I mentioned in one of my last few posts about some scams that I want people to know about. First up is a product called Ion Cleanse (there are other products that claim to do the same thing, this just happens to be the one I saw):
Now, this is actually a known scam, as you can read here:
The water is being electrolyzed. This promotes rapid corrosion of the iron electrodes in the foot bath. Ferric oxides to the chemist, or rust to most everyone else is what turns the water yellow then brown. Insoluble iron precipitates are what form the scum on top too.
A couple of year ago, the Bad Science column in the Guardian looked at one of these devices. They concluded that none of the common waste products from the human body (creatine and urea) were appear in the “toxic” water. The only change they detected was a rise in iron levels.
This appears to be a way to scare people with rusty water. Inadvertant on the part of the operator or not, it’s a complete scam.
If that’s not enough to deter you, see this (read Aqua Detox as Ion Cleanse):
Thinking back to GCSE chemistry, it seemed likely to me that it was rust rather than toxins, since they have, after all, got a pair of metal electrodes in a salt water bath with a current passing across them. And so we set up, on a kitchen table, a bowl containing salt and water, with two metal nails attached to a car battery. And what do you know: our water goes brown too, with a nice sludge on top. Could this be the same brown as the Aqua Detox water?
Bravely I sent along my friend Dr Mark Atkins to have himself Aqua Detoxed. He took water samples from the bowl, which we sent off to the Medical Toxicology Unit at New Cross, south-east London. You can only imagine our excitement, especially as they charged us £200 for the analysis. And so - triumphant music - the water taken out before they switched their Aqua Detox machine on contained only 0.54mg per litre of iron (probably from the metal spoon); but afterwards it contained … 23.6mg/l. Our water, from our kitchen table setup, contained 97mg/l (and it was a bit browner).
But did it extract toxins? “Toxin” is classic pseudoscience terminology. Essentially, the Aqua Detox people are offering dialysis, through your feet. Urea and creatinine are probably the smallest molecules - call them “toxins” if you like - that your body gets rid of, in places like urine and sweat: if “toxins” were going to come out, anywhere, you’d expect those to come out, too. There was no urea or creatinine in the water before the Aqua Detox, and there was none in the water afterwards. Which means, I believe, that we win.
So there you go… the sad truth is that this is a very popular item at trade shows and I’ve seen crowds form around these devices. It’s absolutely horrible. Please steer clear of these scams and feel free to tell people you know. This warning also goes for those looking at those late night commercials for Kinoki Foot Pads (or any other “Foot Detox Pad”). They claim to “detox” you through “Ions”… here’s the ingredients:
Kinoki Detox Foot Pads contain only 100% pure & natural ingredients, harvested and blended at the peak of their potency-bamboo vinegar, tourmaline, chitin and detox herbs.
Let’s take a look shall we? Bamboo Vinegar is just Wood Vinegar (or Pyroligneous acid):
Pyroligneous acid, also called wood vinegar, is a dark liquid produced by the destructive distillation of wood. Its principal components are acetic acid and methanol.
Interesting… a dark liquid you say? Perhaps something that, in a powdered form, could cause a white foot pad to look like this in the morning after mixing with sweat (pic stolen from here):
You see kids, it’s all a scam! They just want your money so they’ll give you whatever snake oil they have!
Oh, one last thing… what is it with scams and their love for ions? Do you know what an ion is? Here’s the definition:
An ion is an atom or molecule which has lost or gained one or more valence electrons, making it positively or negatively charged.
That’s it. No magical cures… no detoxing. That’s all an ion is. Here’s how to tell if something is a scam, ready? If it uses the word “ion” in it and the word “detox” in any way… it’s a scam. I promise.
Omaha’s Health, Wellness, and Fitness Expo | FlishFun.com : 28 April 2008 at 7:41 pm
[...] have to go into some of these in more detail later (like I did with the whole Ion Cleanse thing), but I’m feeling wiped out at the moment. Let’s just say there was almost no [...]
» Pete Forde’s Taking the IonCleanse Challenge! » The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century : Joey deVilla’s Personal Blog : 01 May 2008 at 10:02 am
[...] Ion Cleanse or Ion Scam? An article that points to other articles on IonCleanse. The short version: Ion Scam! This entry was written by Joey deVilla and posted on May 1, 2008 at 11:02 am and filed under Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL. « Star Wars Hijinks at Global Nerdy [...]
Alessia : 27 May 2008 at 5:32 am
I purchased one of these machines last week and did my first cleanse on Sunday. I was horrified by what I saw come out of my feet but being skeptical decided to run the machine in a clean bath with salted water but without putting my feet in it. I suppose I just wanted to see if the same rusty coloured soup would appear. It didn’t. In fact the water did change colour but only to a very light beige with a few tiny remnants of the eroded array found at the bottom of the liner. Conditions were identical other than my feet being in the water so are you saying that the electrolysis only works when the water is in contact with human body parts? If not, I don’t see how this can be a scam.
