Detox foot patches - a load of cobblers?!

[millytint44]

So a work colleague told me about the detox foot patches she's been using to help with menopausal symptoms. She's an executive leader and usually fairly no nonsense about things. She described these foot patches that 'detox' her and she knows they're working because the patches have 'stuff' in them when she takes them off...

Seriously?!

AIBU - detox foot patches are a big con. Or am I missing the next big thing?!

No evidence they work no.

I can't find the link but I've read that the 'proof' of these foot patches - that they go dark in colour - is because what is in the pads reacts with water. So the sweat from your feet causes a colour change, nothing to do with 'toxins'.

They’re absolute bollocks. They just change colour after contact with sweat, that’s all.

Anything that claims to ‘detox’ you or magically rid your body of toxins is bullshit. If you have kidneys and a liver your body is detoxing itself already. You are detoxing every time you go for a wee.

The placebo effect is well researched and very powerful. If it makes her feel better .......

God are these back again? I remember everyone using these in the 90s! Yes as far as I remember there was no evidence they did anything, same with those detox foot bath things where the water changed colour

Yes of course they're a total con. They contain pyroligneous acid, which is "hydrophilic", aka it loves water. The "stuff" that's there when you take them off is the stuff that was already in it that has simply reacted to and absorbed your sweat.

They're explained in detail in the book Bad Science (as are "detox" foot baths).