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But should you really be blasting your colon with an elixir of Ayurvedic herbs?

Medical professionals don’t think it’s necessary.

Dr. Jihong Chen, who runs the Colonic Motility Clinic at McMaster University, explains that an otherwise healthy person does not need to have enemas. Chen specializes in treating people with severe constipation and defecation disorders.

She refutes the idea that toxins stored in the body, particularly the colon, will return back into the body and cause illness or poor health. “The colon is designed to store all this waste. As long as the mucosal barrier is intact, there is no risk for the waste to go back.”

To have a healthy body, she said, all of your systems should be functioning well. A lot of people think that simply having an enema will help detoxify the body, she said, which is not true.

The only people who should use enemas or laxatives are those with severe constipation, Chen said.

Dr. Bruno Salena, who has visited and observed Ayurvedic hospitals in India, is doubtful of the benefits of panchakarma. “There’s this whole health movement to detoxify that is really unsupported by any scientific evidence,” he said.

We have to be careful and really emphasize that (panchakarma) has to be prescribed and that each treatment is prescribed to each individual's case

In fact, both Salena and Chen warned that enemas for an otherwise healthy person can tear the bowel, lead to dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, infection in the colon and cause bleeding.

Salena also warned that inducing-vomiting could make a person tear the esophagus and cause bleeding that would require surgery. He isn’t entirely opposed to Ayurvedic approaches, however, saying he sometimes advises patients to use herbs or take up yoga. “I just don’t want to do harm at the end of the day,” he said.