An ionic foot detox is said to work by pulling the toxins out of your body through your feet. Take, for example, the popular foot detox bath IonCleanse. Advertised as a safe and relaxing way to clear out the body, the ionizing machine works to ionize the foot bath water.
This process is said to give the hydrogen in the water a positive charge. The positive charge is said to attract the negatively charged toxins in your body. The ions in the foot bath water supposedly hold a charge that enables them bind to any heavy metals and toxins in your body, similar to how a magnet works. This allows the toxins to be pulled out through the bottoms of your feet.
Some foot detox advocates claim that if the water in the foot bath changes color, it means the detox is working. This is not true. Whether the detox works has nothing to do with the color of the water. The water color can change for a number of mundane reasons, namely the presence of impurities in the water. This often happens when using tap water.
The water changing color may even be due to the foot bath itself. Although foot bath manufacturers say the ionizing charge will remove metals and toxins from the body of the person using it, they don’t explain how the charge skips over the metals that are actually in the foot bath.
The electricity in the product may cause some of the metal from the foot bath to be corroded by use. This could account for some of the discoloration in the water. Most foot detoxes also use special salts in the water, which can interact and cause the water to change color.
Traditionally, we think of acupuncture and herbal medicine as being the main components of Chinese medicine. The ionic foot detoxes we see today are a more modern invention, but magnetism itself has been used to accompany traditional Chinese methods medicinally in China for over 2,000 years.
Acupuncturists use a variety of modern tools now adays, that weren’t invented yet back in ancient Chinese times. Tools besides the ionic detox machine, such as the electrical stimulation machine work to accompany acupuncture. Both of these tools work with acupuncture to clear heat in the body.
“Every physician has a set of tools in his/her tool bag; sometimes you have to branch out to find more tools,” said Christine.
The pH test says: Yes! My post detox pH levels were right in the middle of the spectrum, as they should be, and noticeably more alkaline than before the detox. Christine says that the detox continues to alkalize the body up to 48 hours after the treatment, via urination and sweat, which is an added benefit. One should not eat/drink acidic foods after a treatment, to help better facilitate the detox process.
It’s important to aid in your body’s alkalizing process. “You can’t just come in and ‘get fixed’. You have to take ownership in your health. The work I do with a patient has to be part of a team effort,” Christine said, which is why the food alkalinity chart is so important. Christine suggests bringing it to the grocery store with you to help in purchasing alkalizing foods.
Other scientifically measured effects of this detox, besides alkalization, are lower blood sugar levels and lower cholesterol levels. A 2008 study by Center for Research Strategies showed participants’ levels of aluminum to have decreased by 46% and arsenic levels to have decreased by 24%, on average.
ankle reflexology foot chart picture
