23 Comments Add your own

• 1. dan edal  |  March 10th, 2008 at 8:23 pm

  The patches you bought are probably of an inferior brand.

  The ORIGINAL patch developed and manufactured in JAPAN — NOT CHINA or KOREA contains high quality ingredients. They are tested so no toxins are in the pads.

  The problem with detox pads is simply that there are too many cheap knockoffs on the market.

• 2. Scott  |  March 10th, 2008 at 8:42 pm

  I was very interested in your post and the scientific findings you have presented within. I was hoping to use the scientific information in my own blog which is based simply upon determining if these detox foot pads really work?

  Unfortunately when I searched for the Journal of Orthomolecular medicine I found a website with articles which have not been updated since 2005. The page itself is has broken html and seems to have been abandoned.

  Do you have a more relevant link to the actual report you are referring to?

• 3. Frank the SciencePunk  |  March 11th, 2008 at 11:24 am

  The Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine doesn’t appear on PubMed - not surprising as “orthomolecular” is an alternative medicine concept. I’d like to know if it’s peer reviewed, the report seems a lot better than those in a lot of quack journals I’ve read.

  Let me know if you find anything.

• 4. jdc325  |  March 11th, 2008 at 5:41 pm

  Re JOM - Wikipeda points out that “though repeated applications have been made, the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine has not been indexed by MEDLINE”.

  Patrick Holford is (or, at least, was) the “UK representative of the International Society for Orthomolecular Medicine”.

  The Quackometer has this piece which includes references to JOM.

  TBH, I reckon the best person to ask might be Dr Aust. Here, Dr Aust has a post on Patrick Holford’s mentors and JOM gets a mention or two.

• 5. Wyatt  |  March 13th, 2008 at 5:32 am

  I find this hard to believe. If Kinoki actually put these high levels of highly toxic substances in their foot patches, why wouldn’t the FDA have made them take the product off the market? Clearly, if this was true it would be a legitimate health threat and the FDA would have intervened by now.

  I’m not saying I think that these foot pads actually work because I don’t know…I’m just sort of playing devil’s advocate here…you know, trying to get both sides.

• 6. Syzygy  |  March 19th, 2008 at 6:54 pm

  From Wikipedia:

  On January 3, 2008, the FDA released an urgent warning [5] regarding the potential dangers of many imported pharmaceutical substances including several brands of detox foot patches.

  http://www.fda.gov/ora/fiars/ora_import_ia6641.html

• 7. pdxma  |  March 25th, 2008 at 1:38 am

  I got mine and used a couple last night. They came from Umijawaya. I think they are the Japanese ones. Problem is I can’t read a thing on the package because I can’t read Japanese. I was going to try them for five days, but now I don’t know if I’m getting metal toxic poisoning from the things. I think I’ll give them to the person who recommended them to me, if she wants them after sending her the URL of this site!

• 8. Wyatt  |  March 27th, 2008 at 8:57 pm

  @6

  I’ve read that FDA warning about detox pads. It says nothing about heavy metal poisoning.

  I really don’t think these things harm you. They could not do anything at the most, but I don’t think they are actually poisoning you. I think the people who did this study are trying to be ironic, actually. People who believe toxins are being drawn out of their bodies would also believe that toxins could be absorbed into the body. Skeptics don’t believe that heavy metals can be drawn out through the skin, so if it can’t be drawn out it can’t be pulled in either. I think the “warning” about poisoning yourself with heavy metals is more about poking fun at people who believe these work than anything else.

• 9. Suggestions for Future 30&hellip  |  March 30th, 2008 at 10:21 am

  […] a 30-day blog about it… Hey Bonnie, I see what you mean. A did a bit more research and found this as well. […]

• 10. barbaz  |  April 12th, 2008 at 5:16 pm

  The 20/20 feature last night which lambasted the detox pad phenomenon was really nearsighted. There were several inaccuracies reported by their so-called “experts,” for one, you definitely detox through the skin - what do you think “sweating” accomplishes? The second error was in only considering Kinoki pads, a cheap product from China. Anybody trust cheap products from China these days? The best, and more expensive, detox pads are made in Japan which has strict quality controls. 20/20 wouldn’t touch those pads with a 10-foot pole because they are clinically tested by the manufacturer on a frequent basis, and test trials are also done on people who wear the pads. They DO remove toxic metals - not Kinoki maybe, but the good Japanese brands. You get what you pay for, and 20/20 of course chose the cheapest, least credible detox pad to base its entire opinion on. 20/20, you need a more objective pair of glasses.
  And John Stossel needs a refresher course in accurate journalism.

