Is there a relationship between nutrition and healthy feet? There sure is! You already know that feeding your body the right nutrients helps you feel good and maintain a healthy weight. But let’s look deeper than those evident truths and remember that everything you put into your mouth is meant to feed every part of your body: your skin, nails, blood, muscles, ligaments, joints, organs, and limbs, including your feet.
Athletes have fully digested this information and have learned to always eat with total nutrition in mind. In watching the Olympic athletes perform in Rio de Janeiro this month, all of us at Montgomery Foot Care Specialists are reminded that their attention to nutrition is critical to their amazing athleticism and performance.
Why good food is so important
Even if you’re not an elite athlete, there are plenty of reasons to adopt an Olympic-style diet. It will
- Make your muscles stronger
- Keep your ligaments healthy – important, since they keep your bones in place!
- Strengthen bones and ward off osteoporosis
- Help to keep skin moisturized
- Promote good circulation
- Help you maintain a weight that your feet can handle. Being overweight is a huge factor in foot problems such as plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendinitis.
- Help you stay on your feet and independent as you age
What to eat
Foods that are good for the whole body are good for your feet: eat lots of vegetables including leafy greens, fresh fruits, muscle-building protein, healthy fats like olive oil and avocado, and foods rich in Vitamin D and calcium. Stay away from high-fat, high-salt fast food restaurants. Give up sugary drinks for good. Encourage this type of healthy eating in your children as well, enforcing first-rate habits while they’re young, thereby promoting a lifetime of good health.
Nutrition and diabetes
If eating the right diet is important for all, it’s crazy important for diabetics. Healthy foods help you control your blood sugar levels, which in turn helps ward off the effects of poor circulation, neuropathy, and arterial disease, all of which are very threatening to the diabetic foot.
Dr. Heidi M. Christie and Dr. Michael L. Rosenberg, our experienced podiatrists, are happy to counsel you on proper nutrition. For total foot health, make an appointment with us for a full exam whenever you have concerns about your feet. Call us at our office in Montgomery, AL at (334) 396-3668.