Detoxification foot pads information

Detoxification foot pads are pseudoscientific alternative medical adhesive foot pads or patches that manufacturers claim can dramatically improve health when placed under the feet during sleep. Some of these pads may contain ingredients such as "distilled bamboo vinegar" that allegedly pull toxins from the body, but critics have shown that the process is not scientifically viable.^[1][2]

On January 3, 2008, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released an urgent warning^[3] regarding the potential dangers of many imported pharmaceutical substances including several brands of detox foot patches. In April 2008, in response to questions from the Associated Press, an FDA spokeswoman said regarding the agency's investigation of the claims made for Kinoki foot pads that "basically, when we open up a case it means that the violation might be in terms of the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act, such as when (product makers) make false, misleading claims."^[4]

In August 2008, National Public Radio commissioned a laboratory test to look for heavy metals in used pads, which Kinoki claims are extracted from the body. The test found none. NPR also discovered that the pads change from white to grey when they are exposed to moisture, including sweat, and not necessarily because they are absorbing other substances.^[5]

The Japanese company Kenrico claim that their pads have a positive effect on the health of the users,^[6] and that they remove heavy metals from the body.^[7] There is no evidence that these products work and although the skin is one of the body's largest organs of detoxification, there is no proposed mechanism as to why these patches would increase the detoxification rate above baseline.