America's Health Coach.... and a Foot Detox Scam?

I started seeing a Dr in Nashville, who has his own radio show and promotes himself as "America's Health Coach"... Dr Asa Andrew. I was attracted to Dr Andrew because of his focus on fixing the source of the health problems rather than the symptoms. He has a strong focus on proper diet and nutrition as preventative medicine.

I first saw Dr Andrew and had x-rays done on July 23rd. They asked me to come back a week later to go over the x-rays and have blood work done, so I then returned on July 28th. The last appointment was on August 4th, where they did a "detox foot bath" and prescribed several supplements. Three visits, and a total cost so far of $1275.98.

The cost is not the biggest issue since I realize that x-rays and blood work can be expensive, but it is something to keep in mind. However, why would he take me off the daily vitamins and supplements that I'm on and put me on 7 of the vitamins and supplements, which he sells, before even getting my lab results back? And what is a detox foot bath, and how does it work?

When I tried to ask the person that was administering the foot detox how it worked and how it was beneficial, I ended up asking the same question 3 different times in 3 different ways before I could get a (still unsatisfactory) answer... and I still don't know how it was supposed to detoxify my system, what toxins and "heavy metals" it was pulling out, or why heavy metals were floating on the surface of the water.

This was really starting to bother me, so I discussed the matter with my boyfriend and he took the initiative to start looking up info on foot bath detoxes. Low and behold, there were multiple sites and YouTube videos touting this as a hoax or scam. (A couple of which can be found here, and here). It seems that even if you don't have your feet in the water, it will still act as if it's pulling toxins out of your system by changing colors and producing small particles in the water. According to the video, this change in the water is actually caused by the corrosion of metals from the machine itself. I can't say for sure that it has absolutely no benefit, but it is certainly questionable.

Another thing that bothered me is the lack of the title "MD" on Dr Asa's bestselling book "Empowering Your Health". I asked if he was an MD and was told that he's not actually a MD but rather a Chiropractor (Don't get me wrong, I love chiropractors!), and in his final semester of Medical School. Now, keep in mind that his radio show is called "Dr Asa On Call" and that he's wearing scrubs and a stethoscope on the cover of his book (as well as scrubs in his office). It seems as though he's trying to pretend to be something he's not, and it brings his integrity and motives for doing so into question.

So, my biggest question is: Is he incompetent, fraudulent, or just a little misleading?