Do Detox Patches Work?

I’ve been under a lot of stress lately; in addition to the usual chaos, I’m looking into moving to Florida and buying my first home!  I don’t have much time to try typical stress reduction activities like mediation and yoga, and I’ve slacked off a bit with my regular exercise routine and other healthy habits.

Out of curiosity, I tried some Avon Healthy Remedies detoxifying patches that my mom brought on her last visit. They contain green tea and wood vinegar and I wanted to see if they might remove some of the toxins (and maybe some of the stress) that had accumulated in my body.

We all store toxins in our body fat—whether we stressed or not. These poisonous substances are all around us; they’re in food, water, cleaning products, and even the air we breathe. People who eat meat and milk are exposed to high levels of cancer-causing toxins called dioxins.  The more toxins you build up, the worse your liver functions and, as a result, you can become sluggish and gain weight.

Anyway, you’re supposed to attach these Avon detox patches to your feet at night for three nights in a row. They supposedly pull out the toxins in your body. On the first night, the patches turn dark green, almost black (supposedly from the toxins, although it could just be a ploy to make it seem like the toxins are being sucked from your body). They get gradually lighter the next two nights.

I guess I felt better after the first night, but it could just have been because it was a Saturday and I got to sleep longer than usual. It could have also been a “placebo effect,” as discussed in this article about Kinoki detox foot patches.  It is a relief to see all those “toxins” in the patch—real or not. I felt sort of like, “whew, all those toxins are out of me now!

I haven’t come to any real conclusion on the Avon patches yet, although I am sort of skeptical. They’ve gotten good reviews though. I do think green tea has lots of “healing properties” though, so I haven’t totally wrote the patches off as a useless health “gimmick.”

If anybody is interested, a friend of mine, who runs HolisticVoice.com, wrote an article about easy and natural ways to reduce the amount of dangerous substances (like MSG, dioxins, and other toxins) in your body. She does suggest drinking green tea, as well as taking certain herbs, eating wholesome and organic vegetarian foods, and buying green cleaners instead of chemical-based ones.

Whether those detox patches work or not, this is good advice!