In the News: Detoxifying Fakery

You must listen to this hilarious piece from one of my favorite local public radio reporters, Sarah Varney.

She starts her report with this:  “I know, you’re probably thinking, what kind of moron would believe that a toxin sucking foot pad could work.  Well, the photos on the front of the box are really convincing.”

The reporter goes on to discuss her own experiment with the newest craze in consumer health: toxin removing foot pads.

Kinoki foot pads (as seen on TV) have adhesive pads that are supposed to remove heavy metals and metabolic waste while you sleep.  In a feat of investigative journalism, Sarah and her husband wear these pads overnight, and then take the gooey, darkened, stinky pads off to a chemistry lab in Berkeley to see what sort of waste products have been liberated from their soles.  After a series of tests, they discover that the toxin sucking foot pads didn’t work.  Are you surprised?

The desire to cleanse and detoxify is one that is certainly alluring, though.  How do our bodies eliminate heavy metals and other wastes?  It turns out that our intestines, kidneys and liver do a fabulous job of it.  And good science has never demonstrated the need to accelerate or change this process in any way.

When I need to “detoxify, “ I prefer time-tested methods; sleep, healthy food, and relaxation are a good place to start.

“Well, I guess the foot pads are a bust.  But next time, I’m saving my $19.99 for a foot massage.”

Good idea Sarah.

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