They are called by many names: Kinoki, Tanaka and Neru. They are detox foot pads and they are the rage. Stores cannot keep them in stock. I know from personal experience because I went to three separate stores to find this $10 six-pack of pads. One guy went into the store before me and bought six boxes.

What is the magical power of these pads? Those of a certain age claim they relieve aches and pains, but the selling point from the manufacturers is that it cleanses the body of toxins. Wear iot three days a week - overnight - on both feet and your cleansed. So we decided to test this claim.

Kathy Mitchell of Murrysville wore the pads overnight -- as did I. What we found was that overnight the pads went from a soft clear off-white to discolored and hardended. I also found that my foot was somewhat sore as if something had been sucking at my feet. Did she or I feel any better? Not really, but we became curious as to what exactly was on that pad?

So we took the used foot pads to CMU and allowed some of their graduate students to put them to the test for a week. They used various processes using different types of equipment I can barely name but two things were clear. First of all, it would take three more weeks of testing to get all the answers we were seeking. Second, what we did discover is the pad reacted to boyd sweat and took that moisture and soaked it up, turning the pad hard.

Removing night sweat is hardly my idea of body detoxification. Perhaps it does have some magical power with its all-natural ingredients, but I don't know if it's worth putting them on your feet for three days a week. I think a few glasses of water daily would also cleanse you out.