A blog by Jorge Garcia.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Is my body like a tree with roots in the ground?

Can I detox my body through my feet?

These questions and more will be answered soon.

I am your guinea pig and I will be trying out these new foot pads that claim to detox your body of all kinds of... toxins (I guess) including not only Thorium but Thallium as well!

So far they seem to have only made my feet feel sticky in the morning.

Here are the pads from day one:

Pretty gross looking. The smell is strong on this stuff too. SO basically I'm looking to see this pad improve as the days go by. I guess we'll just wait and see.

32 comments:

Natalie Witcher said...

I just threw up in my mouth a little. Let us know if you feel detoxified! :)

Rocky (Racquel) said...

eeew! they look like the packs of meat that have been in the freezer a little too long!

so you just put these in your shoes and you get detoxed?

Ms. Cherryspoon said...

I'm curious to see if they get as clear as the the geisha removes in the commercial but also very grossed out...

Radioactive Tori said...

I LOVE that you are doing this! I have seen those commercials and wondered how in the world they could work.

Joshua said...

SPOILER ALERT (this means you, radioactive girl!): They don't work.

There are a couple of variants of this stuff. The more popular one uses electrodes in a foot bath -- with those, basically what happens is that the electrodes corrode and the metal leeches out into the solution, so you see the dirty water and go, "Oh, look! Toxins!"

The foot pads don't use electrodes, but it's basically the same principle. The disgusting "toxins" you see are actually in the pad already. They're not removing anything from your feet (nevermind your blood stream or anywhere that they'd cause non-foot-related problems), although they probably do soak up sweat at least. (I don't know precisely what's in these things, but my semi-educated guess is that there's a chemical in the pads that reacts with sweat to turn brown and ugly.)

Heather (a.k.a. Bella) said...

Ewwww. I've seen those on TV and don't believe it for a second. But it'll be interesting to hear your results!

Radioactive Tori said...

joshua-thanks. I thought that might be it, but was hoping it actually worked. Now I am a dork replying to someone else in the comments...sorry! I'll discontinue hijacking your comment section now.

twisby said...

you know what really cleans you out... if you squeeze a whole lime into a glass of water and drink that every night before you go to bed for a couple days. oh my goodness.

why are you detoxing, jorge? you're awesome just how you are :)

kookie said...

Jorge, no one's blog is more diverse than yours....from videogames to detoxifying foot pads in one day. Rock on!

redelf said...

gross dude.

Jan said...

here is what I want to know about those pads...do they tell you which pads to use first...like are they numbered or something? If so, I am skeptical and believe they may have some sort of chemical. If not, and they get cleaner as time goes by...then I'm curious.

But how do you know if you're really detoxified. If you drink lime in water, how do you know???

(perhaps I don't really want to know the answer to that).

Hey, next you should try those nose strips that remove blackheads. Dude, those things really do work and the first time will totally gross you out!

Unknown said...

Its a complete gimmick...check out the excellent podcast www.skeptoid.com. Mr. Dunning discusses those pads specifically - here is a transcript of that show if anyone would like to take a look-see!

http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4083

Sue Wacvet said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Amie R. said...

I've seen the commercials for those things and I am curious as to whether they work. . .

Sue Wacvet said...

Thanks for doing the research. I've been wondering about these things, too. Could have done without the photo. Ugh.

Sue Wacvet said...

joshua: what about the pads getting whiter after time? If it was just sweat (or whatever) then all the pads would be dark. No?

Lissa101 said...

I am cynical on this one. I think it's a gimmick and the grossness is not the toxins from your body. Sorry, dude. I think you're still toxic. ;o)

Larkin said...

That's amazing.

I've seen those pads before, I always wondered if they worked.

twisby said...

jan: drink the lime water, maybe you'll be lucky enough to find out what i mean by detoxing. it's gotta be fresh squeezed lime, and you can leave the rind in the glass while you drink it (the oils from the rind will help)

this is starting to remind me of that song, 'put the lime in the coconut,' and i'd try that, except i live in chicago and it's so cold here that i think coconuts commit suicide on the trip over to spare themselves from the agony of -25 degree windchill.

