The History of Coffee Enemas

Ever wondered how the Coffee Enema was invented?

During WWI, Germany was blockaded by the Allies, so they ended up getting very low on essential medical supplies, including painkillers – particularly Morphine. 

The Surgeons were bombarded with truck loads of wounded soldiers and they worked incredibly long hours to cope with the work load.  Doctors had to conserve morphine for surgeries, and very rarely had enough to give patients for their post-operative pain.

If soldiers suffered constipation, the nurses often gave them a water enema to get things moving.

Nurses had coffee pots going around the clock for the Doctors to help keep their energy up and keep them awake. Sometimes there was left over coffee in the pot and the nurses decided not to waste the coffee, but to use it in the enemas.  They reasoned that if the Doctors felt more energy from it, then the patients might too!  And indeed, the patients reported that the coffee enemas were giving them a lot of relief from their pain! So it became an integral part of the pain relief after surgery.

After the war, intrigued by the nurses’ experience, two German professors studied the effect of coffee enemas on lab rats. They found that the caffeine entered the liver via the portal system and caused an increased flow of bile. This bile, in turn, allowed accumulated poisons and toxins to be released and evacuated from the body.

Years later, realizing the importance of detoxification, Dr. Gerson researched and then incorporated coffee enemas into his therapy. He believed that continued ingestion of juices and enemas throughout the day was critical for the elimination of poisonous substances from the body. As he noted, “A patient is unlikely to die from cancer, but from the toxins accumulated in the body.”

Sally Hawkins

Posted in Colonics, Enema, Uncategorized