Kinoki Detox Foot Pads: Safe & Natural Toxin Removal

[Ivan Seeking]

Why use Kinoki Detox Foot Pads?
Formulated in Japan using all-natural tree extracts and powerful negative ions Kinoki Foot Pads help rid the body of harmful toxins. Kinoki Foot Pads purge toxins safely and effectively.

https://www.buykinoki.com/?cid=398358

 

[turbo]

Holy Cow! If I wasn't so heavily invested in Chia Pets, I'd dump everything into Kinoki Foot Pads! What an innovation!

 

[glondor]

Hey I heard about these last weekend. There is a mcgill university professer of chemistry that does a radio show out of montreal on CJAD that is simulcast here in Toronto on cfrb. His name is Dr joe schwartz. He does a 1 hour show on chemistry in our everyday lives. He did a quick discussion on these pads with the explanation that the sweat from your feet activate some chemicals in the pads that produce brown staining.This staining is purported to be "bad " chemicals comeing out of your body. Dr Joe says it is a hoax. He goes well into investigating this kind of thing to determine if these types of things are usefull or quackery. Dr. Joe's radio show http://www.cjad.com/shows/19157

Dr.Joes University page http://oss.mcgill.ca/

Past Dr Joe shows. http://oss.mcgill.ca/joeshow-a.php

 

[Moonbear]

Do they at least absorb the sweat and prevent stinky feet? Or are they totally useless?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Do Kinoki Foot Pads at least absorb the sweat and prevent stinky feet?

For that we have another ancient Japanese secret: Dr Scholls foot pads

 

[CEL]

From:
http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4083

Since the Kinoki foot pads are self-adhesive, peeling them away removes the outermost layer of dead skin cells. And since they are moist, they loosen additional dead cells when left on for a while. So it's a given that the pads will look brown when peeled from your foot, exactly like any adhesive tape would; though this effect is much less dramatic than depicted on the TV commercials, depending on how dirty your feet are. And, as they predict, this color will diminish over subsequent applications, as fewer and fewer of your dead, dirty skin cells remain. There is no magic detoxification needed to explain this effect.

 

[FredGarvin]

I've seen the infomercials on those things. I just about spit my drink out when I saw it. They even go through chemical analysis of what was in the pad after the next morning. Wow!

There is indeed a sucker born every minute.

 

[AngelsWalk]

Can you explain why...?

This was a few years ago. My boss, of that era, purchased these from an older couple who sold them around town. I received them as a gift, long before commercial days for this product.

I used them for about a week. I wore them all day, every day till the pads stopped turning dark brown. There was no adhesive on these. They were outwardly designed like a very expensive bandage (or feminine maxi.) The inner layers were consistent with a very absorbent maxi, tho you can feel there is a gritty type substance in the middle, like dry herbs.

The first day the pads were black. You notice there is moisture within the pad. It is damp and sticky. The next couple days they're more dry, less moisture appears to be inside. The moisture concentrates to an area around the middle. They finally end up coming out with no moisture and no visible darkness. My feet seem to feel less moist at the end of the day after using these. A co-worker used them at the first signs of a cold, and he turned out much better than what he anticipated at first signs of illness.

The article boasts a natural herb with some type of negative ionic effect. Is it probable that this be true? For those that are claiming this is a scam, provided with my testimony, do you have any explanation for the results I received?

What can these pads consist of, that would produce such result? As a 'green' business owner and retail provider, I may like to carry these if the likelihood, that they work, is greater than not. I appreciate any help regarding answers to these questions.

Many blessings of Joy & Fruit, may Life be a Smoothie.

;)

Angel of Organic Earth

 

[Evo]

This was a few years ago. My boss, of that era, purchased these from an older couple who sold them around town. I received them as a gift, long before commercial days for this product.

I used them for about a week. I wore them all day, every day till the pads stopped turning dark brown. There was no adhesive on these. They were outwardly designed like a very expensive bandage (or feminine maxi.) The inner layers were consistent with a very absorbent maxi, tho you can feel there is a gritty type substance in the middle, like dry herbs.

The first day the pads were black. You notice there is moisture within the pad. It is damp and sticky. The next couple days they're more dry, less moisture appears to be inside. The moisture concentrates to an area around the middle. They finally end up coming out with no moisture and no visible darkness. My feet seem to feel less moist at the end of the day after using these. A co-worker used them at the first signs of a cold, and he turned out much better than what he anticipated at first signs of illness.

