Coffee Enemas And How To Take Them
From: Charlotte Gerson and Morton Walker, D.P.M. The Gerson Therapy — The Proven Nutritional Program For Cancer and Other Illnesses, 2001, Revised and Updated in 2006, Chapter Thirteen (page 167)
Broadly known almost as a hallmark of the Gerson Therapy, the technique of giving or receiving coffee enemas for program participants has reaped its share of denigration. Numbers of critics, general detractors, and outright slanderers have condemned the practice; yet rectal self-injection with a quart of liquid containing coffee beverage is therapeutic and healing.
Exemplifying disparagement of coffee enemas was the editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Morris Fishbein, M.D. Now deceased, Dr. Fishbein was an avowed enemy of Max Gerson, M.D. and anything to do with his treatment program. Publicly and privately, in speaking of alternative methods of healing, then known as “unconventional cancer therapies,” Dr. Fishbein used to repeatedly offer the tired joke: “How do your want your coffee enema, with cream or sugar?”
Addressing The Topic Of Coffee Enemas
But even with a supposed medical oddity relating to its coffee enemas, the Gerson Therapy has won worldwide respectability. For instance, in a letter dated March 8, 1999, the Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, a member of the House
of Lords in England, invited Charlotte Gerson to address members of the English Parliament about the Gerson Therapy. Peers and MPs attended her presentation before the Parliamentary Group for Alternative and Complementary Medicine on May 19, 1999, and her lecture was a great success.
Furthermore, Dr. Gersonʼs daughter accepts invitations to address medical school classes as well, and there are many from which to choose. It is difficult to describe the incredulous facial expressions which ripple across the audience of medical students when the topic of coffee enemas is introduced. Embarrassed sniggering invariably may be heard from several seats in the lecture hall. And then a wise guy student will be heard to heckle aloud, “How do you take your coffee?” Snatching a page from Dr. Fishbeinʼs book, Charlotte Gerson doesnʼt miss a beat when she swiftly answers: “Black — without cream and sugar.” Laughter relaxes the entire
classroom and Charlotte goes on to explain this detoxifying aspect of her famous fatherʼs treatment program.
Responses from the audience of budding doctors will typically be: “Boy, Iʼll bet you get a buzz out of that!” Or, “Couldnʼt you just drink three or four cups of coffee?” Or, “Why go to all that trouble just for a caffeine high?” And eventually, the most significant question gets asked from active student thinkers whose medical interests are piqued, “What does a coffee enema do?”
Since the full answer was given in our prior chapter, you know the correct response already. If not, please return to read chapter 12. Dr. Gerson Summarizes The Coffee Enema Procedure
In a succinct manner, Dr. Max Gerson summarized the best procedure for self-administration of a coffee enema. He had written down the simple steps in abbreviated form for easy following. Those directions were recorded in his famous text for the medical consumer, and the Gerson Institute has carried forward with refinements to his method as described in its volume of educational literature.
Dr. Gerson suggests that the individual assume a specific body position when taking a coffee enema. He writes: “To make enemas most effective, the patient should lie on his right side, with both legs drawn close to the abdomen, and breathe deeply, in order to suck the greatest amount of fluid into all parts of the colon. The fluid should be retained ten to fifteen minutes.”
As was described by now-deceased Harold Manner, Ph.D., in chapter 12, within twelve minutes nearly all the caffeine from the coffee is absorbed through the bowel wall and into the hemorrhoidal veins. From these blood vessels it flows directly into the portal veins and then into the liver. Dr. Gerson advises for cancer patients and other very sick people that during the first months of treatment, enemas may be taken as frequently as every four hours, day and night, for their optimal effect. Some terminal cancer patients save their lives and restore health by taking five coffee enemas each day for months at a time.(1)
In his writings, the formulation that the much-respected German-American physician had offered as the best coffee enema concentration is the following:
1. Drop 3 rounded tablespoonfuls of ground (drip) coffee (not instant) into one quart of water.
2. Let the solution boil for three minutes and then simmer for fifteen minutes. 3. Strain the solution.
4. Fill a quart glass container with the liquid and let cool to body temperature.
5. Use this solution at body temperature for purposes of bowel infusion.
The daily amount of coffee liquid can be prepared at one time, or a more concentrated coffee solution may be made and then diluted down to the required strength for repeated separate enemas during consecutive applications.
Coffee Enema Improvements Over Half A Century
Detoxification of the body is one of the most important life-enhancement contributions of the Gerson Therapy. The coffee enema is the basic procedure employed; but since the colon is a highly absorptive organ, enemas can be applied for various reasons. As you learned in the last chapter, enemas go back to the ancients, and are described in literature through the ages.
