The Truth about Ionic Foot Baths
Have you ever heard about ionic foot bath treatments? These detoxifying treatments have become so popular over the last several years that they are offered in spas as well as home versions. Made with ionic array straight from China. This company claims these treatments will draw toxins out of your body from your feet. A lot of time and money goes into each treatment. But do these ionic foot bath treatments actually work or is it a scam?
What are Ionic Foot Baths?
An ionic foot bath is where a client puts their feet in the water. The Ion Cleanse Unit generates a mix of positive and negative ions which are charged atoms. They attach themselves to oppositely charged toxic particles and draw them out of the body through pores in the feet. Here is an example of a detox foot bath in the pictures shown. At the beginning of the bath the water is clean. However almost immediately the water will start to change. After a 30 minute session, the water will be filled with a nasty colored water with metal flakes bubbling at the top. Supposedly the water will be different colors depending on which parts of the body were detoxed.
There are lists all over the internet that claim what organs were detoxified by the color of the water. Here is a graphic that details the parts of the body versus the color of the water. If the water is black it represents the liver being detoxed. A bluish colored water represents the kidneys. Brown can stand for the liver as well. It also represents tobacco and cellular debris. Green is for the gallbladder. Orange represents the joints being detoxed. Red flakes are for blood clots. Yellow is for the kidney, bladder, urinary tract, or the female and prostate area. A “cheesy” substance represents yeast fungal infections. Foam is mucus and lymphatic drainage. And finally, an oily substance floating in the water represents fat.
Options & Prices
I have found a spa center that offers this treatment for their clients. Heather Gordon Spa sells different packages for their clients based off of how many sessions they want.
- A single session cost $55.00
- Three sessions cost $149.00
- Five sessions cost $239.00
They have a video from a customer embedded onto their website showing a detox bath at work. Heather Gordon Spa also has a frequently asked questions section all about the ionic foot bath treatment.
You can also purchase an at home ionic foot bath at most stores. I found this one on Amazon. The IonizeMe foot bath costs $329.98. The two arrays that come with it will give you between 60-100 foot baths. You can purchase more arrays for $23.85. It comes with a five year warranty and has a 4-star rating on Amazon.
Reviews & Testimonials
Most reviews online are extremely positive. There are tons of blog posts on the ionic foot bath treatment being amazing. Here is a blog post from Organic Lifestyle Magazine. The author was originally a skeptic who was turned into a customer. One customer from Amazon gave a 5-star rating that said “We can feel a difference in our health after using it a few times a month”. Another 5-star rating claims it has “greatly reduced the pain in my body”. There are bad reviews though. A 1-star rated review says it’s a battery charger and “Are you kidding me? No, I did not put my feet in the water”.
The Truth
After all of this information we have found we need to get to the bottom line. There have been multiple investigations and studies done over the last few years on ionic foot baths. Inside Edition did an investigation about the detox foot bath wondering if it was a scam. Well according to research, it is a scam! An electrical engineer named Steven Fowler spoke to inside addition. He tested the ionic foot bath system in his lab. “Everything you see here is just rust,” said Fowler referring to the discolored water. The array that is placed in the water are metal electrodes positive and negative. When the array is placed into salt water, a chemical process called electrolysis causes the electrodes to rust very rapidly. This makes it look like the water is pulling toxins out of your body however it is not! Fuller went on to say “It is nothing but a scam”.
Chem1’s blog goes in depth about how the ionic foot bath treatments “junk science to draw dollars out of your wallet”. The job of drawing toxins out of your body is for your kidneys, not some random hocus pocus foot bath. The skin is resistant to all but a few chemicals. There is no scientific evidence that any chemicals that are found inside the body can pass through the skin to the outside, with or without the help of an electric current. It is impossible for any type of electrical current to be able to tell the difference between what toxins in the body are, and what are not and draw the bad ones out.
If you need more proof that this product is a sham, Evan McNair has a YouTube channel. One of his videos show an ionic foot bath without anything in it. With no surprise the color of the water still changes to a sludge color with metal on top. Again this is simply because it is a chemical reaction, not your body detoxifying.
So there you have it. Unfortunately ionic foot baths are a scam and do absolutely nothing for you. So how does it have so many rave review? If you want my opinion, I think it involves the Placebo Effect. A placebo effect is simply a group of people being told that something will do wonders for them. Then after use, people will swear that it changed or helped them in some way. When in reality it was either a sugar pill or nothing at all. Basically I am saying that it is just pure brain power. If you believe in something enough, your brain can perceive it in that way. I also think that customers actually seeing what they think are “toxins” coming out of their body has a lot to do with it. Seeing is believing and most people will purchase anything with a gimmick or “magical” properties. Do not be the statistic and don’t waste your time, energy, or money on the ionic foot bath treatment.
