Foot in Mouth
Heidi Brown 05.05.08
Ultimate Cash MachineYour Pain, Their Gain
In the sucker-born-every-minute category, here comes another "alternative health product" that is doing a good job at slimming down consumers' pocketbooks. Chiropractors, massage therapists and naturopaths are charging up to $50 per session for clients to soak their feet in a plastic tub of salty, electrified water and then watch as the water turns yellow, brown, then green. Believers (and some makers of these contraptions, which go for anywhere from $250 to $2,450) say the water turns dirty as nasty toxins leave the body's organs. They claim this method can cure fatigue, acne and yeast infections. The foot-detox machines, sold under such names as Cygnus Aqua-Cleanse, Ionic Spa and IonCleanse, are widely available via the Internet, including through the healthy-living company Gaiam (nasdaq: GAIA - news - people ) in Boulder, Colo. A Major Difference, a Denver company, says it has sold some 10,000 of the units since 2002.
That dirty water? That's from the electricity reacting with the salt in the water, plus oils and dirt on the feet. "Scientists know what comes out of the feet--sweat," says Stephen Barrett, a retired psychiatrist who crusades to debunk medical myths. For further visual evidence, check out a YouTube video that features a man "detoxing" an organic carrot from his garden; the water in the footbath turns the same color as your average foot might.
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