The article boasts a natural herb with some type of negative ionic effect. Is it probable that this be true? For those that are claiming this is a scam, provided with my testimony, do you have any explanation for the results I received?

What can these pads consist of, that would produce such result? As a 'green' business owner and retail provider, I may like to carry these if the likelihood, that they work, is greater than not. I appreciate any help regarding answers to these questions.

Many blessings of Joy & Fruit, may Life be a Smoothie.

;)

Angel of Organic Earth

The only "benefit" from such an item is a "placebo" effect, it's not real. If your feet perspire less with continued use, there could be an antiperspirant in the pads. There could also be a chemical in the pad that reacts to moisture, the less moisture, the less darkening.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

They don't even claim to reduce perspiration.

Angelswalk, one or two anecdotal and subjective reports mean nothing. If you can produce test data from a nationally recognized lab that shows that body toxins were reduced after use, that would be another thing. But you won't find any because this is absolute nonsense.

Note that someone who didn't get as sick as they expected is not a test of anything. It means nothing. We have no idea how sick that person would have been otherwise. But I would bet the farm that if we could know, the difference was zip.

 

[W3pcq]

Why don't one of you do a test? Use the pad for a night and then see what is in it? I'm sure one of you has lab access. I think it is a scam, but it would be easy to disprove once and for all.

 

[hypatia]

I suspect some form of tannic acid in them, which turns dark brown with sweat/salts.

 

[ghost02]

Maybe tea leaves. No more foot oder when using tea. Also, if you perspire the tea would get wet and then brown.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

If Kinoki Foot Pads are a scam, why aren't they investigated?

 

[turbo]

If Kinoki Foot Pads are a scam, why aren't they investigated?

For the same reason that copper bracelets, homeopathic "medicines", magnetic innersoles, etc aren't investigated. Quacks make a lot of money on this stuff, and there is little incentive to spend time and money to debunk them. As long as these products don't harm people, the government won't go after them.

 

[ZapperZ]

If Kinoki Foot Pads are a scam, why aren't they investigated?

The FDA is not given jurisdiction over the "Natural" or alternative medicine industry. Thanks to their lobbying efforts in congress, they are exempted from producing clinical data to support their claim. That's why you can also see those "homeopathic spray" commercials. Only after there is a health scare do the authorities step in.

Zz.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

The FDA is not given jurisdiction over the "Natural" or alternative medicine industry. Thanks to their lobbying efforts in congress, they are exempted from producing clinical data to support their claim. That's why you can also see those "homeopathic spray" commercials. Only after there is a health scare do the authorities step in.

Zz.

Can't these scam companies be sued for false advertising if the product doesn't work as described?

 

[ZapperZ]

Can't these scam companies be sued for false advertising if the product doesn't work as described?

All they need to claim is: "Results may vary", and that's that. They can show a few people who got "better" by using it and they're done. Unless you're willing to really do a clinical study of your own to show convincingly that it doesn't work, then you have no proof that it doesn't, and that's what they are counting on. So they have managed to turn the burden of proof on you, rather than the other way around.

Zz.

 

[CEL]

One example of this is the infamous Q-Ray bracelet. The FTC filed a complaint with the courts on May 27, 2003, after several months of investigation and preparation for litigation. (see ftc.gov/os/caselist/0323011/qtinccmp.pdf). After four and a half years of complex, protracted litigation, Judge Frank Easterbrook, the Chief Judge of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered reimbursement in a minimum amount of $22.5 million up to a maximum of $87 million.
Of course the scammers earned much more during this time and they will continue to scam people in other countries.

 

[turbo]

Here is Dr. Frank - the quack that is selling 2-oz spray bottles of water for only $19.95, plus $6.94 S&H. His commercials are running in heavy rotation - must be a REALLY profitable business.

http://www.nopainspray.com/indexHJR_12_20_07.asp?tid=100

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Here is Dr. Frank - the quack that is selling 2-oz spray bottles of water for only $19.95, plus $6.94 S&H. His commercials are running in heavy rotation - must be a REALLY profitable business.

I've also seen an infomercial for a pet pain relief spray too.

 

[W3pcq]

I hear of much skepticism, but of no debunking. Sounds like group thinking taking over to me.

