Coffee Enemas - Why We Love This Ancient Detox Tool!
Before you decide coffee enemas are not the done thing, read on and I’ll tell you so many reasons why they have been a powerful tool in managing my health and can be for you.
A Brief History
First, let me tell you about how we’ve always used enemas. These powerful procedures are documented throughout history and even as far back as the dead seas scrolls. The two-thousand-year-old scrolls refer to cleansing inside and out and even include instructions! As humans, we’ve always known the importance of enemas and only in the last hundred years have we forgotten their therapeutic offerings. All ancient societies have documented the use of enemas including Greeks, Romans, Egyptians and the Chinese. As far as coffee is concerned, the practice has been used, forgotten, used and forgotten again. Back in the 19th century, documents talk about using coffee enemas for managing poisoning and for helping post-operative recovery. It was even in the famous Merck Manual for medical physicians up until the 20th century.
During World War 1, nurses wanted to do a routine pre-operative water enema flush for a patient and due to a shortage of fresh water, only had access to coffee. This lucky patient had significantly less pain post-operative and it clued the nurses into using coffee enemas for all their patients. Since then, coffee enemas were made famous by Max Gerson in his ‘Gerson therapy’ for cancer patients. Its usefulness in helping many chronic inflammatory conditions and in detoxifying our bodies is now spreading.
A Quick (and easy) Anatomy Lesson
We all know our livers are the organs that filter toxins from our blood, but where do these toxins come from and how do we then get them out of the body? I’m going to make it super simple to understand in an abbreviated anatomy ‘101’ lesson. Basically, the liver produces bile which is stored in the gallbladder. The job of bile, among other things, is to carry toxins from the liver and deliver them to our colon for elimination from the body. Knowing this is important because it will explain to you why coffee is such a powerful substance in our enemas.
The Master Antioxidant
One more scene setting element before I finally tell you why coffee enemas are good for you. Glutathione! Glutathione is our master antioxidant, it helps in the binding up of toxins and carrying them out of the body. They are removed through the bile flow from the liver, through the gallbladder and into the bowel. To make enough glutathione we need a vegetable dense diet with quality proteins and bone broth (and do we always eat like this?). When we have a lot of toxins in our environment or we are producing a lot of toxins within our body due to poor diet, stress or infections, we need more glutathione to take care of business!
Why Coffee?
Coffee contains palmitates and these substances are the ones that work all the magic. They have been shown to increase our production of glutathione, specifically glutathione s-transferase, by 600-700%. A phenomenal number, but true. You may wonder why this is important but let me ask you; Do you have gas, bloating, poor digestion, brain fog, pain, fatigue or constipation? This can be because of the high toxin exposure we have from our environment. This includes higher than ever heavy metals in our air, food and water. The chemicals in our environment, cleaning products, perfumes and plastics all contribute to a highly toxic exposure, all of which your liver has to process. That’s our external toxic load, we can also produce an internal toxic load with gut infections, parasites, virus’, poor quality, processed foods and prescription and recreational drug use (think alcohol…). What a job the liver has! The increased production of glutathione is a powerhouse that can literally transform you simply by walking through the bathroom door.
Key Benefits
Coffee enemas can work wonders in other ways:- Astringent for the bowel – think exfoliation for the colon. This will aid in removing the build-up of biofilms and plaques on the bowel wall.
- Improve constipation and restore regularity to the bowel. This is because the enema provides a little stretch to the bowel wall, stimulating it to work better.
- Mechanical cleansing – you can literally flush out yeasts, parasites, toxins and bacteria during your enema. All of which can make you feel unwell, sluggish and toxic. Parasites, in particular, need tackling with coffee enemas.
- Improves bile flow. Remember that bile flow is how we carry toxins from the body. The coffee stimulates the flow of bile, flushing out the old toxin-laden bile and triggering the production of fresh bile.
- Coffee offers up nutrients in its own right – coffee can contribute beneficial substances such as selenium, potassium and zinc to your system.
- Tones down the stress state – organs such as the bowel are active when we are in a relaxed state and stimulating the bowel can engage the relaxation state (relaxed with coffee I hear you ask? I’ll get to that). It also contributes to relaxation by removing toxins that trigger the stressed state in the body AND… your 15 minutes of enema time is a great little bit of ‘me’ time where you prioritise self-care and take a break (truly).
Are Enemas Safe?
Yes! Contrary to what you might hear, coffee enemas are not habit forming, the caffeine in an enema is totally different from the caffeine you drink. The actual caffeine is not absorbed in the same rate, in fact, some research shows only a portion of the absorption rate with 3.5 times less uptake.
Reports of risks or dangers from coffee enemas have only ever been from overuse or from an infusion of hot liquid (burns) both of which can be managed with some education and common sense. They are indeed safe to perform every day if needed.
How Do I Do An Enema?
We have an awesome resource that teaches you all things enemas from their history, medical use, how they work, your coffee enema recipe and more! It's our Enema Masterclass and eBook. You can purchase it here.
To simply understand the process, we recommend watching the video here.
What can you look forward to with a coffee enema?
Improved energy, clarity of mind, a spring in your step and the knowledge that, in conjunction with a good eating plan, you are tackling chronic infections such as parasites, candida and strep. This has been the experience of myself and all of the people on the Kultured Wellness lifestyle. To maximise your detox you can take some charcoal at the same time to mop up any toxins left in the colon. Stick around and I’ll talk about this next week.
So…time to dump the ‘icky’ feelings about enemas and adopt what is both an ancient and cutting edge therapy for whole body and gut healing. I’m so grateful for the benefits I’ve gained from my enemas, I’ve never looked back and I’m sure you won’t either.
If you are looking for an enema kit, you can find some options in our store here.
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