While it is true that the scientific literature is not considerable in terms of using colon cleansing, the enema, or the coffee enema for health benefits, you absolutely can find peer-reviewed, randomized, double-blind studies in the scientific literature that do support the use of enemas as an important therapeutic tool.

Some scientific articles even go so far as to say that by using therapeutic agents in the colon, such as butyrate, you can "enhance the maintenance of colonic homeostasis... by regulating fatty acid metabolism, electron transport, and oxidative stress pathways."

In this article, Butyrate-Induced Transcriptional Changes in Human Colonic Mucosa, published by PLOS ONE**, an international, peer-reviewed, non-profit online journal, researchers report that the enema is "a safe and reliable way to deliver a specific amount of substrate to the distal [descending/sigmoid] colon" and that "other techniques, such as oral intake of dietary fibers or encapsulated butyrate, do not allow to accurately target the distal colon." They go on to say that the enema was chosen as a delivery method of the butyrate intervention since "the incidence of carcinomas and diseases... of the colon is rising."

If I may transgress, I must directly speak to the Florida couple in the TV show My Strange Addiction who were "reportedly addicted" to the coffee enema, to ABC News, and to the medical doctor who was interviewed by ABC News for an article about the TV program.

Beyond the fact that scientific evidence does point to the enema as a safe and reliable way to deliver therapeutic substances, every day I receive phone calls and emails from clients who share that enemas, colon cleansing, and coffee enemas saved their lives. Every day. For 16 years now, I have heard the same stories. I know that my personal and professional experiences aren't the same as the scientific method, but in terms of human life, these stories matter.

It is wrong to use mocking of the coffee enema as a form of entertainment. Even the woman in the show said that the coffee enema allowed her to "live life for the first time in years." It seems obvious to me (but not in the way that the show presented it) that this person's experience of first using the coffee enema for a healing tool but later only as an addictive habit is just one person's story.

Tragically, in the show and the subsequent reporting about the show, the Florida woman's story is used to speak to the very nature of the coffee enema itself: it is reported as if addiction is inherent in the use of coffee enemas. I doubt that this story is even about that woman's "addictive" personality. Perhaps these people are simply actors? To me, the pieces of the story don't fit together; there are numerous discrepancies. For instance, the article's title is, "Couple Addicted to Coffee Enemas, Up to Four Times a Day," but in the beginning of the interview, she says, "In a 24-hour period, I probably did 9 or 10 coffee enemas." At this point, her husband acts like this is a surprise to him. And this is a but one inconsistency among many.

This is a story ONLY for entertainment, a story that is being cloaked in an air of science by interviewing a medical doctor who obviously hasn't spent time thoroughly researching the enema before she comments. She says, "The bottom line is there is not any beneficial effect and there is some risk associated with any enema..."

Don't get me wrong. I adore entertainment. For instance, I love going to the movies. Just Friday night, I saw The Grand Budapest Hotel. Wes Anderson's second best movie ever. My favorite movie of his is Moonrise Kingdom.

But to scorn a healing tool, such as the coffee enema, as a form of entertainment crosses a line where entertainment is distorting reality in a way that interferes with people's lives. And, the fact that the producers and the writers went further to say that there is "no scientific evidence" of the enema as a therapeutic tool so that OTHER PEOPLE will become afraid of the enema is wrong. It is absolutely wrong.


What can those of us who know colon cleansing, enemas, and/or coffee enemas as invaluable healing tools do?

• Spread the word! Share your stories! Talk to your friends, co-workers, and strangers on the street about what you are doing and how it is helping you.
• Read the scientific literature to really back your practices. With your confidence, tell your doctor what you do. Bring your health practitioners the scientific research that you collect.
• Support scientific research on colon cleansing, enemas, and coffee enemas.
• If you'd rather remain anonymous, send your stories of healing to the Optimal Health Network where others can learn from you.

Labels: addiction, butyrate, caffeine, cancer, coffee enema, colon, therapeutic enema