JAPANESE DETOX FOOT PADS – MYTH OR MIRACLE?
It’s a recipe for making money. Throw a Japanese name like “Takara”, “Kinoki” or “Chikusaku” onto a package and sprinkle in advertising copy words such as “absorb toxins,” “purify” and “detox impurities” and charge $19.99 or more for a two-week supply. Promise gullible people the expensive placebo effect of improving their sleep, providing pain relief, reducing fatigue, improving their health and thereby extending their life and you have a successful product on hand.
FALSE CLAIMS – HOW DO JAPANESE DETOX FOOT PADS DRAW TOXINS FROM THE BODY?
Here’s the mojo. Most of the products have pretty similar claims but here’s the essence gleaned from one example of a product description from Amazon.com of “Takara Detox Foot Patches”. Wood Vinegar “found in certain trees has the ability to absorb toxins through the acupuncture points of the feet…The trees ability to purify large amounts of ground water through the roots into high quality water…as well as the absorbing and detoxifying power of the wood sap, made it a natural ingredient for human use. So to simplify the scientific leap of faith, the manufacturers are wanting us to believe some special vinegar which purifies water in trees will also purify toxins for humans. The big assumption is that the chemical and biological composition of trees and humans is the same.
SCIENTIFIC PROOF IT DOESN’T WORK
The website Science Punk in Champneys Detox Pad – Dissection dissected a foot detox pad and found a substance similar to kitty litter mixed with dehydrated wood vinegar which when reconstituted with foot sweat would result in a brown foot pad.
An abstract on the Study in the Effectiveness of Detoxification Foot Patches originally published in The Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, Volume 20 Fourth Quarter, 2005 Number 4 concludes “there was no evidence of detoxification of heavy metals” and further cautioned against applying the Japanese Detox foot patches to your feet or anywhere else on your body because they already “contain significant toxic levels of heavy metals”.
An analysis by Health Insider on Hub Pages at Foot Detox Pads: Too Good to Be True debunks the myth of metal toxins being able to be flushed through the body. Biologically it is not possible.
EASTERN MEDICINE WORKS – JAPANESE DETOX FOOT PADS DON’T WORK
What’s terrible about such money and attention grabbing products is that they draw focus away from many complementary homeopathic and alternative health remedies which are slowly being integrated into Western health care. There is still much to be learned, analyzed and studied to understand the healing properties and benefits of many herbal cures and long standing Eastern practices such as acupuncture, shiatsu and reflexology.
ALTERNATIVE TO JAPANESE DETOX FOOT PADS
If you’re interested in flushing impurities from your body, get a massage or go to a sauna or steam room. Even cheaper yet, you can have an extended steam bath or a do-it-yourself facial with a sink full of hot water, add a couple of drops of eucalyptus or lavender oil and drape a towel over your head and breath in the soothing vapors. After you’ve sweated out many impurities, be sure to follow-up by drinking plenty of water to rehydrate.
SOURCES:
Champneys Detox Pad – Dissection at SciencePunk.com
Foot Detox Pads: Too Good to Be True by Health Insider on HubPages.com
Study in the Effectiveness of Detoxification Foot Patches originally published in The Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, Volume 20 Fourth Quarter, 2005 Number 4