During the past half century or more since Dr. Gerson first instituted coffee enemas as part of his treatment program, many improvements have been added as refinements to the actual enema procedure. This section will describe some of those new methods that the Gerson Institute has incorporated.
Self-administration of the regular coffee enema has been modified slightly and is now made as follows:
1. Take three rounded tablespoonfuls of drip-grind coffee and add them to a quart of boiling water (use distilled water and a stainless steel pot).
2. Let the mixture boil for three minutes uncovered and allow it to simmer for another fifteen minutes more covered.
3. Strain the solution through a fine strainer to catch floating coffee grounds. Or employ a coarser strainer lined with a filter cloth, such as an old, used piece of white sheeting or a piece cut from a knit undershirt. Add enough hot water to refill a glass container up to the 1-quart level. (Some water will have been lost in boiling and straining.)
4. Prepare yourself to instill this coffee solution into the rectum when it cools to body temperature.
Procedure For Instilling The Coffee Enema
The patient should lie either on the padded floor (use a cushioning mat) or on a mattress protected with a plastic sheet, either setup covered for comfort with a towel. Rather than the floor or bed, some patients use a camp bed or the famous enema bench (used in the Gerson Cancer Clinic). This enema bench is made up of a table, about the size of a 4-foot-by-2- foot cocktail table, covered with a 3- to 4-inch thick layer of foam rubber, which, in turn, is covered with some Naugahyde or plastic for easy cleaning.
In fact, if you are able to get up and down easily, most often a clean bathroom floor works best for giving yourself an enema. If that is the case, you may prefer to put some soft padding on the bathroom floor, cover it with plastic and a towel (a lawn chaise pad is excellent), plop down a pillow, and lie down on that padded floor. Be sure, in any case, that you or the patient you're assisting are comfortable and warm.
The patient should lie on his or her right side, with legs pulled up in a relaxed position. If, due to pain, the patient is unable to lie on the right side, it is acceptable to lie on oneʼs back, also with legs pulled up. Lie on the left side only as a last resort because the coffee enema goes deeper into the bowel most effectively from the right side. Take your time letting gravity force the fluid into your rectum and bowel. Have the bottom of an enema bag or bucket elevated only about 18 inches above the tubeʼs end that is penetrating oneʼs anus.
The enema once fully infused into the colon should, ideally, be held for from twelve to fifteen minutes. By that time, almost all the available caffeine has been absorbed. It is not suggested to hold it longer than fifteen minutes, since the liquid will also be absorbed into the system. If a person cannot hold the enema for twelve minutes, he or she should do the best they can without trying desperately to retain the fluid, which could bring on abdominal cramping. If she or he can only manage say six to nine minutes, do release the liquid at that shorter interval. Eventually, holding the coffee enema inside the bowel for twelve minutes does become quite comfortable. It merely takes practice, and some people have taken three or four months before achieving the ideal time period.
A Coffee Enema For The Bedfast Patient
Occasionally, a patient is bedfast and cannot get up for an enema or go to the bathroom. In that case, assistance from a support person is required. Then, proceed as we have described below:
1. Cover the mattress and bed clothing with plastic and a towel. 2. Have the patient take the enema while lying in bed.
3. Have the patient hold the quart of fluid if possible for from twelve to fifteen minutes, and then provide the patient with a bedpan.
4. If incontinence is a complication, the enema has to be introduced while the patient is lying on the bedpan.
As weʼve mentioned — and itʼs an important point — the enema bucket or bag should not be more than 18 inches (50 cm) above the body so the coffee does not flow into the bowel under too much pressure. The reason for this becomes all too apparent rather quickly. An excessive height could cause excessive pressure and easily set up counter-peristalsis with cramping.
If cramping occurs, stop the flow of liquid, either by pinching the tube closed or by lowering the bucket or bag to the level of the body for a little while. Then resume the enemaʼs flow.
A number of patients, at the start of the treatment, have reported experiencing difficulty getting a full quart of liquid into the colon. If that becomes the situation for you or your loved one, start with whatever amount is most comfortably received. Let the patient take and hold that lesser amount; expel it, and then accept the rest of the enema.
Some people are able to take the full quart of coffee solution from the start, but at the time of going through their first healing reaction, they canʼt even take half that amount. This may come from toxic pressure produced by the liver. It requires the same sort of procedure as just described: take as much liquid as is comfortable to hold; expel it, and then take the rest.
Variations To The Coffee Enema Solution
There are many variations to the coffee enema. Some patients, if suffering from an irritated bowel, colitis, diarrhea, bleeding, or cramping, may find it more comfortable to use half a quart of the regular coffee and add half a
quart of chamomile tea. This combination is soothing to the intestinal tract and usually helps to clear the above symptoms.
