What is a Foot Detox?
Foot detoxification is becoming more and more popular in order to rid the body of any toxins. Potential toxins can range from air pollution to household chemicals and cosmetics. Because of their growing popularity, ionic foot detoxification is being offered at some health spas, alternative health centers, and even at home. If you’re wondering what a foot detox is and if it can help you, here’s what you need to know.
How is an ionic foot detox supposed to work?
An ionic foot detox works by removing toxins from your body through your feet. Take, for example, the popular detox foot bath IonCleanse. Advertised as a safe and relaxing way to cleanse the body, ionizers work to ionize the water in a foot bath.
This process is thought to give the hydrogen in water a positive charge. Positive charges are believed to attract negatively charged toxins in your body. The ions in the foot bath water are thought to have a charge that binds to any heavy metals or toxins in your body, acting like a magnet. This allows toxins to be released through the soles of the feet.
What causes the color of water to change?
Some foot detox advocates say that if the water in the foot bath changes color, the detox is working. This is not true. Detoxification has nothing to do with the color of the water. The color of water can change for many different reasons, such as the presence of pollution in the water. This usually happens when using tap water.
The changing color of the water may be related to the foot bath. Although foot bath manufacturers claim that the ionizing charge removes metals and toxins from the user’s body, they do not explain how the charge is transferred to the metals in the foot bath.
The electricity in the product can cause some metals in the footbath to corrode when used. This may be due to some color changes in the water. Most foot detoxes also use special salts in the water, which interact and cause the water to change color.
What the research says
Although research on leg detoxification is limited, there is some evidence that this exercise is ineffective.
In a 2012 study, researchers delved into the IonCleanse foot bath and found that the foot detox had no effect on reducing the amount of toxins in the body. They also concluded that foot baths do not stimulate the kidneys and liver to remove toxins from the body.
It should be noted that most of the evidence supporting this practice is anecdotal.