That’s So Coffee Enema
I made a poop joke and posted a picture of me sitting next to my toilet on a Instagram post to talk about this and I am not totally sure how it landed, but it 100% got people’s attention to read a little of it [I hope].
So, what is a coffee enema? A coffee enema is a colon cleansing procedure used in alternative medicine. This was a very common form of speeding up healing following surgery in the 1800s, with the first recorded use in the Merck Manual, which was in 1972. Today, coffee enemas are used within the alternative / holistic medicine field as part of natural treatment protocols for fighting liver dysfunction, cancer, constipation, candida, viruses, and digestive disorders such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome [IBS].
Why did I make the decision to utilize a coffee enema? I was experiencing extreme pain in my lower left groin and pelvic area. This led me to scheduling an appointment with my OBGYN as I was not sure if it was something tied to my PCOS diagnosis, but we found that the large intestine was so swollen that my OBGYN Could not even feel my left ovary, so I ended up getting a CT scan. The CT scan showed that I am literally full of s@%* even though I was experiencing better BMs than I used to.
I once again was a little frustrated with my body as I have been working extremely hard to listen and serve my body to the best of my abilities. I made sure to not stay stuck in this frustration as I remembered this was another way that my body was communicating many things to me and telling me “we need to pivot again”. I’m pivoting a few ways but one of the ways is something that I feared and ran from for literally 2 years, which is supporting my body’s liver and natural detoxification process with coffee enemas!
A coffee enema allows for the antioxidants that are in coffee to enter your body in a safe and effective manner. The coffee stimulates your liver to release the bile in your liver and possibly the “sludge” stuck in your bile duct as well. In my experience, I had quite a bit of bile and “sludge” that needed to be released – my body is struggling to naturally detoxify itself, which could be due to a variety of things like celiac disease, gilbert syndrome, candida overgrowth, mold, etc.. I have been working extremely hard to balance and heal my body’s inner ecosystem, so this another step in doing that.
The doctor gave me the option of taking prescription meds to help the compactness I was experiencing within my large intestine, but I do my best to not take prescription meds as they disrupt the gut [again – do not need help with that] and wanted to understand if there was a holistic way to help, which found me signing up to do a 15-day coffee enema.
During these 15 days, I found that the coffee enema is not as scary as I thought it was. I am not sure why I feared it so much – maybe since it is not something commonly talked about or I was not exactly sure what would come out of my body and/or if this would even help the lower left groin / pelvic pain I was experiencing. I also came to find that my body was holding on to quite a bit of toxins, bile, and “sludge”. I came to look forward to the daily coffee enema and investigate my BMs. Yes, I would take the time to notate what was being released, so I could better understand what my body was communicating. I know it may sound gross but paying attention to your bowel movements is actually pretty important. Your bowel habits are a strong indicator of your digestive health. Changes in the color, shape and texture of your stool can reveal signs of infection, digestive issues or more serious health problems.
So how do you go about doing a coffee enema? Well I bought the coffee enema kit recommended by integrative health practitioner and followed the following steps:
Brew the specific enema coffee that I bought and allowed it to cool to room temperature. You never want to use hot or even warm water for the enema – hello coffee burns in places you do not want it!
I would place a towel down near the shower and toilet as I would set the IV bag up to hang from the shower curtain rod. Plus, being close to the toilet was extremely helpful as it did cause some need use the restroom urgently.
Once the coffee was cooled, I poured it into the IV bag and made sure the coffee flowed through the IV tube without any air bubbles.
Carefully insert the tubing part of the coffee enema into the rectum.
Slowly release the coffee into the body. You do not want to release it too quickly into your body as you will overwhelm the body. It typically took me 10-15 minutes to empty the IV bag.
The coffee solution should be held in the rectum for 5-20 minutes. Yes, you are to clench those butt cheeks for as long as you possibly can. I personally could only hold it for 5 minutes and needed to go to the bathroom urgently.
Yes, I know this is different than what you may hear about and I know not everyone will feel compelled to choose this path for healing. However, this path was the correct one for me as my body is releasing toxins, inflammation, “sludge”, parasites and is helping my body have daily bowel movements. I am honestly very surprised and appalled at what has come out of my body and very confused on to why my body would want to hold onto what it was releasing
Now that 15 days is over, I am listening to my body and understanding what a good regime would be for utilizing the coffee enema. On top of the coffee enema, I have made some diet changes and some supplement changes that will help support my body.
PLEASE NOTE: I did this coffee enema under the guidance of my integrative health practitioner and with informed consent on the options I had to support my body!
If you are curious, I utilized the following items for the coffee enema: