Podiatribe

Umbra on toxins in your body 13

Dear Umbra,

I saw an infomercial late at night about these foot pads that you wear to sleep and they will "remove toxins from your body." I didn't know who else to ask, so you win that lottery. Do we actually have that many toxins in our body? And does wearing silly pads on our feet really pull them out so we can easily throw these toxins in the trash? I think you should do an experiment and let me know if I'm missing the boat by not ordering right away -- or if I should save energy that will be used by ordering, shipping, and discarding used foot pads.

Elizabeth
Washington, D.C.

Dearest Elizabeth,

Anything you see for sale on late-night TV is guaranteed to be useful. Worth every penny. I asked our comptroller for a credit card so that I could do your suggested experiment. He said no. I'm not a responsible late night shopper (after the Ginsu knife incident), and Grist is all wrapped up in testing nail polish, toothpaste, and organic beer. No time for toxin-sucking foot pads.

Soothe your sole, au naturale.

Photo: sarahfelicity

Let's see what the internet tells us about foot pad-related toxins in our body. Looks like we have metabolic wastes, parasites, chemicals, mucus (!), cellulite (?!?), "toxins" -- and eww, there's a "before" and "after" photo of the footpatch! Bleagh. It's a convincing photo, but I wouldn't undertake such an operation without consulting a professional.

What are toxins, and do we indeed have them inside us? Toxins are traditionally defined as poisons derived from living organisms (e.g., tetanus). Today the term is widely used to mean anything known to be poisonous or suspected to cause ill health. Inquiring into toxins can lead to the dubious world of New Age cure-alls, perhaps including these foot pads. But there's no disputing the sad fact that humans have introduced harmful poisons into the general environment, and many of these very same poisons may be found in our bodies. Our "body burden" includes chemical pollutants from pesticides, flame retardants, treated wood, lead paint, animal fats, cosmetics, and more. Some of these wafted through the air to our lungs; others we ate. Various studies have tested human blood, hair, and urine for chemicals, and delivered bad news. In just a few examples: breast milk contains persistent bioaccumulative toxics (PBTs) and persistent organic pollutants (POPs), such as dioxins, furans, and PCBs. Bill Moyers had 87 out of 214 tested substances, including lead and methylmercury, in his body; some of his fellow Human Toxome Project subjects had more than 100. Ten Washingtonians who were tested for toxic chemicals all had phthalates, PCBs, and mercury in their samples. Many of these chemicals are known or suspected to damage us in some way, be it in our endocrine system, our brain, or our reproductive organs.

Our existing body burden diminishes as water-soluble pollutants exit in our sweat, urine, and other watery outputs; mercury also exits through our hair and nails. Fat-soluble chemicals, however, will only leave us if we lose the fat in which they are stored. Taking those factors into account, we can help cleanse ourselves by losing weight, reducing our exposure to harmful chemicals, and letting our body burden decline via the natural excretion process.

Personal steps to reduce chemical exposure include eating lower on the food chain and eating low-mercury fish, using furniture free of PBDE flame retardants, and avoiding pesticides, solvents, and smoking ... stuff we've oft discussed in this space. Find more information on what to avoid from the Environmental Working Group, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Pollution in People, or the Grist archives (search for "body burden" or "environmental health," and voila). We each have a major role to play in reducing community exposure to these chemicals. Our consumption habits have the potential to contribute to chemical pollution (vinyl production emits dioxin, to mention one favorite dead horse), or to promote a cleaner way of life (emitting less car exhaust via driving fewer miles per week, to mention another dead horse).

Which brings us back to whether or not one should buy a product of dubious value advertised on late-night television. Eschewing late-night shopping is excellent personal environmental policy, and the omnipresence of chemicals in the manufacture of stuff is one additional reason. Buying less stuff is an important toe on our eco-footprint. If anyone has news about toxin-removing foot pads, or how cellulite and mucus count as toxins, please write in. Until then, let us refrain from any unnecessary shopping, and simply wrap moist toilet paper about our feet. See where that gets us.

Gamely,
Umbra

 

Yours is to wonder why, hers is to answer (or try). Send your green-living questions to Umbra.

Umbra Fisk is Grist Research Associate II, Hardcover and Periodicals Unit, floors 2B-4B.

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  1. lsaenviro Posted 3:38 am
    18 Aug 2008

    toxins in the environment: the bigger issueI appreciate all the media attention lately around the topic of toxins in our environment, and am impatiently waiting for us as a country to address the real problem at hand: that our Federal regulatory system of protecting public health is broken.  The American Red Cross did a study in 2005, spearheaded by the Environmental Working Group and Commonweal, testing newborn chord blood (http://archive.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden2/execsumm.php) which found a total of 287 chemicals in the newborns. These chemicals include an array of neurotoxic chemicals (such as pesticides and flame retardants) and cancer causing chemicals.  
    These toxins are in our babies, so even if there are nifty devices to suck some of these chemicals from our feet (an interesting claim...), we should probably be asking the real question which is: How to we get our Federal government to follow a precautionary principle and prevent these exposures from occurring in our most vulnerable populations in the fist place?