Merry Karma said...

Dude! They are a gimmick, but whatever.

Miss Scarlett said...

Whoa - that is hardcore looking.

Hope it works.

Please Type Legibly said...

Interesting....do you have any friends in the chemistry field? You ought to take one set of pads that you haven't used along with a set that you have over to them for analysis. I'd be interested to hear their take on it - if it's really detox, a chemical reaction from your body warmth and the chemicals, or just from sweat.

jonna said...

Oh man, I saw those on an informercial and I was so curious. It said they basically come with a lifetime supply right? Do you feel more mercury-less?

Colleen Oakes said...

Ewwww! Did you ever do that hippie thing where you suck the wax out of your ear with a candle? I almost cried when I saw mine - it was like 5 inches long! Bodies are....gross.

Candice said...

Joshua, above, is on the right track (I actually clicked through on these entries to post a link to Respectful Insolence, but I see that he's already done so on the colon cleansing entry). These things are a scam.

But I seriously doubt there's any reactive chemical in those things. What's almost certainly happening is exactly what's described in the podcast/transcript sahm3k posted:

"Since the Kinoki foot pads are self-adhesive, peeling them away removes the outermost layer of dead skin cells. And since they are moist, they loosen additional dead cells when left on for a while. So it's a given that the pads will look brown when peeled from your foot, exactly like any adhesive tape would; though this effect is much less dramatic than depicted on the TV commercials, depending on how dirty your feet are. And, as they predict, this color will diminish over subsequent applications, as fewer and fewer of your dead, dirty skin cells remain. There is no magic detoxification needed to explain this effect."

Not as ridiculous as this nonsense I saw on TV last night. Apparently, sticking magnets to your ears will help you stop smoking. "Auricular therapy", I think they called it... I guess it's possible that they work... Through the power of PLACEBO!

Jeff Kirk said...

No, these are about as good at detoxifying your body as magnets are at doing whatever magnets are supposed to do to you.

Think about it: the skin on the foot is about the thickest, hardiest piece of epithelium on your body. The calluses are layer upon layer of dead, keratinized cells. They're not permeable to "toxins." They're waterproof.

Water is a small molecule. If you didn't have waterproof feet, every time you took a step your shoes would fill up with water. If water can't get through the soles of your feet, what chance do these supposed toxins have? (I'm not talking about sweat here. Sweat is secreted by tiny glands in your skin, and it only goes one way: out. Oh yeah, and sweat glands DO detoxify your body: they get rid of excess salt, water, and all sorts of other soluble chemicals.)

Throw these away. Your liver does a better job of detoxifying your body than these silly things ever could. And all you have to do is pee occasionally!

Anonymous said...

ewww LOL

Larkin said...

Happened to Stumble Upon this this evening: http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4083

Oh well...

Unknown said...

Yup, I posted that same link a couple days ago. Great site/podcast!

Rebecca Cashman said...

My name is Rebecca and I actually have been selling the foot pads for over 3 years now. My website is http://www.purifyyourbody.com if you want to take a look.

The pads DO get lighter as time goes by. If you are using these, try them on your toes, not just your arches. You will be amazed.

Also, many pad manufacturers out there put fillers (up to 50%) in the actual ingredients so the pads aren't as effective as they can be.

And, you can get your pads tested. There are various forms of tests. They allow you to see what is coming out of your body. The proper way to do this is to send both a used and unused pad (the un-used pad is the control, to do it properly). Then the lab can test.

Good luck on trying them, and have fun!

Regards,
Rebecca
Purify Your Body
http://www.purifyyourbody.com

Chickie said...

Some guy did an experiment with those pads and yup, joshua was right...all the "toxins" were in there already:

http://www.sciencepunk.com/v5/2008/02/champneys-detox-pad-dissection

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