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VERIFY: Do detox foot baths really work?

A viewer emailed the KHOU 11 Verify team with an interesting question: Do detoxification foot baths really work?

If you haven't seem them before, the foot baths claim to remove the toxins from the body, and it looks pretty convincing.

By the end of the "detox" the water turns brown. Allegedly the water is so filled with toxins it becomes discolored.

So here's what our Verify fact-checkers found... There hasn't been a lot of research but a 2012 study looking at the ion-cleanse foot bath found that it did not reduce toxin levels in the body.

Researchers also determined that it didn't stimulate the body to remove toxins by itself.

Also the reason the water changes color is most likely a result of chemical reaction between the salts used and tap water.

So we can verify while a foot bath might be a great way to relax, the claim that it is removing toxins from your body is false.

VERIFY: Resources:

Hindawi: Journal of Environmental and Public Health

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