Originally published October 22 2008
Detoxifying: Footpads May Not be the Answer
by Richard Stossel
(NaturalNews) It today polluted world, more and more people are becoming aware of the need to detoxify the body. This is certainly good news, but along with this new idea there are always going to be companies that will look to take advantage of people's desires to be healthy. Unfortunately medical scams are the oldest scam in the history of the world.
Detoxifying footpads have become quite popular and often promise a simple and easy way, according to the claims, to remove toxins from the bloodstream by simply placing these footpads on your feet during sleep. The claims are that they will remove heavy metals and other impurities from your feet. They show as "evidence" of this blackened pads which is reported as proof that detoxification has actually occurred.
According to a study done by the NPR (National Public Radio), Kinoki footpads seem to be nothing more than a scam. Below is an excerpt from www.theconsumerist.com
"Reporter Sarah Varney and her husband bought some "detoxifying" Kinoki foot pads and wore them to bed. In the morning, they both awoke find the pads covered in the brown mess that the advertisement had promised. But when they took the foot pads to a lab and had them analyzed and compared with unused pads, the used pads were almost identical to the blank. Further experimentation showed that the "gunk" in the pads shows up if you hold the pad over a pot of boiling water. So what is all that gunk in the pad? We`re not really sure, but it shows up if you hold the pad over a pot of boiling water. Who knew steam had "metabolic waste"?
Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt of the American Academy of Neural Therapy said this;
"I came in contact with the foot pads about ten years ago through a Swiss-based company that was marketing the first footpad in Europe. The company is called Seguin, and they're marketing the traditional Japanese foot pad. It's been out for over 100 years; the Japanese are using fermented bamboo vinegar. Now, what struck me at the time is that this bamboo juice had to be fermented for nine years before it was used.
We tried other foot pads, and there was clearly an effect similar to acupuncture, where people's energetic systems improved. I did not see any significant triggering of detoxification�we just saw improvements in the autonomic nervous system, depending on where you put the foot pad.
Typically, by putting it on the soles of the feet, there is, in acupuncture, a relationship to the kidney meridian. And we did find that an improvement in urine, and in the organic acids. The kidneys bind toxins to organic acids, and the more organic acids come out, the more effective the kidneys are working. We clearly saw an improvement with that."
In these tough economic times the last thing we need is for companies to take advantage of those who are seeking to cleanse their bodies and improve their health only to realize that they're wasting their time and money.
This is another good reason to not trust in such exaggerated claims or shortcuts to real health. There are no shortcuts to cleansing the body or achieving true health. It takes time, energy, and work with the right information to get healthy and stay that way. Products such as this take advantage of people's desire for quick results which is a major reason why the health and fitness industry is rife with machines and drugs galore all claiming or promising to give you great health with little or no work.
The longer consumers believe in the "magic bullet" approach to health and fitness the more people will be taken in by such deceptive products, claims and scams.
The single best way to cleanse, purify and detoxify the body is something that you're doing every second of your life anyway -breathing. With every breath you take your cleansing the body of metabolic wastes on a constant basis. By practicing deep breathing and other cleansing exercises regularly your helping to purge the blood and cells of excess toxins at a faster rate than normal.
The next best way is through the use of juice fasting where you would abstain from solid foods for 24 hours or more while taking in copious amounts of freshly made fruit and vegetable juices. This gives the body large amounts of natural vitamins, nutrients, biophotonic energy and enzymes that greatly assist the body in cleansing on all levels.
Water fasting is a more advanced type of fasting which is done by also taking in no solid food for 24-72 hours or more. During the fast you only drink water and adding various types of fine grade volcanic psyllium seed husk cleansing powders that help to loosen impacted matter from deep in the colon. The volcanic ash which has high magnetic properties due to it`s mineral content helps to pull out heavy metals and toxins from deep within the colon, internal organs and cells. This is a more advanced type of cleansing and should only be don by those in good health and with the guidance of a health professional.
The body is naturally designed to cleanse itself when food is no longer being consumed. Enzymes are vital to this function which is why juicing during a fast greatly enhances it`s effectiveness. When food is no longer taken in by the body the enzymes that are normally on digestion duty begin to travel around the body and perform internal house cleaning. They travel through the cells, organs, brain and blood and purge the body of various toxins, organisms, bacteria, viruses, tumors and other impurities. This is why those who fast for 72 hours or more start to feel ill because the body is flooding the blood with the impurities removed from the cells during the fast.
Most people think this is a symptom of nutrient deficiency and that the body is crying out for food, but this is not so. Some try to prove this belief by using the fact that when someone who is fasting for several days begins to eat again, they feel better almost immediately. But that's because once you eat something, detoxification of the body ceases and the enzymes that are on detox duty now go back to digesting duty and impurities are no longer being fed into the bloodstream.
On a 72 hour or greater fast, the bloodstream and elimination organs such as the kidneys and liver are working hard to purge the body of all the toxins deep in the system. So it`s a good idea to make sure you`re in good health before attempting detoxifying at this level.
Remember there are no shortcuts to detoxifying the body or attaining good health. It requires work and time and if you try to rush it you could well end up compromising your health instead of improving it. There are herbs and herbal potions as well as fruits and vegetables that can increase the rate of internal cleansing. You must eat these foods on a regular basis with proper levels of exercise, deep breathing, juice fasting and other natural techniques to help properly and effectively cleanse the body. Most importantly it requires patience and time.
The real answer to cleansing and detoxifying the body is to live a natural, organic, healthy lifestyle with a diet loaded with real raw foods full of natural vitamins, enzymes and bioenergy and periodic fasting. This will allow your body to detoxify itself correctly at the same time giving you all the building blocks that your body needs to regenerate itself from the inside out.
Source Articles;
Consumerist.com
http://consumerist.com/5038757/gee-whiz-it-t...
Mercola.com
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/a...
About the author
Richard is a network engineer and longtime practitioner of Chinese martial arts, medicine and chi-gung for over twenty six years. Having learned many Chinese health and healing arts from old world gung-fu and healing masters and practitioners, he has helped many people to overcome their health issues and achieve their fitness goals. Through diligent study and experience he has taken this knowledge even further over the years including reading scores of books on Chinese medicine, health, chi theory, science, physics, nutrition, supplements, meditation, martial arts, and many other subjects. Utilizing the web, health and fitness videos, newsletters, articles, teachings and lectures, Rich is passionate about spreading the true knowledge of health, healing, fitness and spiritual truths. I'm proud to be writing articles for NaturalNews.com You can read many articles, hear audio interviews, and learn more about the highly praised Chinese Health and Fitness video by visiting Chinese Health and Fitness.com
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