In case of serious diarrhea, it may be necessary to eliminate the coffee and use only the chamomile tea. Usually, as symptoms clear away, some coffee concentrate can slowly be added to the herb tea, starting with 2 to 4 ounces, then 6 to 8 ounces (always maintaining the quart quantity as the ideal measurement), until the patient can again handle the full coffee enema.
Chamomile tea rather than coffee is also useful at the start of the Gerson Therapy. During that time, when patients are required to receive five coffee enemas a day, the last one at 10:00 P.M. may tend to keep them awake. In that case, we recommend that such individuals replace the last coffee enema with chamomile tea. Usually, in three to four days, the 10:00 P.M. coffee enema no longer causes loss of sleep.
In a few special cases (during severe reactions, in heavy tumor absorption, or in case of pain striking during the night), Dr. Gerson also suggested a nighttime enema. If the patient cannot sleep because of pain or discomfort, it's better for the patient to get up and get out of bed at 2:00 or 3:00 A.M. to take a coffee enema rather than to toss and turn and not sleep anyway. Instillation of that coffee enema often allows the individual to go back to sleep. It may be surprising to some, but these middle-of-the-night enemas never seem to keep the patient awake.
Very-early-morning enemas are also extremely important for drug addicts who wake up with nightmares due to toxicity or from withdrawal symptoms. Here is a tip learned recently: before taking the nighttime or first morning enema, it is wise to eat a piece of fruit or have some applesauce or fruit salad (placed on the night table by the patientʼs bedside) to raise the blood sugar a little.
More Explicit Information On The Castor Oil Treatment
Besides self-administering the coffee enema, another important feature of detoxification is the caster oil procedure. To accomplish an exceedingly intensive cleansing technique, Dr. Gerson prescribed a castor oil treatment for the cancer patient to be conducted every other day. (This caster oil procedure does not apply to cancer patients who were previously treated
with cytotoxic or other chemotherapy drugs. They should not take castor oil.)
Here is how a candidate should proceed with the castor oil treatment:
1. At about 5:00 A.M. drink 2 tbsp of castor oil, followed by a cup of black coffee with 1 tsp of organic brown sugar (Sucanat).
2. At 6:00 A.M. take the usual coffee enema.
3. At 10:00 A.M. replace the coffee enema with a castor oil enema. Make the castor oil enema in the following manner:
a. Into the bucket or bag (for instilling castor oil, a bucket is much preferable to the bag since it is easier to clean), place 4 tbsp of castor oil.
b. Add ¼ tsp of ox bile powder.
c. Take a cake of regular soap (not detergent) into your hand and rub it for a few moments into a regular coffee enema at body temperature.
d. Take this soapy coffee and mix it into the castor oil with ox bile powder, stirring constantly. (Some people find it best to use an electric mixer.)
When mixed, the castor oil still tends to rise to the top; therefore, you need to stir constantly while you allow it to flow into your rectum (quite a trick; if you canʼt manage it, have somebody do the stirring for you as you take the mixture). This enema along with the castor oil by mouth is virtually impossible to hold. Do not work too hard at holding the mixture. Rather, release when necessary.
Some patients report that when they release the castor oil enema, it burns the anus. Burning can occur, but the circumstance to remember is that caster oil does not burn. Instead itʼs the release of highly toxic material coming out of the bodyʼs tissues that burns! This is one more indication of how important it is to take these castor oil enemas. Indeed, after two or three castor oil treatments, the burning is reduced and disappears. Such a disappearance indicates that the toxic level in the system is lower and no longer irritates the rectum and anus. If irritation exists, use a little petroleum jelly to soothe the area. You may also use a little zinc oxide ointment (not suppositories, which contain painkillers).
A number of patients, if they previously suffered from hemorrhoids, have a flare-up of this situation. It can be uncomfortable for a few days; but the
patient should definitely not stop the enemas. Zinc oxide ointment may be applied locally. But please keep in mind that hemorrhoids are usually caused by toxic pressure, therefore, detoxifying is extra-important, and stopping the enemas is entirely wrong. It has also been observed in those patients that the hemorrhoids shortly disappear and do not recur. It just takes a little waiting time and patience.
Physical Flare-Ups From The Enema Treatments
The frequency of taking coffee enemas as well as castor oil treatments is reduced after a period of time. Some patients are so toxic that reduction of enema frequencies do not apply to them. If they reduce the detoxification too soon and then feel ill, toxic, or headachy, they should go back to the more intensive level for a period of time. Later, they can try to reduce the frequency again. Each patient needs to adjust the frequency of detoxifying to his own needs. At times, when the patient does well upon receiving less frequent enemas, flare-ups still could occur. These may include new toxic releases, increased swellings or pain, headaches, or lack of appetite. At such times, an extra coffee enema or a castor oil treatment has been known to work wonders.
