Warm Footbaths with Sinapis nigra or Zingiber officinale Enhance Self-Reported Vitality in Healthy Adults More than Footbaths with Warm Water Only: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

Jan Vagedes; Silja Kuderer; Eduard Helmert; Matthias Kohl; Florian Beissner; Henrik Szöke; Stefanie Joos; Ursula Wolf

doi:10.1155/2021/9981183

Warm Footbaths with Sinapis nigra or Zingiber officinale Enhance Self-Reported Vitality in Healthy Adults More than Footbaths with Warm Water Only: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021 Jul 12:2021:9981183. doi: 10.1155/2021/9981183. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Jan Vagedes^{1

2

3}, Silja Kuderer¹, Eduard Helmert¹, Matthias Kohl⁴, Florian Beissner⁵, Henrik Szöke⁶, Stefanie Joos⁷, Ursula Wolf⁸

Affiliations

¹ ARCIM Institute (Academic Research in Complementary and Integrative Medicine), Im Haberschlai 7, 70794 Filderstadt, Germany.
² Department of Neonatology, University Hospital Tuebingen, Calwerstraße 7, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany.
³ Department of Pediatrics, Filderklinik, Im Haberschlai 7, 70794 Filderstadt, Germany.
⁴ Institute of Precision Medicine, University Furtwangen, Jakob-Kienzle-Straße 17, 78054 Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany.
⁵ Insula Institute for Integrative Therapy Research, Brabeckstraße 177E, 30539 Hannover, Germany.
⁶ Department of Integrative Medicine, University of Pécs, Vörösmarty Utca 3, 7623 Pécs, Hungary.
⁷ Institute for General Practice and Interprofessional Care, University Hospital Tuebingen, Osianderstraße 5, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany.
⁸ Institute of Complementary and Integrative Medicine, University of Bern, Fabrikstrasse 8, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.

Abstract

Objectives: To examine the effects of warm footbaths with thermogenic medicinal powders on vitality and heart rate variability in healthy adults. Intervention and Outcome. Seventeen healthy young adults (22.1 ± 2.4 years, 11 females) received three footbaths (WA: warm water only; GI: warm water and ginger; MU: warm water and mustard) in randomized order with a crossover design. We assessed vitality with the Basler Befindlichkeit questionnaire (BBS) and heart rate variability (HRV) before (t0), immediately after (t1), and 10 minutes following footbaths (t2). The primary outcome measure was self-reported vitality, measured via the BBS, at t1.

Results: The primary outcome measure, self-reported vitality, was higher after GI and tended to be higher after MU compared to WA with medium effect sizes (GI vs. WA, mean difference -2.47 (95% CI -5.28 to 0.34), p _adj=0.048, d _adj = 0.74), MU vs. WA, -2.35 (-5.32 to 0.61), p _adj=0.30, d _adj = 0.50). At t2, the standard deviation of beat-to-beat intervals (SDNN) of HRV increased, and the stress index tended to decrease after all three footbath conditions with small to medium effect sizes (0.42-0.66).

Conclusion: There is preliminary evidence that footbaths with thermogenic agents GI and MU may increase self-reported vitality during a short-time period with a more pronounced effect with GI. After a short follow-up, all three conditions tended to shift the autonomic balance towards relaxation. Future research should investigate these effects in clinical samples with a larger, more diverse sample size.