• 11. Mockarena  |  April 12th, 2008 at 5:33 pm

  I loved the 20/20 piece only because themockdock.com was featured on it so it was great fun for us mockers. :) I think the reason they focused on kinoki was because of all of the heavy advertising they do.

• 12. Frank the SciencePunk  |  April 12th, 2008 at 5:38 pm

  @ 10. barbaz
  I think you’re right in stating that the sweating serves a detoxifying process - but I don’t see why you’d need footpads to help that.

  You quacks are all the same - forever moving the goalposts. It’s not up to me to debunk every single footpad on the market - show me one single sound clinical trial on detox footpads and I’ll listen to your nonsense.

  Until then, stop your ridiculous whining.

• 13. Darrel  |  April 13th, 2008 at 4:42 am

  I have used several brands of these foot pads, not the kinoki ones that seem to be the target of this and other comments. I am 50 yo. ironworker….i work long hours.and mostly on shutdowns in chem plants, pulp and paper industries…hi toxic places. My first experience with the detox pads when like this…i was run down….my eyes when jaundiced…..and feet where sore….and kinda woke up in a fog….needed my 2 cups of coffee and a 1/2 doxen cigerettes to face the morning…..actaully night shift so ..
  i tried the pads on my arhes the first night…..it was the best sleep in years!! theseond night i put them on the balls of my feet….for resporatory “aid” I woke up not bouceing but wih an increased vitality…..after 4 or 5 days my eyes where clearer…and i was alot more active at work……. Tha was 5 months ago….now i hve discovered all this brew haw haw abot etox foot pads……….the first ones i used had ll the chisese or japanese writing on them….including the instructions
  the others i used did not…..All i know is that the first time i used them i was AMASED…..now i am busy doing my own tests on used and unused pads……and i am nt sure wht to think here….
  maybe it is all in the power of positive thinking…….or the kinoki pads where modifidied but good old usa ingenuity??
  Saleman ship?

• 14. CallMeBlu  |  April 26th, 2008 at 12:11 am

  >>>>>@ 10. barbaz
  I think you’re right in stating that the sweating serves a detoxifying process - but I don’t see why you’d need footpads to help that.

  You quacks are all the same - forever moving the goalposts. It’s not up to me to debunk every single footpad on the market - show me one single sound clinical trial on detox footpads and I’ll listen to your nonsense.

  Until then, stop your ridiculous whining.

• 15. CallMeBlu  |  April 26th, 2008 at 12:13 am

  @Frank the SciencePunk

  You debunker’s are all the same - forever ignoring data that flies in the face of your cherished dogma’s. Show me one sound clinical trail that proves detox pads don’t work and I’ll listen to your bullsh*t.

  Until then, stop your bitching.

• 16. Frank the SciencePunk  |  April 26th, 2008 at 12:32 am

  @ 15 CallMeBlu

  Sorry darling, it doesn’t work like that. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

  If it was the other way round, we’d all be allowed to make incredible claims and demand they were accepted as truth until someone proved different.

  (On a side note, this illustrates a fundamental difference between the skeptics and the credulous - one group demands evidence before they embrace a theory, the other accepts every claim they stumble upon until damning evidence to the contrary is shoved down their throat.)

• 17. emp  |  April 28th, 2008 at 1:44 am

  @barbaz

  the kinoki foot pads ARE the japanese brand… i know because i am in japan right now, and i saw them on a store shelf and thought, hey those the the foot pads i always see on tv (in america). They were full of some powder and they made my feet sweat like crazy. thats when i put 2 and 2 together and figured the brown color was the power reacting to my sweat. so i googled kinoki foot pads and came here.

  my guess is they are a scam, because if you want to detox your body by sweating you can just wear a couple extra blankets…

  oh and by the way for you people who want to know what kinoki means in japanese its “tree’s roots”. the name implies that you detox your body from your feet that same way a tree detoxes out of its roots or something…?

  i dont know why anyone would be defending the kinoki foot pads… unless they bought a years supply and dont want to look foolish!

