Kinoki footpad body detox system ~ another scam?

[Iamme]

Saw this the other night on late tv. These pads are put under your feet and toxins come out into the pads. They showed the toxins; before and after photos. Hmmmmmmmmm.

[Psiload]

Saw this the other night on late tv. These pads are put under your feet and toxins come out into the pads. They showed the toxins; before and after photos. Hmmmmmmmmm.

another scam?


Gee... ya think? :rolleyes:

[Iamme]

What is the gov't's take on this stuff then? Why do they bother going after certain things and not other things?

[The_Animus]

The government 'going after' bad or false products is essentially nonexistant.

This is why there is no real deterant to selling people fraudulent products. Other than a moral deterant, but we've all seen how much that stops people.

[Slimething]

The pads must not harm anyone so no cause for the govt to intervene.

[The_Animus]

Regardless of whether they physically harm someone they shouldn't be sold because they don't do what they claim to do. It's a financial burden to those who buy the product hoping it will do what it claims. It's also a burden to being able to find valid products.

If people can sell products that don't do what they claim then why can't I pay with money I claim is real when its actually counterfeit?

[Slimething]

Regardless of whether they physically harm someone they shouldn't be sold because they don't do what they claim to do. It's a financial burden to those who buy the product hoping it will do what it claims. It's also a burden to being able to find valid products.

If people can sell products that don't do what they claim then why can't I pay with money I claim is real when its actually counterfeit?

I agree with you but, as everything inside you can be scientifically considered a toxin, the pad is actually doing what it claims. Even if all it's doing is stripping the dirt and oils off the sole of your foot, it's essentially removing toxins.

I imagine paying for stuff with counterfeit money would get you a mild hassling from the Fed iff you could convince them you were unaware of the fact it was phoney. Making fake money is the real crime they're interested in.

[The_Animus]

I know its highly illegal and will almost certainly land you some jail time. I just consider paying with fake money to be equivilent to selling products that don't do what they claim.

I don't know that I would consider dirt on the bottom of your feet toxins, but whatever. In any case if that is what they mean they should say removes dirt and sweat from your feet. Not removes toxins. It's language abuse.

[krelnik]

Definitely woo, comes out of the reflexology (http://skepdic.com/reflex.html) section of Woo Dept. Store.

There was an earlier thread over in another section here:
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=89756

Blog entry which came out of the above thread here:
http://www.mondoskepto.com/node/166

This was also mentioned in SkepDic newsletter #84:
http://skepdic.com/news/newsletter84.html#6

--Tim Farley

[Slimething]

I don't know that I would consider dirt on the bottom of your feet toxins, but whatever. In any case if that is what they mean they should say removes dirt and sweat from your feet. Not removes toxins. It's language abuse.

Yep, it's language abuse but the science of Toxicology holds that anything that can have an effect on an organism is a toxicant (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxicant). Plain, old dirt on the bottom of your feet, if allowed to accumulate, will cause problems with your skin. Removing it can be defended as detoxifying skin. A prosecutor would have a pretty tough time in court proving that the product didn't detoxify something.

[BPSCG]

Channelling South Park (http://www.positiveatheism.org/mail/eml9418.htm):

Miss Information: You see, the reason our bodies fail is because of toxins. All the horrible food we eat, the sodas and meat, are filled with toxins; and the only way for us to get better is to flush those toxins out of our system. Western Medicine is so quick to cut and carve up, when all your son needs is a constant flushing diet of lemon juice and cayenne pepper.
Sheila: Did you hear that Kyle? You don't need surgery after all!
Kyle: (mumbles incoherently)
Stan (Kyle's friend, Sharon's son): Excuse me, but what do these toxins look like? Have you ever actually seen a toxin?
Sharon: Don't be a smart ass, Stanley!
Miss Information: Ms. Broslavski, I'd like to give your son herbs which focus on the kidneys. I have these excellent herbs from local Native Americans.
Sharon: Ooh! Native Americans. Now they know how to heal the body spiritually!

(Next day we see Ms Information make a home visit. Kyle is in bed, stuporous, and a couple of neighbor moms are commenting how terrible he looks.)

Miss Information(making a grand entrance): Good Morning everyone!
Sheila: Oh, thanks for coming Miss Information. Kyle seems to be getting worse!

(Miss Information walks over to the bed, closes her eyes, and waves her hands over Kyle while humming. She does a two second assessment.)

Miss Information: Oh, I don't agree! He seems MUCH better.
Sheila: Really?
Miss Information: Yes. His chi is flowing much nicer than yesterday, and his aura is lighter!
Sharon: Oh that's great news!

(Kyle suddenly vomits a bucketfull on the floor.)