Occasionally, flare-ups are accompanied by diarrhea. At such times, the patient should only take perhaps two chamomile tea enemas daily to gently cleanse the colon. When the diarrhea lets up, the patient could instill one camomile tea enema, followed four to six hours later with one coffee enema, and another one of chamomile tea at night. When the colon is calmed, the regular schedule may be resumed, but some of the coffee enemas can still be mixed with chamomile tea.
Some flare-ups are extremely intensive and cause a great deal of bile to be released by the liver. This bile could flow over into the stomach. Bile is highly alkaline, but the stomach cannot hold anything that is not maintained in an acid medium. The alkaline bile will therefore bring on immediate severe nausea, almost always accompanied by vomiting. At such times, the patient should omit the coffee enemas, since they simply stimulate more bile flow and more vomiting! Drink a lot of peppermint tea and eat oatmeal gruel. Use only chamomile tea enemas. When the flare-up is overcome and nausea or vomiting has stopped completely, then resume the coffee enemas.
Some patients have problems with a great deal of gas. When there is much pressure from gas, it is difficult to infuse the coffee. At such times, it will probably be necessary to lower the bucket to the patientʼs body height while prone or even below the patientʼs body (if he is in bed or on a bench) to allow the fluid to flow back into the bucket while also allowing the gas to bubble out of the rectum. However, if the gas is too high up in the intestinal tract, this approach will not work.
In A Cancer Therapy (chapter 27, p. 201), Dr. Gerson discusses some of the problems of flare-ups, including difficulties with the coffee enemas. We already mentioned (see above) that during these unpleasant flaring reactions, patients occasionally have a problem with infusing the enema although previously this procedure went smoothly. The other problem which occurs is that the patient takes an enema, holds it for the optimum twelve minutes, and then goes to release it. But the infused fluid wonʼt release! Such an uncooperative bowel comes from intestinal spasming or cramping, which may not necessarily be accompanied by pain or discomfort. There are several actions the patient can take for a spasming colon:
1. Lie down on the bed, on the right side, legs pulled up, possibly with a warm water bottle on the abdomen.
2. Donʼt panic.
3. If after a little while, the coffee still cannot be released, take another coffee enema, adding 3 tsp of a 3 percent solution of hydrogen peroxide to the solution.
4. If the spasm still wonʼt release, take castor oil by mouth.
5. For the next few days, put 3 or 4 tsp of the regular potassium compound salts into each coffee enema. Do not continue the potassium in the enemafor more than a week, otherwise, the colon becomes irritated.
During the course of this bowel spasming, at no time is there any danger to the patient even if she or he is not able to release the coffee. The entire solution is easily absorbed through the colon and excreted through the kidneys and urine if it is not normally released.
There are still other ways to use the Gerson technique of enema therapy. These are not really cleansing enemas, but rather rectal implants. In a few cases, patients during a healing reaction vomit almost everything they take
in. They become dehydrated and hypoglycemic. At such times, it is easy to warm the regular carrot or green juices (including the medications) to body temperature and put the 8 ounces of juice into the bucket or bag and let it run into the rectum. (Use only carrot/apple and green juices, not orange juice. Do not add water to the juice.) This implant should not be expelled. Consisting of only 8 ounces, it can easily be held until it is fully absorbed. And instilling with a juice enema may be repeated every hour as the juices are ready. As soon as the patient is able, he or she should start to drink the juices again normally.
Somewhat in the same area, Dr. Gerson also suggested in cases of severe ulcerations of the uterus or cervix to use a douche made up of green juice. This is gently cleansing as well as detoxifying, and the procedure stimulates healing.
How To Make Coffee Concentrate
To concentrate coffee for later use as a dilution, use a large stainless steel pot and 2½ to 3 quarts of distilled water.
1. When the water boils, add 15 rounded tbsp of organic drip-grind coffee. Since each enema should contain the equivalent of 3 tbsp of coffee, using 15 tbsp will give you enough coffee concentrate for five enemas.
2. Bring the solution back to a boil for 3 minutes, then let it simmer with the lid on for fifteen more minutes and strain.
3. Divide the resulting concentrate into five equal portions. (You can put equal amounts into five 1 quart glass bottles.)
4. Fill the bottles to the full quart with distilled water for use.
5. Or, if you need to modify the coffee enema with chamomile tea as we have already explained, you can add a pint of tea to the coffee concentrate.
6. Finally, fill up the (enema) container with enough water to make a full quart. Before using this mixture, heat it to body temperature. References for Chapter Thirteen
Gerson, M. A Cancer Therapy: Results of Fifty Cases and The Cure of Advanced Cancer by Diet Therapy, 1958, 6th ed. Bonita, Calif: The Gerson Institute, 1999, p. 190.