itself.  It is a healthier choice than rice.  It can be cooked with vegetable broth and added to vegetables (zucchini, red pepper, and cherry tomatoes) for a tasty lunch.

It takes about 30 minutes to cook quinoa so I make a big batch and keep it in the refrigerator and eat it for several meals.  I also freeze some for future meals.

I recently made  Quinoa Lettuce Wraps with Spicy Peanut Sauce.  The peanut sauce was really good!  Give it a try!