This article is a translation of the Dong-A Ilbo column in Korea into English through a Papago translator, so there may be errors in translation. We hope you walk barefoot and be healthy and happy.
Please refer to the link below for the original Korean version.
Lee Kang-il (80), chairman of Nazareth International Hospital, an oriental medicine doctor, suffered from Parkinson's disease seven years ago. "It was hard to lie down and sit down. There were also many difficulties in walking," he said.
Parkinson's disease is a central nervous system disease caused by the destruction of cells that secrete dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain. Dopamine plays a role in controlling exercise ability or emotions, which can lead to lethargy and depression when secretion decreases. In addition, symptoms of decreased exercise ability such as shaking hands and feet, stiffness of the body, unstable walking or posture, and slow movement follow.
Chairman Lee began walking barefoot after studying principles after hearing from an acquaintance around September last year that "walking barefoot improves your health." I'm lying down now There is no big problem with getting up and walking. Doctors such as orthopedic surgeons believe that "it is not easy for an 80-year-old man to improve from Parkinson's disease."
Chairman Lee said, "After listening to my acquaintance, I read a book called 'Walk Barefoot' written by Park Dong-chang (71), chairman of the National Movement Headquarters. "I thought it made sense, so I started walking." Chairman Park is promoting the effect after his health improved by walking barefoot. He also wrote books such as "The Joy of Walking on Barefoot," "Walk on Barefoot," "The First Step in Barefoot Walking" and "Barefoot Walking Saved Me." Chairman Park, who has been running a barefoot walking forest road healing camp in Daemosan Mountain, Seoul since 2016, argues that "walking barefoot improves immunity due to acupressure and earthing effects."
Chairman Lee walks on the Hwangto-gil in Cheongnyangsan Mountain, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, near the hospital every day. At first, I couldn't walk properly, so I walked on crutches on both sides with the help of others. For the past 11 months, I walked for more than 2 hours and 30 minutes every day without losing a day. Now I'm walking with a cane for safety.
"When I eat dopamine, I get constipation. So I had to increase the dose of dopamine when the symptoms were severe, but I couldn't. But after walking barefoot for about a month, my constipation disappeared. I slept well, too. I couldn't sleep well when I was stressed, but after walking barefoot, I slept easily and slept well until the end without waking up. Leg swelling and tinnitus are gone. I thought there was a problem with kidney function due to frequent swelling of the legs, but it seems to have improved. Other problems in my body that I don't know seem to have been solved. Of course, I feel comfortable walking. My hands don't shake at all. I'm still a little uncomfortable, but I'm lying down Getting up, walking, I like it a lot. It's going to take longer to get completely better, but I'm living a new life by walking barefoot."
Since then, Chairman Lee has been taking only one dose of dopamine regularly a day. Still, the symptoms of Parkinson's disease are improving. Chairman Lee also actively encourages patients to walk barefoot.
In your life, you get sick after encountering a lot of diseases. Sometimes, it comes out of nowhere. Especially for older people, you don't know when and what kind of disease will come. In modern times, we have medicine that prevents diseases and we have medicine that treats diseases. It is largely divided into Western medicine and oriental medicine, but we don't have to neglect folk remedies and natural remedies. I think that modern medicine, Western medicine, can prevent and treat diseases while also combining folk and natural medicine. Modern medicine is important, but folk remedies and natural remedies are sensational and many people are free from disease by experience. I would think so. If not all diseases can be solved by modern medicine, you should try various things. Because folk remedies are the product of experience, and natural remedies are the use of nature's providence."
Chairman Lee started the oriental medicine clinic 50 years ago and has developed it into a 600-bed "Yanghan Oriental Medicine Cooperation" hospital early on until today. "There is no separate medicine for treating people," he said. "If it helps cure the disease, we should use it," he stressed. "I think nature is healing if you get close to nature," he said. He said, "As more and more people have experienced it, whether it is folk therapy or natural therapy, they keep talking about it, so as we share the experience, it gets better on its own." Chairman Lee said, "While walking barefoot, I thought that all nature we come into contact with, such as sunlight, air, and land, enhances the body's immunity." He said, "My immunity has improved, so my memory has improved. The names of my elementary, middle, and high school classmates, which I couldn't think of in the past, began to come to mind. They were names that I forgot a long time ago."
