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

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.