A lot of companies making foot detox products claim that foot detoxing is excellent for balancing the energy of your body and for overall detoxification through the skin of your feet. They claim that foot detoxing can be really helpful and powerful for therapeutic health management. Over a period of time, due to both external/environmental factors and due to internal factors such as a poor diet, toxins build up in our body. It is important to cleanse our body of these toxins.
Foot detox, or cleansing body toxins through a specialized ionized foot bath, is the latest trend in detoxification procedures. Of course, there’s a huge debate over this treatment with a lot of doctors claiming it to be a sham, while manufacturers of foot spa machines and several health experts standing by it.
You can use food detox pads or ionic detox foot baths for this procedure. Food detox pads were first made in Japan using tree and bamboo extract. The detox pads or patches are applied to your feet before you sleep and then removed the next morning. The pads usually turn dark because of the toxins they extracted from your body and users claim that they feel reenergized and experience fewer body pains after that.
Ionic foot detox baths on the other hand use an electrical process. The system when switched on ionizes warm salt water with positive and negative ions. Manufacturers and users claim that these alternating polarities cleanse their body and make them feel healthier. Ionic baths are based on a simple principle that the human body needs a balance of negative and positive ions to maintain healthy cells and molecules. An imbalance – caused by pollution and an unhealthy lifestyle – results in various ailments over a period of time. Ionic baths claim to restore this balance and hence improve overall well being through repeated foot detox sessions.
So What Are The Proposed Benefits Of An Ionic Foot Detox Bath?
- Removal of toxins and waste material
- Improved immunity and ability to recover from ailments
- Lesser water retention and inflammation
- Better absorption of nutrients
- Higher oxygen levels in the body
- Better sleep and stress relief
- Aids weight loss
- Slower aging
- Relief from seasonal allergies
- Relief from body pains
According to foot detox treatment providers, the color of the water after your detox treatment shows where the most toxins were extracted from:
- Yellow water – Liver
- Yellow-greenish water – Kidneys, bladder, urinary tract, male prostate/female uterus
- Orange water – Joints
- Red water – Joints and reproductive organs
- Brown water – Liver
- Black water – Body tissues
- Green water – Pancreas, spleen, liver, gall bladder
- Thick, white patches of white foam – Lymphatic system
- White, cheese-like particles – Candida
- Yellow patches – Mucus
- Bubbles – Excess acidity
But is it really true?
As we said earlier, there are a lot of doctors and scientists who claim that the foot detox ionic spa is a sham and doesn’t work. They say that the change in the color of the water is caused by simple electrolysis and not by toxin removal.
According to them the color of the water is altered on the basis of the salts added in the water, and that the color will change even if no one soaks their feet. There has been extensive research conducted to disprove the premise which is the basis of foot detox spas.
Dialysis results have proven that the brown color in the water, for example, shows high traces of iron and not urea. Experts say that due to trace elements of chemicals present just under the skin of any human – nail polish, creams, soap flakes etc – the water’s color may change.
The theory put forward by doctors is made more believable by the fact that none of the foot spa machines come equipped with any device that actually measures the “correct” levels of ions in a human body, which doctors say, should be different for each individual.
According to scientists, any kind of water will self-ionize in an electric field without the need to add chemicals. And if the skin of our feet was capable of emitting toxins, wouldn’t Jacuzzis and whirlpools in spas have colored water too?
Having said this, the fact remains that cleansing your feet on a regular basis is a must. Whether or not you can extract all the toxins from your body is still under debate. But there’s no doubt that deep cleaning of your feet is both healthy, de-stressing and also a cosmetic need. You can even try out a simple foot detox bath at home.
Just get a large and shallow container which should be big enough to comfortably hold your feet, and not too deep so that you can easily touch your feet. Go to your local drugstore and purchase a special foot detox chemical. The ideal choice would be one made using natural and herbal ingredients.
If you can’t find one, then you can use ingredients present right there in your kitchen! That’s right! Tea, garlic, gingers, citrus peels, hot peppers are very effective and also will help in eliminating foot odor.
You can use all or some of these ingredients together after some experimenting. Soak your feet along with these ingredients in very hot water for about 30 minutes as your relax and read your book or watch TV.
