I was on YouTube recently looking for a legit review on a detox tea I had heard about when a video popped up entitled “Why Detox Cleanses are a Rip-Off”. About 42 seconds into the video he reveals the big secret of the infamous detox foot pads.
Turns out they are a big fat scam – nothing more than color changing fabric. I couldn’t believe it. I have friends who swear by them and even worse, I myself have used them a few times.
They are only about a $1-$2 each now at Amazon but when I bought my last package I paid about $30 for 3 of them. I noticed now on Amazon they are even claiming to relieve pain because claiming the detoxify your body apparently wasn’t enough.
Turns out it’s pretty much impossible to suck out toxins through your skin.
In April 2008 20/20 did an investigation of the Kinoki brand and Avon pads. What they found was shocking, especially considering these items are still being sold to this day, everywhere!
- When used overnight, the pads darkened, but dropping distilled water on the pads produced the same dark color.
- Laboratory analysis of pads used by eight volunteers showed no significant evidence of heavy metals or commonly used solvents.
- When asked for tests that would show that their products really work the companies offered no valid scientific studies.
A few months later, a radio reporter in California conducted a similar investigation. First, she had her husband wear pads overnight and then she took those pads to a laboratory for testing. The lab found that the heavy metal content of the used pads was exactly the same as that of an unused pad, which meant that the pads couldn’t have possibly sucked out any toxins.
Then she held an unused pad over a pot of boiling water. The steam caused the pad to turn black, indicating that the dark color that results from wearing a Kinoki pad is caused by a chemical in the pad that reacts to moisture.
Or as Adam said in the YouTube video – color changing fabric.
Long story short, don’t waste your money on detox foot pads – they are a scam!