Detox Pedi-Cure?

[shanmonster]

The first time I ever heard of detoxing, I thought it was what you did when you accidentally ate poison. Then I came to understand it as what a drug or alcohol addict did when they were turning their bad habits around.

But now, detox is a catch-all phrase usually associated with a bewildering assortment of quack treatments and equipment, which can ultimately have a deleterious effect on your wallet, or possibly even your health.

One of the pieces of detox equipment I see advertised at many places now is a so-called ion detoxification foot bath, which is touted as drawing toxins out of your body through the pores of your feet. The treatments are usually quite expensive, and are certainly showy. Clean water turns into a murky sludge as all those bonbons, nicotine, red food colouring, and god knows what else you may have imbibed, get drawn into the water, leaving you a bastion of health and clean living (until your next trip to McDonald's).



People who take this treatment claim to experience the following amazing benefits:

• reduced arthritic pain
  
• weight loss
  
• increased energy and mental clarity
  
• improved memory
  
• reduced stress and mood swings
  
• healthier, younger looking skin
  
• significant pain relief
  
• greater overall sense of well being
  
• alkalizing pH levels
  
• lowered cholesterol
  
• lowered blood pressure

(taken verbatim from a pamphlet for the 3 in 1 FIT System by Hl4Y)

How does it do these wonderful things? The purveyors of such devices claim it detoxes you via osmosis.

Now, if this worked, it would be a helluva thing. But it's all showmanship. Seriously, if you put an organically-grown, platonic ideal of a carrot in that foot bath, the water will still turn into something that looks like sewage run-off. And we know that carrot has not been living a dissolute lifestyle. So what the fuck, mate? Why does the water do that thing?

Well, bucko, because of science. More specifically, it happens because of electrolysis.

Electrolysis isn't just the cosmetic practice of zapping hairs out of your body. According to Word Net, it's "a chemical decomposition reaction produced by passing an electric current through a solution containing ions."

You can read a description of how this machine uses electrolysis to produce this murky water here, but essentially, the electrical current reacts with the metals in the water to cause oxidization (basically, rust). Depending on the metals used, and the additives put into the water, you'll get different colours.

Now, I'm not averse to a foot bath. I sure do like a good foot soak. It is a very relaxing thing. But I am not fooling myself into thinking that my foot bath is negating my poor lifestyle choices (bad food, smoking, etc.).

If there's anything that detoxes your body, it's your kidneys and your liver. They filter the crap out of your system for you. If you really want to detoxify yourself, stop toxifying yourself in the first place.

These detox treatments are the quackery equivalent of selling indulgences. I have more to say about so-called detox cleanses, but more on that later. I have a dance class to teach soon.

Comments

[suzycat.livejournal.com]

WORD!

[etcet.livejournal.com]

It's like those foot pads that turn brown; it's the wood vinegar in them reacting to the sweat, not actually "pulling out toxins."

But, hell, there's always the placebo effect.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Man, now I want a pedicure.

And a cigarrette.

[amberite.livejournal.com]

These sorts of things could be, in the hands of the right practitioner, a sort of shamanic mischief healing modality, harnessing the placebo effect to make people feel better. Unfortunately they're mostly employed by people who have no idea of this. :P

[hellbound-heart.livejournal.com]

Have you read Bad Science? His debunking of the 'detox' is hilarious. He mentions these foot spas, too!

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

It's as bad as ear candles!

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Worse, I think, if only because the foot baths are so much more expensive.

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

Tough call. Ear candles can burn your face, or even your inner ear. Long term, that's probably more expensive than paying for a quack foot bath.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

True enough

[mysteryelfx.livejournal.com]

A little OxyClean in that water would clean it right up. We did that with a pool once. The water had a large iron content, and the chlorine turned the water murky orange. OxyClean took the rust right out and made the water clear again.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Oh no! You'd be making the impurities go back into the feet!

[silverfae.livejournal.com]

I have a fabulous detox device...
it's called my liver and I intend to keep it practicing it's function as often as possible.

[meadb.livejournal.com]

Commenting on another post: I am watching the film "Our Bodies Our Minds" right now and it reminds me of your comments in an earlier post on sex work vs. minimum wage. You might find the film interesting if you haven't seen it yet.

[megalith.livejournal.com]

I saw these pictures and without reading the text my first though was, "Omg! How fortuitous! My toilet has mysteriously clogged and someone has posted steps to unclog one's toi-- oh my god they're unclogging their toilet with their feet."