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  2. psmith Posted 3:41 am
    18 Aug 2008

    Foot padsUmbra,
    I heard about them not on late night TV (I'm sure since I haven't watched TV for 4 years), but on the Daily OM website.  I purchased the 30-day pack and used them.  You can send in a used pad to be tested and they will tell you what toxins were released.  I'm very pleased and my Reiki practitioner has noticed a difference when she has gone to my feet.  The chakras there have not needed any balancing since that which was over a year ago.  If you tell me you don't believe Reiki works, well then what I said may not be all that useful to you.
    Priscilla

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  3. Birdy100 Posted 3:47 am
    18 Aug 2008

    Foot detox padsBought them and tried them one night, absolutely no change in the appearance of the pads.  Sent them back and got a prompt refund.  After I had ordered them I saw an item either online Consumer Reports or in the Consumer Reports On Health newsletter I get monthly, or it could have been in the monthly Consumer Reports magazine I get saying they were not helpful.  Enjoy your answers Umbra, keep it up.  Birdy

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  4. eram Posted 3:52 am
    18 Aug 2008

    US should follow EU's leadThe EU has implemented regulation (REACH) that will test & regulate chemicals (what a concept!).  In the good old US, we depend on industry to self regulate which is why we have all these chemicals are in our environment & bodies. I read that someone tested remote tribes in the Amazon rainforest who also have these chemicals in their bodies too--they're everywhere and they cause disease, but our govt is bought by industry so no regulation here! Rather than buying dubious footpads, contact your legislators and join environmental watchdogs that fight for common sense regulation.
    http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/reach/reach_int ...

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  5. AHanley Posted 4:49 am
    18 Aug 2008

    Kid-Safe Chemicals Actlsaenviro wrote:

    How to we get our Federal government to follow a precautionary principle and prevent these exposures from occurring in our most vulnerable populations in the fist place?
    It's an excellent question -- and the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act is the answer. It was recently (re)introduced in Congress, and it would require companies to demonstrate that their chemicals are safe before they're allowed on the market. On top of that, it would require reviews of chemicals already on the market, starting with the ones we know are showing up in people. Rallying around Kid-Safe is the best way to make a lasting change to our toxic environment. Here's some more info on the legislation.
    --Amanda @ EWG

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  6. savee419 Posted 5:57 am
    18 Aug 2008

    I fell for it!I got the foot pads... then my husband proceeded to research them online and they are NOT legit.
    The herbs inside of the pouch you stick to the bottom of your foot reacts with your foot sweat and turns dark.
    No toxin extraction here!

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  7. Fuzzworth Posted 6:11 am
    18 Aug 2008

    foot padsLighter side to discussion:  "Footpad" is an old term for a thief, usually a stealthy night-time  burglar. Yaaasss, quite ironic, eh, Watson?

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  8. jonah Posted 6:55 am
    18 Aug 2008

    NPR talked about thisI was just in the car listening to NPR and heard a clip about this today (August 18, 2008 - All Things Considered around 4:45 EST).
    The reporter tried them  for a night and took them to the UC Berkeley lab to test for metals. The results for both the original pad and the used ones were near identical.
    Guess they don't work.

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  9. psmith Posted 12:19 pm
    18 Aug 2008

    FootpadsMine absolutely turned dark - more at the beginning, less at the end of the 30 days.  Tests showed specific toxins released.  Interesting from the posts that there have been so many different experiences with these.  I tend to think the Daily OM is pretty legit and they have been listing them on their website (not just as an ad) for over a year.
    Priscilla

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  10. Abbey Posted 11:24 pm
    18 Aug 2008

    NPR featureI know someone already posted something about this, but I wanted to add more. In the NPR feature, not only did they find that there were no additional metals in the used foot patches, but they also found out why they turn black--there is something in them that responds to moisture! They put the pads over some steam and they turned black. You can listen to the whole report on the NPR website.

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  11. xedri Posted 12:09 am
    19 Aug 2008

    DetoxingI've seen commercials for those foot pads.  I was very dubious because, how could toxins leach through the skin and then through the thick calluses on the bottoms of your feet?
    One way I've found to remove accumlated toxins in my body is to detox once or twice a year.  I do a juice & tea fast for a few days to encourage my body to rid itself of excess fat (and all the toxins stored in there).  
    Doing a detox diet for a week or two after fasting, or instead of fasting, can also help remove both water- and fat-soluble toxins from your body.  A detox diet basically involves drinking plenty of water and eating only the good stuff - lots of fruits, veggies, gluten-free whole grains, beans, etc. - while avoiding the bad stuff - refined sugars, gluten, dairy, fried and processed food, etc.

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  12. trent Posted 12:35 am
    19 Aug 2008

    DetoxingSeveral years ago, I read the book The Hundred Year Lie which is all about the toxins in our environment and in our bodies.  The author had himself tested for a wide variety of toxins and then did a several week detox (at Hippocrates Health Center, I think) and had himself retested, and there were significant decreases.  So there is something to detoxing, but, as always, hucksters abound, especially on late-night infomercials.

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  13. wellkid Posted 10:47 am
    24 Aug 2008

    Detox with Olestra?If you're truly looking for ways to detox, try Olestra potato chips. I first ran across this information while researching my Biology Master's thesis (which had to do with effects of pollution in wild mink). See

    http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid ... or Google "Olestra" and "dioxin." Apparently, although Olestra is not absorbed through the gut lining, it can and does bind to fat-soluble toxins, thus removing them from the body through the lower GI. Of course, it can only remove what passes into the gut, so it's going to be a slow process, but at least it's not psuedoscience.

    Another good source of info is "Tired or Toxic" by Dr. Sherry Rogers, MD. I have a lot more faith in a peer-reviewed journal, or an experienced MD, than a late-night TV infomercial.

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