If you’re a member of one of the IonCleanse Facebook groups, you will most likely have seen the topic of “Flipping the polarity” come up. Some of you might even be expert flippers by now! For those who aren’t, let’s look at what it is, what it does, and when to flip (or not).

What is the polarity?

The IonCleanse by AMD has a patented, dual polarity process. When you’re running your IonCleanse, your screen will show you a positive (+) or negative (-) symbol. This symbol shows you which ions are being influenced in the water. So a positive symbol is influencing positive ions, and a negative symbol is influencing negative ions. It might seem rather obvious information, but it’s important to remember that ions are attracted to opposites!

When a positive ion is being influenced in the water, that means the machine is actually generating negative ions. So the machine showing you positive, is actually generating negative ions, in order to influence those positive ions in your detox. The reverse applies as well of course. Confused? Don’t be – just remember the paragraph above! Positive symbol = positive ions, negative symbol = negative ions being influenced.

How much positive and negative happens during the cycle?

A standard IonCleanse Solo operates at 70/30 cycles. For 7 out of 10 minutes, the machine will show a positive symbol (influencing positive ions in the water). For the other 3 minutes, it will flip over to the negative symbol and influence negative ions in the water.

The IonCleanse Premier has different pre-set options where the cycle times change. As the vast majority of people use the Solo however, we won’t confuse you further with those details!

Which polarity works on what?

Thankfully, people smarter than me have made up this incredibly helpful chart, which shows you what polarity different substances are. You’re welcome!

Remember – if a substance is positively charged (like metals), it is attracted to negative ions in the water. The machine will be creating negative ions when it is showing a + symbol on the screen. So when the screen shows +, it will be influencing the substances in the Positively Charged section above. When the screen is showing you – it will be influencing substances in the Negative Charged section above. Got it? Great!

Should I Flip?

So by now you’re probably wondering if you should do the big flip. As with everything, the answer is really, “it depends”. I know, sorry, but that’s how it goes!

For example – you might look at the chart we popped above and think, “I’ve got a lot of candida so I should probably do more cleanses on the negative setting”. However, most homeopaths will tell you that metals have an affinity for candida, so often the two of them will be shifted together. You therefore need to shift the metals in order to shift the candida as well, so still need that positive setting.

Some people have discovered that when they flip their polarity, they get a lot of Herx reactions (negative effects after a cleanse). This could be due to an overload of particular toxicants shifting, or being really sensitive to certain substances, particularly if you have underlying health issues.

When you read any studies completed by users of the IonCleanse, all of those studies are done on the regular preset of 70/30. None of them flipped the polarity, yet still saw results with regular use.

How do I flip the polarity on my Solo?

This is the really simple part! You literally have to push one button, and you’re done.

When you first turn your machine on, you progress through the various screens, as shown below. Once the machine has started its testing sequence (the fourth screen), you just press the negative button to flip the polarity for the entire session.

You can change the polarity at any time during your cleanse, simply by pressing the button corresponding to what you want it to change to. For example, the machine is showing positive and you press the ‘ – ‘ button, and the polarity will change and now show negative. If you’re on negative and press the ‘ + ‘ button, your machine will now be influencing positive ions in the water. 

That’s literally all there is to it!

Flipping 202

Why do I see more metals when I flip to mostly negative?

Sometimes the body has to release one thing, in order to release another. That can happen if you’ve got a lot of mycotoxins for example, that are hanging onto metals. Even though the standard 70/30 is designed to shift heavy metals, you might see a lot of that happening if you switch polarity.

My child keeps pulling their feet out when the machine switches polarity, should I flip it?

Our personal experience was that our non-verbal, autistic son used to pull his feet out of the bath within a few seconds of the machine switching over to its first negative cycle. His feet would also go red, and he clearly felt an itch. In order to help him feel more comfortable during the footbath, and develop a positive association with having a cleanse, we would flip the polarity and switch it back to positive. He was then able to tolerate more time in the footbath, and after a few sessions he was able to tolerate the sensation. So if your child is struggling with one polarity over another, then you might wish to experiment with flipping it, until they are less sensitive to it.

I see more colour in the water with one polarity over the other, should I do all of my sessions on that polarity?

We never recommend doing all of your sessions on only one polarity. The body needs balance, including when it is detoxing! Unless your practitioner has told you otherwise, you should always have a combination of positive and negative during your sessions.

The colour will always be there in the footbath – regardless of the polarity, or whether your feet are in the tub or not. It takes a while to ionise the water in the tub, so the first few minutes will not show much of a colour change. You would expect to see more colour later on – at which point you’re possibly on your first negative cycle (from 7 to 10 minutes), or into your second positive cycle already (10 to 17 minutes). Regardless, it is the overall result that matters. If the water in the tub is changing colour, the IonCleanse is working as expected.

If you really feel that you are only ever getting a colour change (or more crud in the water) when on one of the polarity settings, and not the other, we strongly encourage you to contact your practitioner to discuss this.

Our two cents’ worth

Our recommendation is to stick with the preset 70/30 when you are first starting. If you feel like you’d like to experiment with flipping the polarity, particularly if you’ve been cleansing for a while, then we suggest that you alternate sessions. So if you’ve done one session on the 70/30 as per usual, then flip the next session from the start and do the same time. This gives the body a more balanced approach and helps you to see what difference (if any) you get by flipping it over.