 

[CEL]

I hear of much skepticism, but of no debunking. Sounds like group thinking taking over to me.

Read post #6, signed by me. What more debunking do you want?

 

[Moonbear]

Can't these scam companies be sued for false advertising if the product doesn't work as described?

The problem there is that usually the people buying them are gullible enough to believe the claims, and don't question the results.

I have heard of one company that finally got shut down for mail fraud...instead of being raided by cops, it was the Postal Inspectors and Postal Police that finally nabbed them.

From the descriptions I'm reading of them resembling a maxi pad, there probably is at least as much benefit as sticking a maxi pad in your shoes...a little extra padding and some absorption of moisture. Nothing special, and not removing "toxins" from the body, but nothing particularly harmful, and maybe slightly more comfortable than wearing cheap shoes without such padding.

 

[turbo]

I hear of much skepticism, but of no debunking. Sounds like group thinking taking over to me.

As for the sprays, homeopathic medicines are supposedly made stronger by diluting them. Once you get to significant dilution ratios, it is likely that there is no molecule of the "active" ingredient in the solvent (water, alcohol, etc). This requires no debunking.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeopathy

The chances of a single molecule of the original substance remaining in a 15C dilution would be roughly 1 in 2 million, and less than one in a billion billion billion billion (1036) for a 30C solution. For a perspective on these numbers, there are in the order of 1032 molecules of water in an Olympic size swimming pool and if such a pool were filled with a 15C homeopathic remedy, to expect to get a single molecule from the original substance, one would need to swallow 1% of the volume of such a pool, or roughly 25 metric tons of water.

 

[chemisttree]

Oh yeah.. but the water remembers the shape of the dissolved substance and induces the rest of the water to adopt that corresponding remembered shape. You got to have faith in these products! (and $19.95 plus $6.95 shipping and handling)

I sure hope that water doesn't have a memory... I've been so cruel to water in the past.

 

[Evo]

I sure hope that water doesn't have a memory... I've been so cruel to water in the past.

I'm afraid that I could link to threads here on that.

Well, here you have it, conclusive scientific evidence, but held back by

Many of those involved in the research areas of water memory and templating have had difficult times in bringing this developing science to the attention of the medical community. One has to believe that the solid entrenchment of the pharmaceutical industry in the American Medical Association as well as the interlocking financial nature of medical professionals with the pharmaceutical industries, pharmacies and other drug dispensories has much to do with the difficulty this science has found in going to work and solving serious medical problems.

Riiight. It's a conspiracy.

http://www.aquatechnology.net/watermemory.html

Or Emoto (we have a number of threads on this one)

Masaru Emoto (江本勝, Emoto Masaru?, b. July 22, 1943, Yokohama, Japan) is an author known for his controversial claim that if human thoughts are directed at water before it is frozen, images of the resulting water crystals will be beautiful or ugly depending upon whether the thoughts were positive or negative. Emoto claims this can be achieved through prayer, music or by attaching written words to a container of water.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masaru_Emoto

If that hasn't frightened you try this.

https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=1131096&postcount=1

 

[erktmed]

To those still thinking the kinoki foot pads might possibly work:
Of all the toxins alleged to come out of the feet into the pads, which toxins would be responsible for turning the pads a dark color? If I’m not mistaken, the colors of those chemicals are nothing but clear or white. If you disagree, please show which of the toxic chemicals purported to reside in the body have a dark brown color. Unless you can explain how the darkening discoloration would in any way support kinoki’s claim (detoxification / the presence of toxic chemicals in the pads), their initial premise is false.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Can anyone debunk their claim that trees discard toxins from the sun down through the trees roots?

 

[Poop-Loops]

To those still thinking the kinoki foot pads might possibly work:
Of all the toxins alleged to come out of the feet into the pads, which toxins would be responsible for turning the pads a dark color? If I’m not mistaken, the colors of those chemicals are nothing but clear or white. If you disagree, please show which of the toxic chemicals purported to reside in the body have a dark brown color. Unless you can explain how the darkening discoloration would in any way support kinoki’s claim (detoxification / the presence of toxic chemicals in the pads), their initial premise is false.

You're essentially pooping through your feet. I don't know about you all, but that's been my dream since I was a kid.

I'll take 20!

 

[Moonbear]

Can anyone debunk their claim that trees discard toxins from the sun down through the trees roots?

