Lately, my Facebook news feed has been flooded with sponsored posts promoting Detox Footpads. I have heard of this product some years back and by all indications they seem to be making a comeback. In an era of quick health and fitness fixes, this product does pack a lot of appeal.
Simply stick the pads to the soles of your feet, leave them overnight and watch it flush out toxins from your body. The pads turn black, having supposedly absorbed said toxins and other impurities from your body. Pushing it further, the marketers of these products claim the ability to treat and cure various ailments, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, insomnia, depression, headaches, apart from helping you lose weight, cellulite and more. All the things you want to hear; a veritable cure-all.
So do these various brands of detox footpads actually work? For now, there are no published scientific studies to confirm the claims being made by these manufacturers. In the absence of scientific evidence or clinical studies to prove an assertion, it is safe to say that any claim has no leg to stand on.
But how come the pads change color? This must mean that indeed toxins and heavy metals are being drawn out? Or, it could mean simple chemistry. Some years back, an investigative journalist in California exposed the footpads to steam from a boiling kettle. Instantly, the pads turned black, indicating that the color change could be a chemical reaction to moisture. Also, pouring distilled water on the pads leads to a change in color.
In 2009, the Federal Trade Commission, an independent agency of the United States government charged a company selling a brand of detox footpads with deceptive advertising. The company was barred from selling the product and was made to pay a hefty fine for making false claims.
The notion that a product placed underneath the foot—or an any part of our body for that matter—suddenly opens up a portal through which toxins exit the body should sound sketchy to any rational thinker.
Take note that our bodies, if healthy, are fully capable of expelling toxins and waste products. Our kidneys, liver and lungs are working round-the-clock in detoxifying the body. When we urinate, move our bowels and sweat, we naturally detoxify our bodies. The human body is fully equipped to handle toxins and other substances, which it does not need.
Products which claim to detoxify the body, such as foot pads, pills, juice cleanses can make sweeping claims, which are largely not supported by science.
Let us try to be extremely discerning with products that offer benefits that seem too good to be true. Keep in mind that extraordinary claims must always be backed by extraordinary proof.
After all, extraordinary claims, require extraordinary proof.
2 comments
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Another entry from either the seller or manufacturer or simply anecdotal.
If anecdotal I’m willing to bet that somewhere in the ‘blurb’ accompanying this product there were disclaimers and dietary advice such as ‘only to be used with a ‘calorie’ controlled diet. If there was anything such as ‘herbal cure’ for any type of diabetes you can rest assured it would be at the top of every mdical practitioners list. Don’t quote BIG PHARM because herbal is NOT patentable. Meanwhile there is ample evidence that in some cases TYPE 2 diabetes can be moderated by diet. TYPE2 cannot be cured as such because the propensity for TYPE 2 is most probaly inherited but it can be moderated either by medical interventions or by diet