Chairman Lee even announced a plan to use barefoot walking for treatment. He said, "We will establish a 5,800 pyeong (about 19,200㎡) site in Nonhyeon-dong, Namdong-gu, Incheon, to build an oriental medicine nursing hospital where you can walk barefoot along with general treatment." This means that a barefoot walking path will be created and utilized on the mountain of the hospital site. Construction is expected to begin soon and open in 2025. He said, "We will continue our medical treatment at Nasaret International Hospital, and at Oriental Medicine Nursing Hospital, we will focus on oriental medicine and natural therapy treatment."
Chairman Lee had inconvenience in moving after contracting Parkinson's disease but continued to treat patients. After you feel better from walking barefoot, you only have morning medical treatment. Because I have to walk barefoot in the afternoon. Chairman Lee walks barefoot for more than two and a half hours every afternoon. Cheongnyangsan Mountain in Incheon had a natural loess path that was good enough to have a golden color when it went up to some extent. Among the soil, the Red Clay Road is the best place to see the effect of walking barefoot.
Chairman Lee believes that walking barefoot helps prevent Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease (dementia), and stroke, which are senile diseases. "These diseases are similar in that they have abnormalities in the nerves and blood vessels of the brain. So I think walking barefoot is helpful. Dementia can also improve, but it is not easy for dementia patients to express their will, so they should walk barefoot to prevent it. It is very helpful in preventing Parkinson's disease, dementia, and stroke. The important thing is to believe. Look at me. Because I trusted and followed, Parkinson's disease also improved. In particular, prevention is more important than treatment for dementia."
Park says walking barefoot can bring many effects. When you walk barefoot on the ground, various substances such as rocks, tree roots, and branches on the ground rub against each other, and the ground and various substances on it press each reflective hole on the sole of the foot. Studies have shown that sole stimulation has a positive effect on all body organs, including the five intestines, since ancient China and Egypt.
Grounding is the act of stepping on the ground barefoot. Cement asphalt doesn't work. The Red Clay Road is the best. A positive charge of 30 to 60 millivolts flows through our body, and it is said that the moment we meet the ground barefoot, it becomes zero volts. It meets and neutralizes the negative charge of the ground, and at this time, the active oxygen accumulated in our bodies escapes. "Originally, active oxygen is a defense force that is sent from the body itself to heal festering or wounds in the body," Chairman Park said. After healing, active oxygen must be discharged from the body, but it can't, and it attacks normal cells while walking around the body and turns them into malignant cells. Various diseases such as cancer are caused by the dysfunction of active oxygen, he explained. Walking barefoot releases active oxygen and improves immunity.
Regarding Chairman Lee's case, Chairman Park explained, "This is the result of blood being supplied to the brain by barefoot walking, saving brain cells." According to a paper published in the American Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine in 2013, "Folding lowers the viscosity of blood (Stephen Sinatra, etc.), blood with sticky viscosity became clean 40 minutes after walking barefoot. In addition, it increased the zeta potential of red blood cells (Zeta Potential (force pushing out between surface cells) by an average of 2.7 times, speeding up blood flow to 2.7 times. Chairman Park called it a "natural blood dilution effect." "Barefoot walking is also very helpful in generating ATP (adenosine triphosphate), an important energy in our body," Chairman Park said. Walking barefoot also stabilizes the secretion of the hormone cortisol, which rises when stressed, he said.
There is also an opinion that walking barefoot helps develop the brain. Chairman Park said, "The blood circulation is good and the head is clean. In the case of Toriyama Kindergarten in Japan, it has been shown that people aged 3 to 6 run and walk barefoot, which improves their concentration. Children read 2,000 books for three years. "Thoughts change positively and confidence increases," he explained.
After Chairman Park's story was told in September 2020 through the "100-Year-Old Age Health Law" series, barefoot walking began to be widely known. Park Sung-tae (74), a late-stage prostate cancer patient introduced in September last year, also recovered a lot by walking barefoot. It is claimed that it has not been medically proven 100%, but it is not difficult to find a case of recent recovery of health by walking barefoot. The terrestrial broadcasting documentary also introduced in detail positive body changes through barefoot walking.
In fact, it was not easy for Chairman Lee to openly say that his Parkinson's disease symptoms improved by walking barefoot. Because it is an oriental medicine doctor. The medical community still sees it negatively. People around me also dried it up. However, he said, "I've had an effect, so shouldn't I make it helpful to others. I'm a doctor who fixes people," he said, revealing the story.
인천=양종구기자 yjongk@donga.com
