Detoxifying ion foot spas are purported to help you fight fatigue, alleviate stress, boost health, and combat everything from fibromyalgia, allergies and rheumatism to chronic fatigue and Gulf War syndrome. Not only that -- the "cure" is simple: Simply sit in a chair, dip your feet into the water and let the foot bath draw the toxins that are negatively affecting your body out of your feet. Detoxifying foot baths have been used for thousands of years, but there's not any scientific evidence to back them.
Function
Ion foot spas use an electric current that is meant to draw the toxins from your body. Your foot bath supposedly works because negative and positive ions attach to oppositely charged particles, thus neutralizing them. These neutralized particles are pulled out through your feet via osmosis. Some foot spas come with instructions for regulating the ion mix according to your body's pH so that you are able to get the right mix of negative or positively charged ions. Some spa manufacturers say the free negative and positive ions in the water solution are supposed to help your body better utilize oxygen -- touted as the "quarterback detox molecule" of your body -- and to balance your body's pH.
Effects
Some foot bath proponents claim that you can see the foot bath working because the water will change color. For example, some health spas claim that when the water turns dark green it means toxins are being drawn from your gall bladder, reports KSL News in Utah. Color charts at spas will show you what it means if the water turns other colors, such as brown or blue. Other proponents say that the water changes color when particulate matter in it gets neutralized via the ionization process. You'll be able to tell what came out of your body because the "human sludge," much of which supposedly comes out coated in mucous and fat, will remain after the water is rinsed from the bath. Your bath will then require a good scrub.
Considerations
Manufacturers of detox therapies, including ionic foot baths, are not able to provide consistent explanations of what "detox" actually means, nor are they able to come up with reliable evidence that detox therapies work, reports the United Kingdom's Telegraph newspaper. The idea that dangerous toxins build up in your body has no basis either, the Telegraph reports, because your body is able to clean itself. Your body removes toxins via your liver and kidneys, for example, but you cannot rid yourself of these toxins via your feet, notes KSL News.
Expert Insight
Ionizing foot baths are akin to parlor tricks, though they are a highly profitable scam, says Stephen Lower, a retired chemistry professor from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada. For example, most of the "toxins" that are purportedly pulled from your body are colorless. Also, an electric current that passes through your feet cannot distinguish between toxins, or "bad," molecules, versus "good" molecules, most of which are electrically neutral anyway, Lower says. Not only that, your skin is impermeable, and there's no scientific evidence that substances inside your body can pass out of your skin -- with or without the assistance of electrical currents. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is investigating claims made by detox foot spa manufacturers, reports KSL News.
Benefits
If you are looking to feel better, an ion foot spa detox may help thanks to the placebo effect, reports KSL News. Even if a treatment itself has no true effect, belief can be a powerful medicine, notes Scientific American magazine. In fact, reports do confirm the usefulness of a variety of sham treatments in numerous areas of medicine including depression, pain, inflammatory disorders, Parkinson's disease and cancer. Both a conscious belief in a treatment and a subconscious association between having a treatment and feeling better are responsible, notes Scientific American. The subliminal aspect can control bodily processes that you are not consciously aware of, prompting hormone releases and immune responses. These placebo responses stem from active processes in your brain.
Member Comments