I didn't believe it until I saw it: brown smelly gunk confined to the once-white patch I stuck to the bottom of my feet the night before. I've heard of detoxing through eating raw foods for 10 days or drinking strange juice concoctions for a week. I've heard of massages that "get the toxins out." But I've never heard of sticking a patch of what looks like a larger version of those "Please do not consume: TOXIC," fresh packets you sometimes find in the pocket of a new jacket or on the bottom of a recently purchased, cheaply-made handbag to the bottom of you foot. I received two boxes Koyotakara Easy Nite Detox patches in the mail. Apparently they are a Japanese tool for getting rid of all the left over toxins our body stores. The pamphlet has little phrases like "feel energetic," "relax your muscles," "improve your sleep" and "feel fresh" printed all over it. It even had previously published testimonials from people who had tried the patches and were satisfied with the results: "we took these to bed at night and woke up marvelously refreshed and I am pleased to say detoxed too" Independent on Sunday, 29th June.
I'm not entirely sure how one knows he or she has been 'detoxed,' but I do know that the muddy slim that was sucked into the pad was definitely something and I was kind of appalled that it came out of the bottom of my feet. According to my little blue Koyotakara pamphlet, the soles of the feet are the areas where most of our toxins find their resting place. That makes sense, I guess, knowing how gravity works, etc. And because the bottoms of our feet are also the place on our bodies with the most acupuncture points, if we clean out the toxins, everything should feel better.
I did six nights of Easy Nite detox, which for some, depending on their last detox, can mean the pads will come out clean by the end of the cycle. Once the pads are clean, you will know that all the toxins have been sucked out of your feet and you?ve been properly detoxed. Mine patches were still completely mucky by the end of the six days, so I guess I'm pretty toxic. I have another box that I will use to detox for another six nights. Hopefully by the end of this next cycle I won?t have to look at the smelly mire in the morning. And they do stink. Maybe a bit like sulfur? I'm not sure.
So what is in these little packets, you may find yourself asking? The little blue pamphlet comes through for us again: Wood Vinegar, Bamboo Vinegar, Citin, Chitosan, Vitamin C, Loquet Leaf, Touramaline, Pure Silicate (I'm pretty sure that's what those little freshener packs contain to keep our new handbags fresh) and 'Others.' Hmmm. What does 'Others' mean? Should I be scared? Six nights of sticking these packs to the bottom of my feet and I'm still alive, which is always a good sign, but I wouldn?t mind knowing what these mysterious 'other' ingredients are.
I'll let you know next week if my Koyotakara patches come out clean. Otherwise, I'll be worried and have to put myself on a serious detox diet and only drink weird, herbal mixes for the next month and a half.
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