Tommy : 22 July 2008 at 12:44 am
Ion Cleanse Dexotifying Footbath Reviewed by Owner of Best Medical Spa in America, Kile Law http://www.bluewaterspa.com/whoweare.html, Owner of Blue Water Spa http://www.bluewaterspa.com , voted best medical spa in America 2006 and 2007 experiences Ion Cleansing first hand. …um foot
Whenever I hear about a detoxifying treatment I am both intrigued and skeptical. One of the newest “detox” treatments is an “ion cleanse” that requires an individual to immerse their feet in a basin of water for 30 minutes. They go by names like ion cleanse ionic footbath, ionic cleanse foot detox bath among others. The claim is that a variety of toxins will be released through the feet.
I was told the water in the basin may change color and consistency from orange, brown through to black — due to the release of toxic substances through the pores on the sole of each foot. I was told when the water is changing colors, each color represents the part of the body that is being detoxified.
I thought I would give the ion cleanse a try and experienced a demonstration myself.
Blue Water Spa’s spa manager Mari Beth Hedeman and I both elected to have ion cleanse treatments. We sat side by side as the ion cleansing procedure started. We placed our feet in basins of warm, clear water. An electrical device that looked like a filter (but clearly was NOT a filter) was placed in the basin. This device powered the ion cleanse machine. Within minutes, the water began changing color. Yellow, orange, green, black. The water was also bubbly. It looked like sewage. The woman providing the demonstration analyzed the water in the basins. We were told we were releasing toxins through our feet. The colors, according to her, indicated we both were releasing a lot of toxins and a lot of metals. She said something about toxins from our gallbladder being released. She also stated that she noticed “lymph” in the water..
I asked about evidence. There were no published medical studies available. And, the person providing the demonstration could not give me the name of a single physician who uses this device in their practice.
The biggest surprise was when I asked what would happen if we performed a treatment but did not immerse feet in the water. Apparently, the water would turn colors and bubble up whether an individual’s feet were immersed in the water or not. Hmmmm……. I thought the colors in the water were based on toxins being released.
Maybe this treatment really does something. There are several manufacturers of these devices and it is possible that there are significant differences between the systems. Maybe somewhere, evidence does exist that this treatment really does work. All I know personally is that when I asked for evidence it was not available to me.
In my opinion, this treatment can provide a deep cleaning of one’s bank account. The only real evidence presented about this device was the amount of money practitioners were making by providing this treatment to consumers.
This device claims to help from everything from arthritis to cancer. The woman providing the demonstration mentioned a several times the positive effects this treatment can have on children with autism. Of course, there was absolutely no evidence available about how this treatment could possibly treat autism. I was sickened by the thought of practitioners purchasing this system and promoting it to parents who are desperately looking for anything available that might help a child with a health concern. People who seek out opportunities make money from people who are faced with adversity in my opinion are the lowest of the low.
I am blessed with healthy children. But, I imagine that if the health of my children was compromised that I would try absolutely anything and spend any amount of money on any treatment that promised a cure or an improvement.
The public needs to ask for evidence of safety and efficacy of products and devices that make claims about improving health or well being. Sadly, there will always be some unscrupulous people, including many so called medical spas not owned and operated by physicians who evaluate treatments based on the revenue they can generate rather than the safety and efficacy of a procedure or device.
For more information about Blue Water Spa, a medical spa owned and operated by board certified plastic surgeon Michael Law MD please go to http://www.bluewaterspa.com or http://www.michaellawmd.com
Don Holmberg : 24 July 2008 at 1:00 am
My wife and I have been receiving treatments from a woman selling these machines. I am quite leary of her approach and information that is only verbal. She claims to work in the Juarez City Hospital, Juarez, Mexico with these treatments, however I have seen things advertised on Mexican TV that are proven scams. In Mexico it is the buyer beware, and scams are big business there, too.
I thought you might appreciate this: I am a double above knee amputee, so she has me put my left hand in the water (LOL) after she told my wife that it could only be done with the feet because the foot has the big pores. Our water results were identical.
It almost was worth believing until she found out that I have diabetes, two blood disorders, emphysema, Kleinfelters Syndrome and phantom pains now and then, and I am being treated for pre-cancerous skin problems….lo and behold this machine can slide ALL that stuff out of my body. Now just ain’t that amazing!
Her machine has no brand name other than Ion Detoxify Cleansing Device. Me thinketh she speaks with forked tongue. Her price started at $850, but because we are such wonderful people, her boss said to sell us the machine for $600…what a grand guy!
In my West Texas Cowboy Voice, I say: “Them’s steamin’ stacks in the cow paddock, Jack!”
Thanks for echoing my thoughts about this; it is very important that we keep our shop level and truthful as there is skepticism from some about what we offer, and snake oil is never allowed.