Once again I was scrolling through social media when I came upon a post about a detox foot bath (also if you aren’t following me on Instagram, you should be!). I was immediately intrigued. I stopped my scroll right then and there and looked up all the videos on detox foot baths that I could. The foot baths were so disgusting and so satisfying all at the same time! I was so curious, so I asked my husband to get me one for my birthday!
When I got my detox foot bath, I immediately ripped it open and told my husband he was going to be my guinea pig. Honestly, I thought my husbands foot bath would be disgusting, mainly because he is a smoker. Really, I just wanted his water to be grosser than mine! That actually wasn’t the case though. Our water was pretty much the same except for the smell.
The fact that our water wasn’t drastically different got me thinking, do these detox foot baths actually pull toxins out of your feet? Or are they simply a marketing ploy? Also, when I had posted about this detox foot bath online, many had said they do not actually work. So I wanted to do a little experiment for myself. I decided to run the detox foot bath normally with my feet in it, and then run it without my feet to see the difference.
Before I show you my results, let me give you a little background information on this foot bath.
What Does a Detox Foot Bath Do?
**Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.**
The main use of a detox foot bath is to pull toxins out of your body through your feet. Feet have been used for ages to help the body function at optimal levels. They contain reflexology points, many people put essential oils on their feet, and they have also been used to remove toxins in other forms, such as an Aztec Clay Mask (check out my blog post on it here!).
So it makes sense that ionized water will pull toxins out as well. The thought is that the water will turn different colors depending on which areas of your body need detoxing the most. Once again, in theory this makes sense since different quadrants of your feet coordinate to different organs. Here are some of the different water colors and which organs they refer to:
- Yellowish/ greenish – urinary tract
- Brown/ black – liver (brown can be tobacco use)
- Black flakes – heavy metals
- White flakes – lymphatic system
- Red flakes – toxins in blood
I am going to link the detox foot bath my husband got me here! This foot bath is super easy to use, clean, and operate! The only think I don’t like about it, is the price tag and storing it!
Does the Foot Bath Actually Work?
To show my results from both detox foot baths, I made a video giving updates every five minutes. First I go over the components and how the detox foot bath works. Then I will show you a cycle with my feet in and without my feet.
Here is what I found:
My Thoughts on the Detox Foot Bath
After doing both detox foot baths, I do believe that it is pulling out some toxins. But I do not believe it works in the way it is marketed. The water colors are the biggest marketing component to these detox foot baths and I think that the water color plays no part. Since the water color was the exact same for the both detox foot baths, I think it is simply the ionized water that is causing it. It is not telling you which organs need to be detoxed.
The smell is what makes me believe that actual toxins could be pulled out. When doing the detox foot bath with my feet, it smells so bad that I can hardly stand it! But when I ran the foot bath without my feet, there was no smell. It could be possible that something else is making the foot bath smell when feet are in there, but it could also be true that toxins are being removed.
The other thing that makes me think it is working is the sediment found at the bottom of the foot bath. When I dumped out the foot bath, there was so much sediment when I ran the bath with my feet in. When there were no feet in the bath, there was no sediment. There could have honestly been dirt on my feet and that might simply be it, but it could also be toxins.
I do not think the black flakes are any indication of toxins being removed. I really think it might be gunk that is on the filter and it leaks out when it is soaked in water. The flakes were present with or without feet which to me means that it does not indicate heavy metals present.
Do I Think It Works?
Honestly, I’m not sure if this thing is pulling out toxins or not. I think it is incredibly soothing and an amazing form of self-care. I do believe that it is doing something simply based off the smell. If it wasn’t doing anything, I would think there would be no smell. The smell is honestly something you have to smell for yourself to believe it. It is so incredibly horrible!
All in all, I am going to keep using the detox foot bath, mainly because I like it! I find it to be an excellent form of self care! If you decide to try it, drop a comment below and let me know what you think!