Sheila: Oh no!
Miss Information: No, no, that's GOOD! Those are the toxins flushing out of his system.
Stan: Those aren't toxins, that's the bean with bacon soup he ate a half hour ago!
Sharon: Stanley, what did I say about being a smart ass?
Miss Information: Now don't be fooled as Kyle's body sheds itself of more and more of the toxins. He may appear to be getting worse, but actually he's getting better.
Sheila: Oh! Well, I am SOLD on natural medicines. If only I had known sooner.

[Iamme]

The pads must not harm anyone so no cause for the govt to intervene.

Ya but...if it's a scam, then they are allowing companies to make big money on something that is bogus? Welllllll.

Just get rid of the gov't. It's worthless. All we do is pay them big bennies and retirement packages (that they vote themselves to get) that I do not get.

[Slimething]

Ya but...if it's a scam, then they are allowing companies to make big money on something that is bogus? Welllllll.

Just get rid of the gov't. It's worthless. All we do is pay them big bennies and retirement packages (that they vote themselves to get) that I do not get.

I also wish the government would involve itself more. I don't agree that we should get rid of them as some regulations do protect us from a heck of a lot worse than sticky footpads. That is, connivers would find a different method of extracting toxic money from the credulous.

[The_Animus]

science of Toxicology holds that anything that can have an effect on an organism is a toxicant (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxicant).

Wow. Personally I think that is a horrible definition. This would mean that everything is a toxin. Calcium. Vitamin A. Every food you eat. Water. Water must be a toxin.

I just think that is a really poor definition for them to give to toxin. Especially considering no one associates the word toxin that way.

[Slimething]

Wow. Personally I think that is a horrible definition. This would mean that everything is a toxin. Calcium. Vitamin A. Every food you eat. Water. Water must be a toxin.

I just think that is a really poor definition for them to give to toxin. Especially considering no one associates the word toxin that way.

Yeah, I know but it makes sense to consider everything a toxicant because everything has some measurable toxicity. So, if you want to compare something that is truly toxic, like lead, to somethihg that isn't particularly toxic, like sugar, you can. It beats having to sit around and argue what to consider toxic and what not to. If you consider everything toxic, you can compare them mathematically if you test them similarly.

Pretty much goes for chemistry where the science considers everything a chemical. The everyday concept of what a chemical is conjures up something that is made in a lab and is to be treated with a large amount of respect or fear. However, in Chemistry, a lot of arguing is avoided by regarding anything you can see as a distinct molecule as a chemical.

If you go here (http://ptcl.chem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/SU/sucrose.html), you'll see that table sugar has a rated acute toxicity of about 30 g/ kg body weight/ day. That's a whopping dose but it does allow us to compare it to other sugars to see which ones should be avoided. So, when a chemist, biologist or toxicologist calls something a toxicant or says it's toxic, that doesn't mean it will harm you in normal doses.

[Iamme]

Water. Water must be a toxin.



Not really. Just dihydrogen monoxide.

[Slimething]

Not really. Just dihydrogen monoxide.

Water is toxic. See this case (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16614865/)of a woman dying of water intoxication.

Too much water can over-dilute the electrolytes in your blood stream and thereby screw up your nervous system and your cabon dioxide/oxygen balance. It takes a heck of a lot but it can happen, as it did to that unhappy woman.

Water can also be an asphyxiant but that's a physical, not a chemical, characteristic. The dose only needs to be as much as it takes to cover your nose and mouth.

[Iamme]

I guess I DID here about this. Huh. Well, this gives new meaning to someone who drank themself to death.

But if she drank herself to death, one wonders when those champion food eaters will eat themselves to dearh. How on earth can anyone eat 66 hot dogs, buns and water in 12 minutes. I coudn't eat 6 in a half hour. And then the guy who set THAT record went on to eat over a hundred Crystal hamburgers? I feel with these sorts of things that go on, that this has to be something put in my brain by the higher power for my own entertainment value, as it seems that unreal - along with other goofy things that seem unreal, like what those guys from Jackass do. It all started with me when I was a boy and was asked by others if I'd care to hold my breath till I passed out.This was like some sort of game. I thought, "You're kidding, right?"

[hipparchia]

Do I need to pay anything just to learn that at the end of the day my feet are dirty?

[Tiktaalik]

I've been thinking of getting a couple of these things & sticking them on a tennis ball to see if they "detoxify" it - I suspect it's just like those "detoxifying" foot baths where the water turns brown as a result of the interaction of the salts in the water with the electrical system - the water turns brown even if there's no feet in it.

I'd guess these pads are activated by pressure and/or heat, and that sticking them firmly onto anything will cause them to activate & turn brown.

I occasionally get a catalogue, which I usually throw straight away now, that has things of that nature in the back. I'll check next time & see how much they cost & if they're cheap maybe I'll do an experiment.

Of course that will put me on all the woo mailing lists, won't it?