The enterohepatic circulation of bile acids plays a role in your body that can lead to disease development if too many bile acids and toxins build up. The use of a coffee enema may help mitigate this build up, but there are some potential considerations concerning this treatment that you should consider. Discuss the use of coffee to fight disease with your physician before self-treating.
About Enterohepatic Circulation
Enterohepatic circulation, also known as enterohepatic recycling, helps your body reabsorb bile acids. The cycle begins with bile secreted into your intestines and mixing with blood in the duodenum portion of your intestines. Some bile acids are reabsorbed into the blood, while others move to the liver and eventually the gallbladder. A study published in the 2002 issue of "Clinical Pharmacokinetics" indicates that medications, disease and genetics can alter the body's ability to recycle bile acids.
Bile Acids and Cancer
Higher levels of bile acids in your blood -- which get into your bloodstream through enterohepatic circulation -- may raise your risk of some types of cancer. Research noted in 2008 in "Wiener Medizinische Wochenschrift," an Austrian medical journal, indicates that bile acids may trigger colorectal cancer. Men are more at risk of developing colorectal cancer, but over 140,000 cases of this type of cancer are diagnosed in both men and women each year, according to 2011 statistics from the American Cancer Society.
The Role of Caffeine in Treatment
Alternative health practitioners may recommend a coffee enema, which contains caffeine, to detoxify the liver. This treatment allegedly triggers your liver and gallbladder to release bile and toxins that build up through enterohepatic circulation, helping improve liver function. Alternative practitioners may also recommend this enema as part of a therapy program to treat cancer. However, research in the February 2010 issue of the "Oncology" journal notes that there is no clinical evidence to support the effectiveness of the coffee enema as part of a therapy program for treating cancer.
Dangers of a Coffee Enema
While alternative health practitioners claim taking in caffeine through a coffee enema does not trigger the same types of symptoms as drinking caffeine, there are other dangers. A study in the October 2008 issue of the "Korean Journal of Gastroenterology" points to a patient who developed acute colitis from a coffee enema, while the November 2008 issue of the "Gastrointestinal Endoscopy" journal reports of rectal burns resulting from a coffee enema.
References
- Colorado State University: Secretion of Bile and the Role of Bile Acids In Digestion
- Clinical Pharmacokinetics; Enterohepatic Circulation: Physiological, Pharmacokinetic And Clinical Implications; M.S. Roberts, et al.
- Wiener Medizinische Wochenschrift; Role Of Bile Acid Secretion In Human Colorectal Cancer; M. Peterlik
- American Cancer Society: Colorectal Cancer
- Trinity Health: Coffee Enema Therapy
- Oncology; Gerson Regimen; B. Cassileth
- American Cancer Society: Gerson Therapy
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