Overview
The impervious skin on the sole of your foot is home to some 250,000 sweat glands, more than are located in any other part of your body, says integrative physician Dr. Andrew Weil. Proponents of ionic foot therapy allude to the notion that there’s something else secreted from your feet other than just sweat: Unspecified “toxins.” Ionic foot therapy–treatments that involve putting the feet in a swirling bath of salt water–as a holistic approach to good health has been discredited by medical experts such as Weil, U.K. physician Dr. Ben Goldacre and the Mayo Clinic.
Inception
A June 2003 Daily Telegraph article sung the praises of a device called the Aqua Detox, an ionic foot bath purportedly developed by British naturopathist Mary Staggs, who received her credentials through U.S.-based correspondence schools, says the National Council Against Health Fraud in its Devicewatch.org website. Telegraph writer Greer Harris penned an upbeat article about her experience at a spa that delivered ionic foot therapy treatments using the Aqua Detox device, one of others being marketed for “detoxification” purposes. After 30 minutes of soaking her feet in the device, the water turned a sludgy, murky brown–purported evidence of “toxins” that had been removed by the treatment. Harris reported subsequent feelings of “well-being” and increased energy.
Debunking Ionic Foot Baths
Spotting a scam, Dr. Ben Goldacre conducted his own investigation of how ionic foot therapy works and published his findings in the Guardian website in September 2004. To prove that the water color change in ionic foot bath treatments was caused by something other than toxins, Goldacre fashioned his own kitchen table foot bath by immersing a pair of metal electrodes in a salt water bath and metal nails attached to a car battery. The water in Goldacre’s experimental foot bath turned the same rusty brown. The change in water color was caused by oxidized iron (rust), a process called electrolysis.
More Data
Goldacre didn’t stop with his home experiment. He sent colleague Dr. Mark Atkins to receive ionic foot bath treatments using the Aqua Detox. Atkins collected samples from his bowl, before and after treatment, which were later sent for analysis. Results indicated that the iron content in the water increased considerably after the device was turned on (from 0.54 milligrams per liter to 23.6 milligrams per liter). Furthermore, no “toxins” were noted in the water that could have been excreted by the feet.
Bottom Line
Headaches, fatigue, liver and kidney problems–marketers claim these can be cured with ionic foot baths, be it through a spa service or use of an at-home device. Weil describes these claims as “complete nonsense.” Mayo Clinic dermatologist Lawrence Gibson adds detox foot pads, adhesive strips places on the soles of the feet overnight, as yet another consumer offering that doesn’t remove toxins. “Many doctors and scientists believe these products aren’t cleaning out anything but your wallet,” Gibson says.
About Detoxification
In a January 2009 article in the Sunday Times, Goldacre describes detoxification regimens such as ionic foot baths as a “marketing invention” used to sell products and services that have no real effect on the body. Goldacre chalks it up to the need to purify the body of over-indulgence of such things as alcohol, unhealthy foods and drugs using quick-fix rituals rather than making positive, long-term lifestyle changes. “The notion of detox is medically meaningless,” Goldacre says.
