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How Do BodyRelief Compare to Kinoki Detox Footpads?

There has been a lot of attention brought to detox foot pads due to the extensive television advertising that the TV Informercial guys did for Kinoki brand detox foot pads. Many people ask me about Kinoki and want to know what the difference is between BodyRelief and Kinoki.

Kinoki's Current Status: Actually, they are no longer advertising and they are no longer offering Kinoki for sale on their website. The FDA has shut them down and class action suits are pending. The remnants of their supply are now being sold off through various outlets.

Kinoki Market: While the Kinoki I ordered were shipped by the people doing the advertising, I have observed that a number of different sellers are selling various cheap detox pads using the name Kinoki generically...similar to the use of the brand name "Kleenex" to describe tissues. One thing you can be sure of, if they are ridiculously cheap, you are most likely wasting your money as they are probably ineffective.

Kinoki Product Experience: I ordered Kinoki from the advertisers a few times and purchased a box from a drugstore  to try them first hand so that I could answer my customers' questions. I found that each time I ordered them they were different and once they were not even shipped. My suspicion is that their sellers were getting their supply from various manufacturers in China. The ones that I tried were virtually useless. The patches were encased in an almost waxed paper material that made them for the most part impermeable and that part of the patch that managed to get wet after use were hard and stiff as a board (evidence that the predominant ingredient was starch). 

Quality and Ingredients: The ingredients listed on the box include Bamboo vinegar.  I have been taught to be worried about this ingredient as bamboo is used widely in Asian industry and is therefore more likely to be an inexpensive industrial by-product rather than a high quality ingredient prepared for human use. This is one way they can offer their products at bargain-basement prices. BodyRelief is made with wood vinegar which has been specifically prepared for use in the foot pads. Also, BodyRelief Pads are 5.5 grams each as compared to under 4 grams for the Kinoki. And BodyRelief has 3 times as much as the Kinoki's active ingredient (assuming their bamboo vinegar is even active). Kinoki lists other mysterious ingredients such as "Detox Herbs" and "Emollient base" . BodyRelief is almost 100% powderized wood vinegar with small quantities of Tourmaline and Germanium, both minerals which intensify the Far Infrared that BodyRelief's wood vinegar emits when warmed to body temperature through contact with the skin.

Advertising: I took issue with some misleading advertising that the Kinoki people undertook.

  • They called 14 pads a 14 day supply. The proper use of the pads is to wear them one on each foot, making 14 pads a 7 day supply.  
  • They marketed their follow up orders as a month's supply when in fact there were only 10 pads in those...enough for 5 nights. They said they were free but charged a very high shipping charge (approx. $13) and then mailed them first class mail which cost just over a $1.00.
  • They described the way that foot pads work inaccurately.
  • They referred to their product as the "original" detox foot pad which was very misleading given that 1) they appeared to be a cheap imitation of real detox pads and 2) that other real detox pads have been on the market for many years.
  • The Kinoki marketers just happened to be the first company to market the product aggressively so that for many people it was their first introduction to this type of product. It is not likely that companies whose specialty is infomercials are going to really care about the quality and effectiveness of a product such as these and whether their customers got any real results. I am guessing what attracted them to the foot pads was their unusual and outstanding qualities, as well as, perhaps, the great results users of real foot pads were getting.

Overall Detox Foot Pad Market: Unfortunately when the Kinoki people marketed their cheap imitation so widely, they drew lots of attention and many folks tried out their product. When those folks discovered they didn't work for them, they drew the conclusion that all detox foot pads were a scam.  This has seriously damaged the reputation for all detox foot pads and has done a disservice to all those users who may avoid them whereas if they were to try a good quality pad they might actually get good results.  It is the same thing as if a company marketing a cheap copy of antibiotics advertised widely and it resulted in users and the media assuming, when they didn't work, that all antibiotics don't work. This is a shame and only those who have had good experiences with real foot pads can help to correct the record by sharing their experiences with others. To see some testimonials from users of BodyRelief, please click here:

I hope that you find this information helpful. Don't hesitate to contact me with any questions. Contact info is on the main page.

My best,

Nancy Webster