From your gut to your skin and pretty much everything in between, “detoxing” is a popular wellness buzzword.

When it comes to your internal organs, we know it’s pretty much bunk – your liver and kidneys do all of the detoxing in there – but what about pulling toxins from your feet?

Here’s the skinny on foot detox pads, before you drop your hard-earned cash.

The pads are advertised to draw out harmful substances from your body when you stick them on the bottoms of your feet while your sleep. The patches change color overnight, signaling that they “worked.”

Along with “drawing out toxins,” the pads are also supposed to treat high blood pressure, diabetes, and depression and even boost the immune system.

That said, there is no scientific evidence that the pads do anything at all – in fact, in 2009 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged the marketers of at least one manufacturers with deceptive advertising. They say Kinoki Foot Pads made unfounded claims that their pads could remove toxins, help with weight loss, and treat a plethora of medical conditions.

They also tried to say they had scientific evidence to back up their claims.

The company had made $14.5 million in total revenue from the foot pads even though all of the claims turned out to be false or not backed up by scientific evidence.

That’s the exact amount a federal judge ordered them to pay in settlement for unfounded health claims. The ruling also banned them from “promoting or selling any dietary supplement, food, drug, or medical device, and from assisting others in doing the same.”

Basically, the foot pads aren’t going to hurt you, but it’s unlikely they will do what they claim to do, either.

Like all products that claim to “detox” our bodies, says Dr. Thomas Aloia, these are a bunch of hokum.

“The liver is our detoxification machine. It’s made to do this. Detoxifying the normal things we eat, breathe, and ingest is part of its job and keeps us alive.”

Instead of investing in “detoxing” products, just invest in your liver instead.

Don’t drink too much, watch what you eat, and exercise as regularly as you can.

It’s not as easy as sticking some pads on your feet every night, but it is more effective.

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