A coffee enema may or may not help you detoxify, depending on whom you ask. The mainstream medical community says there’s no evidence they work. But lots of people report many health benefits from doing them.
Have you heard of doing an enema with coffee? Talk about an interesting way to get loaded up on caffeine!….
Are you curious about them? Perhaps you’ve read or heard about the benefits of them recently.
Well, where have you been … living in a cave? Self-irrigating up the backside for purification has been a health trend since ancient times.
Even the famous Dead Sea scrolls (which were found in caves and written roughly 150 B.C. to 70 A.D.) contain a recipe or two for colon-cleansing.
More recently, colon-cleansing with caffeine became popular as a cancer remedy. The early-20th century physician, Max Gerson, used coffee enemas as part of his dietary-based alternative cancer treatment. Gerson’s therapy remained popular with natural-healing advocates long after his death.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First, we need to look behind ourselves (excuse the lame pun) and ask the following:
What is a Coffee Enema?
Take your pick: bag or bucket. Whichever you choose, you’ll fill it with water and coffee. The liquid gets inserted in your rectum via a tube. The tube remains in your backside for at least 15 minutes. Some people suggest keeping it in for 30 minutes. This makes watching a half-hour sitcom more productive.
After the 30 minutes or so, you poop in the toilet.
But preparing the enema is far more complex than these simple directions. More on that later….
Why is Coffee Used in an Enema?
You may be thinking, “Why on Earth would anybody stick a tube of coffee up their bum?”
Fair question. The reason why is that some people believe it helps detoxify the body.
But why coffee? Why not just water? After all, colon hydrotherapy exists as an alternative therapy for detox. And there’s no coffee in colon hydrotherapy.
Besides, there are proven health benefits of drinking coffee. So why the need to stick a tube up your backside?
Here’s the reason why it might be better for you to take your coffee rectally once in a while….
According to advocates of caffeinated colon irrigation, some compounds in coffee are poorly absorbed orally. If you want selenium, potassium, zinc and other nutrients that help with detoxification, rectally is the way to go.
What are the benefits?
People who swear by it claim everything from having better energy to curing cancer. Most of the benefits, if they are legitimate, are because of the cleansing and purification action.
These benefits include:
- Constipation relief
- Detoxifying the liver
- Reducing inflammation and pain
- Killing parasites such as candida yeast
- Improving mood and energy levels
- Sharpening brain function
- Weight loss
- Beautifying the skin
Perhaps the best effect of doing a coffee enema is its positive effects on glutathione. Glutathione is the body’s natural master antioxidant.
Dr. Jay Davidson a functional natural medicine doctor (he’s a chiropractor by training) mentions another benefit on his website. He says that the process empties the bile ducts. Bile is the fluid that breaks down fats. So doing one is kind of like getting an oil change.
Why are they done?
According to those who believe in them, they are necessary to detox. The reason why advocates do them is because we’re exposed to far more toxins today than in decades past.
How does it work?
The mix of water and coffee passes through your intestinal wall. Once it reaches the liver, this is where the oil-change effect occurs. The liver and gallbladder start working more effectively, advocates believe. Bile, the gunk that digests fats, flows better.
How to do an enema with coffee
If you want all the info on coffee enemas you could ever want, check out the work of Dr. Lawrence Wilson. Wilson wrote this exhaustive article on his circa 1997-looking looking website. Wilson received his medical degree from a university in Mexico. (For this, he is likely to be criticized by some in the mainstream medical community as being a quack.)
To summarize how to do one, you’ll need coffee, duh. But don’t use Sanka or some other cheap conventionally-grown brand. Get organic. Organic coffee is most often less acidic.
You’ll also need a steel or plastic bucket (or an enema bag). Don’t forget the rubber hose and lubricant to make it easy to … (you can visualize the rest).
Some people with lots of experience doing this caffeinated cleansing ritual recommend stainless steel buckets. That’s because they are easy to clean. And they are better than plastic and rubber bags because they won’t leach out toxic substances.
Coffee enema recipe
A basic way to make it is this….
First, you’ll need 4 cups of pure water in a 4-quart non-aluminum pot. Then, add 2-2 1/2 tablespoons of finely-ground coffee to the pot. Stir the water and coffee and bring the mix to a boil for about 5 minutes. Next, simmer for up to 15 minutes. Allow to cool down to warm temperature (comfy enough to go up your tush).
Now that the liquid is ready, take the rubber hose. Make sure the clamp on it is shut.
At this point, one enema company recommends doing the following:
“Place a very fine mesh 304 stainless steel strainer over the bucket and pour your cooled enema solution into the enema bucket. Do not use paper coffee filters, as the paper filaments can get into the solution.”
Lastly, the company suggests filling the bucket up to at least one quart per enema.
Using a kit
The reason why there’s a market for kits, is, well, preparing one is a pain in the butt. (Once again, excuse the pun.)
Doing an online search will steer you in the right direction.
(Again, if you want to try it, it might be best to review Dr. Wilson’s information.)
Side effects of coffee enemas
Even advocates recognize the dangers of doing them. Performed too often, they may cause loss of electrolytes. That’s why electrolyte drinks are recommended to offset the loss.
But mainstream medicine in general does not view coffee enemas favorably.
Science-Based Medicine a website that evaluates holistic treatments and seems to derive joy from ripping them to shreds says this:
“Coffee enemas are considered unsafe and should be avoided. Rare but serious adverse events like septicemia (bacteria in the bloodstream), rectal perforation, and electrolyte abnormalities have been caused by coffee enemas.
Even worse, Science-Based Medicine references deaths associated from the administration of coffee enemas.
The American Cancer Society has this to say about them:
“Continued use of enemas may weaken the colon’s normal function, causing or worsening constipation and colitis.”
Reviews
The question of whether or not coffee enemas are healthy mirrors modern-day politics in the U.S. People are going to believe what they want to believe. Most doctors in mainstream medicine will look at the research. In doing so, they’ll find negative reports about the controversial physician, Dr. Max Gerson, mentioned at the very beginning of this article.
However, there are dozens of anecdotal reports that they work. For example, here’s one that acts as a rebuttal to the Science-Based Medicine’s bashing of coffee enemas:
“My mother had several severe ailments; fibroids, cancer, heart problems, etc. And was able to effectively cure all previous conditions practicing the pro-health lifestyle methods others have described on this board to include periodical coffee enemas….
Here’s another amusing one in response to Science-Based Medicine’s article (edited for grammar and brevity):
“I am from another country and worked in children’s ER for many years. There, MDs prescribe enemas… I never ever saw anyone having a side effect of it or adverse reaction even in little babies. So it’s really funny to me to read that enemas became a dangerous thing. Unless American asses are built differently and in a very special way.”
And last but not least, here’s one from Dr. Lawrence Wilson:
“At least three dozen clients have confided to me that ‘coffee enemas saved my life’.”
