Information on Ionic Detox Foot Spas

Ionic foot baths are a popular method to detoxify your entire body by simply soaking your feet in a warm saltwater bath. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. The chemistry behind the low galvanic (1.5-volt battery) current in the water is called "electrolysis." But the metal "array" in the water with your feet is slowly rusting in the saltwater, resulting in particles of iron oxide being released from the array, not from your feet.

Features

• Ionic foot baths feel good. Your entire body is slightly energized afterward, due to the gentle electric current running through your body for the half hour of treatment. This tingling can produce a warm, calm sensation, and may even promote a feeling of well-being. The warm bath, the salty water and even the negative and positive ions in the water can make you feel better. For this reason, these ionic foot baths are not without benefit.

Function

• There is no doubt that our bodies need to detoxify. We live in a world of polluted food, air and water. The Center for Disease Control discovered more than 60 toxic compounds in the 2,000 people it tested in 2005, according to a news report on WPXI in Pittsburgh. How toxins are eliminated from the body, however, is not through the pores of our feet. We do excrete toxins from our skin, via sweating, but not from soaking our feet in a warm bath of ionized water. The small amount of toxins eliminated through this method would not amount to much, if any at all, according to a well-researched report in Spa Index.

Misconceptions

• The battery current begins with the metal array, which comes with the detox, placed in the warm salt bath. Your feet complete the circuit, and the electrolysis begins. The metal begins to rust in the salty water, clouding it more and more with gunky-looking material. This material, interestingly enough, according to a video on YouTube, does not change if left at room temperature for more than 10 days. If this material were organic, that is to say, if it were bacteria, yeast and other toxins from your body, it would begin to decompose. It would stink and the bacteria, at least, would flourish. Instead, since the substance is almost entirely iron oxide, it remains the same as when it came out of the bath. So although a small battery charge coursing through your body for a half hour undoubtedly makes you feel better, rest assured that it is not detoxifying your body.

Benefits

• There is some evidence that the electric current can make changes in your body chemistry by a process called ionization. This theory suggests that the ions in the water create the same energizing effect as standing near a waterfall or taking a walk on a beach alongside the ocean. There is also the claim that the foot bath balances the Chi in the body. The idea is that the electric current running through your body subtly balances the bio-energy field in the body, resulting in the feeling of calmness many people experience after the foot bath.

Considerations

• The ionic foot bath is harmless and there are no reported side effects. It creates a feeling of well-being in users that can result in lowered stress. However, by all scientific reports, it does not produce the detoxification that the companies that sell it claim it does.