Coffee Enemas Are Trending On Social Media. Here Are The Dangers
What Is An Enema?
If you don't know what an enema is, here's a suggestion: don't ask someone for one until you for sure know what it is. Otherwise, you may be in for a bit of a surprise. An enema is when you inject some type of fluid up into your rectum and potentially even further up into your colon. Once in your colon, the enema typically will further stimulate peristalsis of your colon. Peristalsis is the involuntary contractions that the muscles of your intestines make to move food and other stuff along. Causing your colon to contract more aggressively will expel the enema liquid along with a lot of the contents of the colon, meaning a lot of poop there is.
There are legit medical reasons to get an enema. One is prior to a medical procedure like a colonoscopy. The doctor may want to empty out the contents your colon as much as possible in order to get a clearer look at the colon itself. After all, you don't want your doctor to say, 'I can't see [bleep],' because there is too much bleep in there.
Another legit reason is to treat fairly severe constipation. An enema typically isn't the first line of treatment for your run-of-the-mill can't-quite-get-the-poop-out situation. A doctor will usually first suggest lifestyle changes such as changing your diet, drinking more water and getting more physical activity to get your gut moving more. Using an enema as a first-line treatment for all types of constipation can be sort of like using an axe to cut a piece of cake.
But once an enema is needed, there are already a number to choose from at your local pharmacy. For example, Fleet's Phosphosoda Enema has as it's main component sodium phosphate. Saline solution enemas consist of a salt water solution. Mineral oil enemas are comprised of mineral oil. So why then are posts on social media suggesting that you use something that you would normally get at your local coffee shop?
What Claims Are Being Made About Coffee Enemas?
Well, some wellness influencers are claiming that coffee enemas can help 'detox' you. These claims are based on the so-called 'autointoxication' theory, that over time undigested food, toxins and other things harmful to your health build up in your body, especially in your colon. The argument is that periodically getting enemas can essentially flush all of this bad stuff out of your colon, sort of like how you would flush a toilet, except the toilet is you. The assertion is that coffee is particularly good at promoting peristalsis and thus good at cleaning out your colon.
In addition, there are claims that different compounds in coffee can further decrease the toxins and inflammation in your body. For example, coffee has palmitic acid and cafestol, which supposedly can stimulate the production of a detoxifying enzyme called glutathione S-transferase in your liver. It also has some theophylline, which supposedly has an anti-inflammatory effect on your intestines. Are The Coffee Enema Claims Backed By Any Science?
But are these claims sound enough to justify getting coffee, well, up your butt? Are they backed by science? Or are they full of you know what? Well, most of these wellness influencers and social media posts aren't citing real scientific studies to support what they are saying. Offering anecdotes and 'reports' of what's happening with their clients is not the same as rigorous scientific studies conducted by independent researchers that have undergone scientific peer-review and been published in reputable scientific journals. You can claim that your clients feel better and have more energy after getting a coffee enema. But who knows if the clients really felt that way and what may be behind those effects.
Speaking of scientific peer-reviewed studies, searching PubMed won't reveal much support for these claims. A publication in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology chronicled how the 'autointoxication' theory has been around since ancient times but has never really been supported by enough evidence. Yet, this theory has for years—centuries, in fact—given rise to a wide range of colonic quackery.
There has been a systematic review of all the coffee enema-related scientific publications that was published in 2020 in the journal Medicine. This also revealed not a 'latte' support for coffee enemas or any of the aforementioned claimed benefits.
The Risks Of Coffee Enemas
In fact, the systematic review found nine case reports of adverse events occurring from use of coffee enemas. Seven of these case reports detailed patients suffering colitis, which is inflammation of the colon or large intestine, that may have resulted in large part from the various chemical substances in the coffee. This is yet another reason why you shouldn't just put ransom stuff up your butt.
Even if your colon were not react to coffee immediately with inflammation, who knows what putting coffee up there might be doing to your gut microbiome, the cities of bacteria and other microbes in your intestines. Disturbing this microbiome could lead to all sorts of other problems, some of which I mentioned previously in Forbes.
And here's a hot take: things could get even worse if you were to heat the coffee before putting it up your rectum. Just look at the case reports of people getting burned by this idea like a person suffering rectal burns and even someone's rectum getting completely burned through creating a hole there, which can cause a 'hole' lot of problems including life threatening ones.
The bottom line is that there is little scientific evidence that getting a coffee enema can help you. and it may even hurt you. Hot coffee and colon are two words that shouldn't go together unless colon refers to the punctuation mark
This certainly doesn't mean that we know the whole poop about how your intestines and your poop may be affecting your health. For example, in recent years, more and more studies have shown that the bacteria in your intestines may affect your metabolism, your weight, and other aspects of your health in very complex ways. It is definitely possible that future prevention and treatment approaches will focus more on the intestines and poop. But, but...
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