A scientific analysis of the popular Kinoki toxin-removing footpads that are supposed to remove heavy metals and metabolic waste via the soles of one's feet may do little more than remove dollars from gullible consumers.
National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" featured a report by Sarah Varney, who actually used some of the detoxifying footpads and then took them to an environmental lab to analyze the gross-looking slime that appeared after a night's worth of use. The results? Lab technicians could find no significant difference between the soiled-appearing pads and unused pads.
Researchers told Varney that the human body actually has an efficient and time-tested process for removing "metabolic waste" from the body, which is expelled via urine and feces. An environmental scientist found the manufacturers' claims that Kinoki footpads could leech dangerous substances from the human body via their feet were "not plausible."
