> On Thu, 04 Jan 2007 11:46:12 -0700, Susan Carmack wrote:
> I have another problem. I have developed a bunion. I am wondering why
> I got this condition when all I am eating is wild meat and some fruit 
> and vegetables. I did, however, accidently eat some farmed 'wild' 
> animals that gave me severe symptoms for a couple of months. Now that 
> I mention it, that could be the root of the problem.

Bunions develop over years, not overnight. (see
www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/DS/00309.html and
www.southwest-ortho.com/orthopedic/foot/bunions.html) A couple of months
would not be enough time for them to develop, though it is enough time for
symptoms to increase to the point where they are first noticed. 

Foods could aggravate your bunion symptoms within a short period of time
(though not create the bunions). I would be a little surprised if the meat
of farmed wild animals caused substantially more symptoms than fully wild
animals, but it is possible. I know of at least one MS patient who eats only
grass-fed beef because commercial beef gives him problems. The underlying
process that led to your bunions likely started years before you started a
Paleo diet. You may have started the Paleo diet too late to stop or slow
down the process that was already in place, though I wouldn't give up hope
yet that the progression may slow. Also, good orthotics can help relieve the
pain.

Bunions develop over many years, though the underlying process may not cause
any pain and go unnoticed for a long time. The first hints would be things
like flat feet (pes planus), crowded, bent, or overlapping toes, a callus at
the bottom of the big toe, or a bump on the inside of the base of the big
toe. I have researched bunions in the past due to a family history and some
amazing changes in my own feet after dietary change. My layman's view is
that the underlying cause of bunions is a genetic potential for bunion
development that is triggered, at least in some cases, in part or in whole,
by foods. The genes present at conception and the effect of a mother's diet
on the developing fetus likely start predisposing a person toward bunions
before birth. I may not have all the details right, but I think I am on the
right track.

> Any thoughts about bunions? How can I help it naturally, please? (I
> twisted my ankle a couple of years ago running in high
> shoes... - very unpaleo - but I don't think that would be a contributing
cause... ?)

A twisted ankle is not considered by anyone I know to be a contributing
cause to bunions (though it could aggravate the problem if it caused your
foot to further overpronate). Again, bunions take years to develop.

Lynnet wrote:
> I think it is likely that the problem is your shoes.  Do any
> shoes that you wear pinch your toes together?  Some people 
> have relief by putting pads between their toes to stretch 
> them out.  Others probably have more experience with this 
> matter; I have never had a bunion.

I think tight shoes are an aggravating factor and may be a contributing
factor, but I don't see them as the primary cause of bunions. I have not
seen evidence presented to prove that tight shoes directly cause bunions,
though closed-toe shoes in general have been linked by a study to flat feet,
which in turn is a risk factor for bunions. The study analyzed the
footprints of 2300 children in India and found that the longitudinal arches
of those who went barefoot were generally the strongest and highest. "Flat
foot was most common in children who wore closed-toe shoes, less common in
those who wore sandals or slippers, and least in the unshod." [Rao, Udaya
Bhaskara; Joseph, Benjamin (1992). "The Influence of Footwear on the
Prevalence of Flat Foot". The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 74B (4):
525-527. Quoted in http://www.unshod.org/pfbc/pfmedresearch.htm.]

Flat feet theoretically may contribute to bunions by the stress put on the
feet from the overpronation that flat feet cause. With overpronation, the
toes tend to be pushed into the front of a closed-toe shoe, thus a
closed-toe shoe may add to the stress on the foot that overpronation causes.
A tighter shoe likely worsens this problem, but it probably occurs with a
properly-sized closed-toe shoe as well. Also, diet appears to be an
underlying factor behind at least some cases of both flat feet and bunions,
with both being symptoms of modern foods syndrome.

If diet were recognized as a contributing factor in bunions and people
changed their diets to avoid getting bunions, there would be fewer bunion
surgeries to be done and therefore less income for the surgeons, so there is
no great urgency in investigating the diet-bunion connection just as there
has been no urgency or thoroughness in investigating the diet-acne
connection. It's easier and more profitable for doctors to attribute it
solely to genes or tight shoes or both.

