Our bodies don't have it easy. Every day, we're exposed to toxins in the air, the water and even in our food! It's hard to avoid this exposure no matter how healthy of a life you try to live.
Unless you're able to eat only organic produce, you may be getting pesticides in your fruits and vegetables. If you eat meat, you may be exposed to massive amounts of antibiotics and even growth hormones! Fish can contain mercury and other water-borne contaminants.
These toxins make it difficult for your liver to function properly, can lower your metabolism (leading to weight gain) and have many other harmful effects. The environmental toxins we are commonly exposed to can cause various forms of cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome and other ailments.
Naturally, you'd like to eliminate these toxins from your body as completely as possible. You may have seen some of the many commercials for detoxifying foot pads. It seems a reasonable enough idea – but do these foot pads really work?
Kinoki and Avon are among the companies that promote these detoxifying foot pads. These pads were tested on the program 20/20 and by a number of bloggers specializing in the field of health.
The results? Disappointment. Most of the subjects who tried the foot pads reported no change in their health or sense of well-being; surprising given that these were willing subjects who were hopeful that the pads would be effective for them.
The makers of these foot pads make the claim that their products turn dark as they pull toxins from the body through the soles of the feet. One thing which all of the participants did agree on is that the pads did, in fact turn dark. The other thing the participants came to a consensus on is that they smelled awful – some even said the smell managed to permeate their bedding.
So how about laboratory tests on the pads? Again, disappointing; these showed no toxins whatsoever in the pads after being worn. In fact, testing showed that the pads turned dark when exposed to water – the darkening of the pads was caused by perspiration, not toxins. A simple test with distilled water showed that this alone would turn the pads dark.
The conclusion? Simple enough – don't waste your money. These pads do not detoxify the body and are either a well intentioned but ill conceived product or an outright scam.
