Goop's latest recommendation for beauty and wellness is an at-home coffee enema for body detox. The prospect of filling the colon and rectum with coffee has many raising an eyebrow and doctors are warning the public of its dangers.
Coffee Enema, Anyone?
If someone is wondering what a coffee enema is, well it's exactly what the name suggests. Goop's new detox guide for beauty and wellness includes an at-home coffee enema that is basically a simple enema but entails flushing the colon and rectum with coffee instead of plain water.
Naturally, the DIY enema has raised a lot of eyebrows, especially with the idea of flushing the rectum and colon with coffee and having to do it without a practitioner present. OB-GYN and pain medicine physician Dr. Jen Gunter raised a few points that question the legitimacy and even safety of the recommended procedure.
The very first thing Dr. Gunter notes is that people do not need to go on colon cleanses to detoxify the body. In fact, she states that the procedure can cause irritation and inflammation to the colon, and that serious complications such as damage to intestinal bacteria, vomiting, abdominal pain, renal failure, and rectal perforation may arise from colonic procedures.
Colon Cleansing
Normally, colon cleansing is done to prepare for medical procedures such as colonoscopies but the procedure has been popularized of late as a detoxifying and cleansing procedure. According to the proponents of colon cleansing for detoxifying purposes, it can eliminate excess toxins and materials from the digestive system.
However, medical practitioners state that this is not a necessary procedure as the body can eliminate such toxins on its own. Further, colon cleansing can reportedly lead to dehydration, increased infection risks, and electrolyte changes especially among individuals with a history of gastrointestinal disease, kidney disease, or heart disease. In fact, coffee enemas for colon cleansing have apparently been previously linked to deaths.
Basically, medical practitioners state that there is no need for colon cleansing. But should anyone wish to do so, they should take extra precautions such as checking with a doctor first and making sure that the equipment to be used has not been previously used for another customer.
Goop's Recommendations
In the case of Goop's latest beauty and wellness recommendation, the Implant O-rama coffee enema system is said to be recommended for "those who know what they're doing" when it comes to colon cleanses. With a community of doctors stating contrary to the latest claims, perhaps a safe precautionary measure would be to consult one before trying the procedure out.
Goop has recommended quite a few strange procedures and items that are supposedly for beauty and wellness. Apart from the fact that the said procedures and products are pretty expensive, they are also quite questionable in terms of safety. In fact, doctors have warned about its previous recommendation regarding placing jade eggs in the vagina. NASA has also called Goop out for claiming to use the same material in their bio-frequency healing sticker as NASA does in spacesuits.