What toxins from the sun? I'm not a plant biologist, but I only know of plants taking up nutrients from the soil into their roots, and other exchanges of gases occurring through the stomata in the stems and leaves.

But, it hardly matters, does it? Afterall, humans aren't plants. We don't remove wastes from our body through our feet, we do so through our renal and digestive systems. If you're unable to properly filter toxins out of your body, you don't need foot pads, you need dialysis.

 

[Rocketmandb]

If I’m not mistaken, the colors of those chemicals are nothing but clear or white. If you disagree, please show which of the toxic chemicals purported to reside in the body have a dark brown color. Unless you can explain how the darkening discoloration would in any way support kinoki’s claim (detoxification / the presence of toxic chemicals in the pads), their initial premise is false.

There may be a whole host of reasons why they don't work, but this argument can't be among them. I am a 30+ year aquarist and I routinely use "detox pads" in my reef aquariums to remove heavy metals and other impurities that my other natural filtration does not remove. These pads are 12"x12" white porous filter material with the consistancy close to those cut-to-fit A/C filters. I just float these in my sump and within a couple weeks they are jet black with impurities. The color is not due to particulate being caught as there is a particulate filter prior to this area of the sump. I once used one of these in a friend's tank who's house had copper piping. Within a couple days it was sky blue due to the copper it pulled from the water. The reason mine (and most people's) turn black is because there are so many chemicals that manifest themselves in different colors and when all are combined you get black.

 

[kmarinas86]

There may be a whole host of reasons why they don't work, but this argument can't be among them. I am a 30+ year aquarist and I routinely use "detox pads" in my reef aquariums to remove heavy metals and other impurities that my other natural filtration does not remove. These pads are 12"x12" white porous filter material with the consistancy close to those cut-to-fit A/C filters. I just float these in my sump and within a couple weeks they are jet black with impurities. The color is not due to particulate being caught as there is a particulate filter prior to this area of the sump. I once used one of these in a friend's tank who's house had copper piping. Within a couple days it was sky blue due to the copper it pulled from the water. The reason mine (and most people's) turn black is because there are so many chemicals that manifest themselves in different colors and when all are combined you get black.

So maybe the Kinoki foot pads are like "Ionic Breeze" for your feet.

 

[Rocketmandb]

So maybe the Kinoki foot pads are like "Ionic Breeze" for your feet.

Your link just took me to the home page for Sharper Image. I was too lazy to look up the latest on their Ionic Breeze product, but I did like this http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/catalog/product/sku__HW569BLK" :)

 

[TheMetalChick]

:) Hello!

I know this isn't exactly a new thread, but I felt like I had to comment. I literally joined this forum because of this thread (after finding it in a search)
I think every response here has been absolutely hysterical! :) Nice job lol.

 

[CEL]

From http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4101

The active ingredient in Kinoki footpads is powdered wood vinegar. When it's dried, it forms a colorless powder. In its normal liquid state, it's dark brown or black. Contact with perspiration from your foot reconstitutes the acetic acid in the wood vinegar, and the dark liquid stains the pad. Presto, science in action, and no magical transport of mysterious "toxins" through non-permeable skin is needed to explain the effect.

 

[TheMetalChick]

I just saw a new, different commercial for these things- and I of course thought of this thread. :)

It seems that they have taken the "Asian" aspect out of it now and are calling them "Power Purify Foot Patches." They attribute the way they work not to being "like a tree", but solely to gravity. So now its gravity that supposedly moves toxins away from your body’s vital organs and into your feet. However, the animated illustration in the commercial shows stuff (toxins?) moving from your fingertips up your arms and back toward the body trunk (which to the best of my knowledge is not only going against gravity but also is moving toxins TOWARD your vital organs... unless your fingers are more vital than your lungs, heart, etc) then down your legs and to, of course, your feet. I also note that you are supposed to use these things laying down, so why gravity would still draw everything to your feet of all places when you are sprawled out on a bed is also beyond me.

Incidentally, I believe these things are even claiming to rectify problems attributed to radiation exposure. I wish I had recorded the commercial, but they seemed to mention similar things as the old commercial. I think they say that tourmaline is an ingredient that uses infrared rays to heat and open pores- that this stimulates reflexology points. They also include wood vinegar from oak, beech, and sakura trees. OK, then.

 

[Evo]

That's hysterical! Thanks for the post!

 

[rouenpucelle]

I hear of much skepticism, but of no debunking. Sounds like group thinking taking over to me.

Even if its effectiveness is not empirically supported, it could still be effective but be manifesting a Type II error. Maybe it's effective for only a very tiny segment of the population whose body chemistry is somehow different from that of most people. All that can really be "proven" is its statistical significance in a controlled study.

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

(P.S. It could still be B.S.)

 

[Ivan Seeking]

The fact is that it can't do what they claim. It is that simple.

 

[Moonbear]

From http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4101

It seems a simple test of that would be to spritz them with sterile, purified water. If it's just a moisture-induced color change type indicator, they should turn brown with a little spritzing.

 

[turbo]

You want to make similar foot pads? Load them with fibers from tea leaves, oak wood, etc. They can look nice and white, and as soon as you sweat into those pads, the tannic acid will create nice dark brown stains.

 

[pantaz]

Reasonably thorough report from ABC News:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Stossel/story?id=4636224
Ridding Yourself of Toxins, or Money?
April 11, 2008

FTA: The Kinoki ads' claim that we're brimming with things like heavy metals, toxins and parasites scares people. "20/20" asked NMS Labs, a national laboratory in Willow Grove, Pa., that performs toxicology testing, to analyze the used Kinoki and Avon pads from eight of our group to see what we could find on the pads.

The lab tested for a lot of things, including heavy metals like arsenic and mercury and 23 solvents, including benzene, tolulene and styrene and found none of these on the used pads.
---

Related:
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2008/04/your_friday_dose_of_woo_when_two_woos_go_to_war.php

 

[Moonbear]

Reasonably thorough report from ABC News:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Stossel/story?id=4636224
Ridding Yourself of Toxins, or Money?
April 11, 2008

FTA: The Kinoki ads' claim that we're brimming with things like heavy metals, toxins and parasites scares people. "20/20" asked NMS Labs, a national laboratory in Willow Grove, Pa., that performs toxicology testing, to analyze the used Kinoki and Avon pads from eight of our group to see what we could find on the pads.

The lab tested for a lot of things, including heavy metals like arsenic and mercury and 23 solvents, including benzene, tolulene and styrene and found none of these on the used pads.
---

Related:
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2008/04/your_friday_dose_of_woo_when_two_woos_go_to_war.php

Should've quoted the most relevant statement from the ABC story:

"I feel like it's a scam," said Sweeney. "It's just the moisture in your feet that are darkening the pad."

Bingo. There's no evidence that it's toxins. When I dropped distilled water on the pad, it turns dark in seconds.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

A similar product is now selling with the brand name, Power Purify Foot Pads.
http://www.powerpurify.com/?cid=536325

 

[metalweb]

I became a member of this forum while I was searching for the credibility of the Power purify producty. It seems the only way to buy the foot pad is on the web using your credit card. It seems I cannot buy it using check or even cashiers check. Plus, they keep sending you products at every interval and automatically charging your credit card.

All this points that its a scam. If I make a product that's really cool - I'd give prople 100s of options to buy and not this silly way - I try to stay away from all products that sell in this way.

But anyways, the footpad did one good thing to me - it made me find this forum which i instantly became a member of. Thankyou powerpurify :)

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I became a member of this forum while I was searching for the credibility of the Power purify producty. It seems the only way to buy the foot pad is on the web using your credit card. It seems I cannot buy it using check or even cashiers check. Plus, they keep sending you products at every interval and automatically charging your credit card.

All this points that its a scam. If I make a product that's really cool - I'd give prople 100s of options to buy and not this silly way - I try to stay away from all products that sell in this way.

But anyways, the footpad did one good thing to me - it made me find this forum which i instantly became a member of. Thankyou powerpurify :)

Thank you, metalweb, and welcome to PF.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I've seen these in a Walgreens and gas stations! Beyond tv now.

 

[Moonbear]

I've seen these in a Walgreens and gas stations! Beyond tv now.

I saw them in Bed Bath and Beyond too, but then they have lots of useless contraptions in their beauty section. They should've stuck with kitchenwares and linens.

 

[TheMetalChick]

I saw them in Bed Bath and Beyond too, but then they have lots of useless contraptions in their beauty section. They should've stuck with kitchenwares and linens.

Wow, that is so... sad.