• 18. Sun Monk  |  April 29th, 2008 at 8:07 pm

  The fact is that science has relied on the wisdom of indiginous cultures for hundreds of years and also has it’s source in ancient remedial knowledge. Holistic health practitioners and traditional, western, medical doctors have for years recognized the health benifits to be gained in the use of herbal poultices or “wraps” for the solution to a myriad of health problems. From native american use of thereputic mineral clays to world wide recognition of the benefits of mineral baths, (heard of epson salt?) there is no question that our skin is a living breathing organism that has the ability to absorb beneficial as well as harmful elements while also preserving the ability to absorb said elements as needed. Heavy metals are readily expelled from the skin, (check out therapies for suvivors of the 9-11 attacks suffering from environmental contamination). If you don’t “believe” in the sciences of reflexology and haven’t the understanding of the basic interelatedness of all the body’s systems ( the kidneys, liver, bladder etc. don’t do the cleaning alone ) do to a lack of exsposure or plain western cultural bias you would probably find it hard to believe what 90 percent of the worlds population has to say about health. Consider accupunture, western doctors often have qualms regarding its practice but it has been a proven method of treatment not only in china but across the globe, how does it work?, THROUGH THE MANIPULATION OF THE BODY’S ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD ALONG MERIDIANS THAT TRAVERSE THE BODY IN RELATION TO VITAL NERVE CENTERS, IDENTIFYING POINTS OF DISRUPTION OR IMBALANCE IN THAT FIELD AND CORRECTING THE FLOW OF ENERGY TO ACHIEVE BALANCE , IE HEALTH. You’ll find few western M.D.’S who will give credit to this, another “quack science”. These same proffessionals represent a “health” industry that has one of the worst track records in the world despite the technology and suppossed sound scientific reasoning of its adherents. I don’t presume to vouch for the specific brand of pads being discussed, KINOKI, but i do want to affirm the sound reasonig, and truth behind the methods proposed by the company so long as quality herbs, minerals, and other supporting elements are utilized. Wether or not that specific brand performs quality control tests, or generaly utilizes moral buisness practices is one thing, but the science and methods they claim to represent are another.

• 19. Sun Monk  |  April 29th, 2008 at 8:16 pm

  CORRECTION LINE 9: second ‘absorb should be ‘expel

• 20. emp  |  April 30th, 2008 at 2:55 am

  well said, but what does that have to do with the foot pads? im not arguing that our bodies dont expel toxins from our skin, just that these foot pads do not help contribute to the body’s method of expelling toxins this way.

• 21. Designengineer  |  May 1st, 2008 at 11:39 am

  Sun Monk has it in one - I don’t believe in the “science” of reflexology for the simple fact that it doesn’t exist. Reflexology is simply a long-discredited hypothesis that has turned out to be wrong, just like all the nonsense about electromagnetic fields traversing meridians etc. It’s very strange to see his claim that the western health industry is one of the worst in the world - the recent drastic increase in the world’s population has almost entirely been caused by the spread of western medicine into regions that previously relied on “ancient wisdom”, but also relied on unrestricted birthrates to just about balance the appalling infant deathrates and short life expectancy. When nobody knew any better these various hypotheses about how the body worked were as good as any other, but nowadays properly constructed research has shown how the body actually does work. And this isn’t even just western research - India, Japan and China are right up at the front in leading biological research.
  This nonsene about detoxing is another hypothesis which has been proved completely fictitious in almost all aspects, and it’s almost entirely created and driven by mostly eastern-based suplliers of “herbs” and other “exotic” subtances for profit taking advantage of mostly pretty fit hypochondriacs in the western world.

• 22. wayne  |  May 11th, 2008 at 6:03 pm

  Detoxing is simply the only way to maximise our health as well as to lose weight we need to clean our bodies minds and spirits in order to experience real health and vitality.

• 23. Lois Gharst  |  May 13th, 2008 at 10:25 pm

  I am 75 yrs old. I have used the kinoki foot pads as directed for two months. I also am a firm believer in alternative medicine. Whether the pads are a hoax or serve a definate medical purpose, I am not qualified to comment. I can only say that I am back doing physical activities that I have not been able to do for years.

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