My grandmother attributed her bunions to too-small, tight-fitting shoes
handed down to her in her youth, but my mother always had good-fitting
shoes, she's a stickler for shoes that are orthopedically well designed, she
never wore high heels, and she still ended up with bunions just as bad.
Also, I have seen people's bunions and overlapping toes return after
surgery, despite wearing good-fitting shoes. Some surgeons claim that
bunions can only return if the surgery was done improperly or the patient
wears poor-fitting shoes. Others say they can return regardless. If
poor-fitting shoes were the only cause, we should see a dramatic decline in
bunions today versus 100 or more years ago, with most people now being able
to afford the appropriate-sized shoes for their feet and with the
improvements in shoes and orthotics made over the years. Instead, I'll bet
that there has been an increase in the percentage of the population with
bunions that would be found if someone were to start tracking it, and that
they would find that the rate of bunions is higher among traditional peoples
who have adopted modern diets than among those who continue to eat a
traditional diet.

Heredity is a recognized factor in bunion development. Flat feet are a risk
factor for bunions, and flat feet also have a hereditary component.
Overlapping toes often accompany bunions. Flat feet involve connective
tissues called ligaments that are lax (weak), resulting in a collapse of the
arch. Overlapping toes probably involve other connective tissues called
tendons that become imbalanced due to a contracture on one side (or perhaps
a slackening on the other?), resulting in a bending of the toes (and
imbalanced foot muscles have also been cited as a possible cause). In other
words, both flat feet and overlapping toes are connective tissue disorders
that involve inherited potential. Diet from conception on may be the main
factor that activates the genetic potential and shoes may worsen the
problem.

Scoliosis and kaiphosis are also connective tissue disorders. Here again an
imbalance in the connective tissues (lax ligaments) apparently results in
some ligaments pulling on the spine more than others, resulting in a
bowing/curving of the spine. People with lax ligaments in the fingers and
arms (double-jointed, hypermobile, etc.) are at greater risk for scoliosis,
kaiphosis, flat feet, dislocation/subluxation of the patella (knee-cap), and
weak ankles due to the effect of lax ligaments in those areas. In other
words, if you have lax ligaments in one area of your body you have a higher
than average chance of having lax ligaments in other areas.

In addition to bunions, my mother developed overlapping toes (as did her
mother), which commonly occur with bunions. My own toes had been starting to
overlap and painfully dig into each other, sometimes to the point of
bleeding, until I changed to a Paleo diet. I had to keep the nails of some
of the toes clipped very short to reduce the digging somewhat. Believe it or
not, my toes have since straightened out and I no longer need to clip the
nails short. Instead of my toes overlapping, there are actually spaces in
between them. My shoes hadn't changed, but my diet had. I am still amazed
every time I look at my toes and see them straight. I looked into this and
discovered that in early encounters with Native Americans, Europeans
remarked on how splayed (spread out) their toes were. My guess is that if
European Americans were to eat a hunter-gatherer diet for several
generations, bunions and flat feet would nearly disappear as problems and
their toes might become more splayed. Walking barefoot might also contribute
to the reduction in prevalence of bunions and flat feet, although probably
not as much as dietary change. 

My flat feet also became less flat on the diet, and actually felt
springier--especially as the change was occurring. I looked into it and
that's when I learned that flat feet are caused by lax connective tissues
(ligaments). These connectors are like the support ropes of a tent; when
they go lax the tent flops down. My "support ropes" had obviously
strengthened somewhat and my tent (foot arch) was raised higher. I know
someone else who noticed a small improvement in his arches, which had been
completely flat, after changing to a Paleo diet. Not everyone experiences
exactly the same type or level of improvement, of course. Ray Audette's
improvements were more dramatic than mine, for example, and there is no
guarantee that my anecdotal foot improvements will be replicated by many
other people, but it is worthy of further investigation.