Holy COW those comments are... wow. Just WOW. I gave up reading halfway through.

Fitness Brain, I thought parasites in your stomach caused weight loss? ;) (anyone who thinks they cause weight gain obviously never heard of tapeworm)

You folks behind The Beauty Brains have patience that rivals saints.

I noticed something when I was watching the commmercial last night. When they make the tree analogy, the arrows indicate that the tree is taking energy in through the leaves and expelling toxins through the roots. Although it's true that a tree takes in energy through the leaves, it doesn't expel anything through its roots.  It uses its roots to take in water and nutrients and expels waste through it leaves.  But I suppose if you're making up some of your facts, you may was well go for broke.

Who knew that the human body works just like a tree?
No, wait...the human body works just like a tree doesn't work.
I was recently at a beauty industry trade show and there were companies there with these foot baths for removing toxins.  I felt so sad watching people sit with there feet in these pools of water waiting for it to turn brown or blue or green.  There was even a chart that showed you what organ the toxins were removed from based on the color of the water.  It was disheartening.
 

Yeah, that was one of the reasons we set up this forum page.  There were just too many comments and it freezes up the system.  If you turn off the scripts it eventually loads.  We'll have to have our computer nerd fix it some time.

Yay! John Stossel did a report on "20/20" about the Kinoki footpads, and you can see the video here
They had labs analyze the foot pads to see whether all the heavy metals and other crap really was pulled out of the body via the feet. I don't hafta tell you the results of the test (at least those of you with brains).
(I hafta laugh at the lady at the end of the report who says she feels "duped by Mr Kinoki"; only an idiot woulda fallen for all that horsepoo in the first place!)
But wait! It gets better: the FDA has launched an investigation into the Kinoki foot pads, too
I saw the commercial twice the other evening, and noticed that THREE TIMES it said, "Results not typical." I don't have super-sharp eyesight, and yet I saw that THREE TIMES each time I viewed it. That oughtta make any viewer stop and think, "Hmmmm; these outrageous claims come with a disclaimer warning me that these claims are outrageous, and yet here I am reaching into my wallet. Perhaps I oughtta rethink this purchase?"
And yet apparently they don't. Can't decide, though, whether my favorite part is their misspelling "thallium" as "thaillum," or their offer to throw in eye patches which will get rid of puffiness, dark circles, and crow's feet, in seconds, for FREE! Imagine that! a magic product that NO ONE ELSE HAS, not even companies who offer eye creams costing hundreds of dollars, and they'll GIVE you these magical eye patches for FREE! That right there is worth MILLIONS, yet they're GIVING THEM AWAY! (They didn't mention whether the patches absorb the puffiness, darkness, and wrinkles the same way the foot pads do. I'd pay to see a wrinkle on a patch!)
Whatta buncha malarkey. The part of the Stossel report that really blew my hair back is that *Avon* is selling foot pads, too! I gather they're not making crazy-ass claims, but they see all the stupid money flying around, and they wanna get some of it, so they're selling foot pads. I hadn't figured Avon for that kinda company, but maybe I just don't know Avon.

To address the ORIGINAL subject of the foot pads... I have tried them, but more due to the urging of my husband, who incidently, is a nurse for a VA and is often eager to test out new products that might help his patients find relief (just to help some of the people who have been viciously throwing around insults while commenting understand...this is called an act of KINDNESS).
In the time I used the pads, I did notice the dark sticky residue that some people spoke of. But to be honest, even after trying them for a few weeks, I can not tell any difference in how I feel. My husband claims it helps him with the swelling in his feet from long shifts, but I can not debunk them or commend them, even after use.
However, even with the good review my husband gave them gave them, after some of his own research he decided against sharing them with his patients because there just wasnt enough evidence that they were not harmful in some way. I would suggest speaking with your doctor before trying them either way.... And for those people who truly want an opinion from someone who has tried them.. I apologize that I wasnt able to comment more. But I will say that I do believe in the power of the mind, so if it is the placebo effect that is casuing some people (like my husband) to find relief, then so be it, as long as they are not harmful. In my opinion, that is what we should all be researching if we plan to use them for any length of time.

Now to address some of the off topic issues: Ok, I landed on your "Beauty Brain" discussion by sheer accident, while doing some research on these foot pads that WERE the topic, and then ended up here. It never ceases to amaze me how people insist on being rude and vicious to others, while trying to push thier beliefs on each other.
Granted..debates can get heated... but what I have read went way beyond heated and moved into childish banter. I admit.. I was amused at first, untill the cruelty of some of the bloggers came to light.

Just a friendly last note... The world is a hard place to live in. I do not know one person who isnt facing some kind of hardship in thier life. Why must we all insist on being unkind? I am not saying that being kind will fix all the problems in our lives..but it would deffinatly make it easier to deal with them. Have you ever had a bad day, and had someone you never met before cheer you up with a smile and a nice comment? You honestly dont know what kind of a day someone has had, they may have lost a loved one or found out some terrible news, or they may be someone who is naturally unkind. And in some cases a smile and a nice word or two might have no effect on a person, but I would rather share some friendliness, on the small chance it might actually make someone feel better. You stand nothing to loose by being friendly, it isnt painful (i promise) =). So on your next post or blog... try to find some kindness (even a tiny bit would be better than being rude). We dont have to be mean to make a point, and we dont have to insult people to get them to understand. And if you insist on being mean... then refer to the old saying "Kill them with kindness".

I thank you for respinding in kind. :) And i do plan on checking out more of your site. You seem to have a wealth of information here and i appriciate the time it takes to create a site like this. Despite peoples moods, this is a great place to be.

I saw those foot baths at a recent Beauty Show I attended and it just made me feel bad.  They even had posters showing what toxins were coming out of the body based on the color of the water.  Brown comes from your liver, blue comes from your kidneys, etc.  It's so unfortunate.

I don't understand the appeal of these products. Usually, when someone starts marketing a product like this it's in response to a real demand -- people are looking for an easy way to lose weight and get in shape, or they want to get rid of wrinkles, or grow hair where they don't have it -- but how many people are out there looking for a way to get toxins out of their body? Not only have they created a bogus product, they've created a bogus demand. Of course, if there's no problem in the first place, it's harder to prove that the product doesn't work.