As Seen on TV: Are Detox Foot Pads Worth It?

Alright, I admit that I am not a morning person and, by default that implies that I am a night person. Late-night television happens to be a vice of mine. In the dark with eyes wide open, unable to sleep, those televised “wonder” cures often seem intriguing and if you aren’t a risk taker over the phone, some “only available on TV” products are often found in specialty stores, department warehouses, and discount outlets. Being naturally curious and someone who loves simplicity, I have often been seduced by these commercials and tempted to try sandpaper that buffs away unwanted leg hair, a blow dryer holder that alleviates “dead arm,” and the do-it-all reusable cleanup cloth.

A local store which stocks these items went out of business recently and I caved in. Kinoki Foot Pads are supposed to draw out toxins through the arches of your feet while you sleep, increasing your energy when you wake up. The commercials claim, “Kinoki foot pads, the incredible detox system that naturally captures toxins from your body while you sleep!” Apparently, lots of toxins are stored in your body and by adhering to an extremity or exit point, these handy gauze foot pads are supposed to whisk away your troubles.

Day 1 – Applied one on each foot to clean and dry soles. Instructions say to put them on one hour before bedtime and to leave on for 8 to 10 hours. I used two every other night but another option is to use one on either foot every evening. I woke up the next day and had not slept well, tossing and turning, which I’m not sure has anything to do with the foot pads. The pads were indeed filled with a murky grayish-brown substance and did not smell like roses, but I didn’t feel any more energized than I had the morning before.

I had one pad-free night of restful sleep in between my experimental days.

Day 2 – Again, I did not sleep very well and woke up feeling sluggish. I took the pads off to see the same murky substance and smell the same rank odor as described above. Again, no energy was injected in me through the soles of my feet and the “soothing lavender” scent on the front of the box is anything but revitalizing. Lavender is used to put people at ease and induce sleep, which may be their first function, but not applicable to the end result.

After four days of trying the pads and in-between periods, the two-week recommended regimen hasn’t been completed, but after reading the same type of boring, unresponsive testimonies from online forums such as Snopes (urban myth busters), ABC News 20/20, and MSNBC, I became discouraged and stopped my so-called “treatment.”
The commercials scare you into thinking dangerous environmental factors are seeping into your body without your consent and these pads say they can eradicate metals, parasites, and metabolic waste—even cellulite—in order to bring health and safety back into your circulating system.

20/20 reporter John Stossel interviewed New York University Occupational and Environmental Medicine Clinic director Dr. George Friedman-Jimenez in early 2008 on the subject. Friedman-Jimenez doesn’t think they work scientifically and supports other hypotheses that the pads produce a placebo effect making the volunteers feel symptoms psychologically, “I think what we're seeing with treatments like Kinoki footpads is that people are expecting them to help, and expecting to feel better, and some people feel better just by chance, and some people feel better because of the expectation,” he continues, “The placebo effect contributes to the improvement in the symptoms.”

Other theories are that the “black junk” that collects as a result of your sweat mixing with the lavender oil and other “natural” homeopathic ingredients like bamboo wood vinegar, tourmaline, chitin, as well as what the box calls “detox herbs.” Experiments tested distilled water, hot water, and lab-created sweat onto the pads and they all turned a dark, murky color.

Don’t spend your time, money, or effort on detox cures that are supposed to save you effort by spiking your energy in time to sip your morning coffee. Kinoki foot pads are not, by most accounts, worth the ten-minute infomercial allowed on late-night television. What is the best way to wake up energized and without toxins? It’s easy, continue to take your vitamins, drink plenty of replenishing water, and get lots of restful sleep.