Antioxidant effects after coffee enema or oral coffee consumption in healthy Thai male volunteers

Abstract

We designed an open-label, randomized two-phase crossover study to investigate the antioxidant effects after single and multiple doses of a coffee enema versus coffee consumed orally. Eleven healthy subjects were randomly assigned to either receive a coffee enema (3 times weekly for 6 visits) or consume ready-to-drink coffee (2 times daily for 11 days). After a washout period, subjects were switched to receive the alternate coffee procedure. Blood samples were collected at specific time points for the determination of serum levels of glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA) and trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC). The findings showed that either single or multiple administrations of the coffee enema or orally consumed coffee doses seemed not to produce any beneficial effects to enhance serum GSH levels or to decrease serum MDA levels over the study period of 12 days. In contrast, mean serum TEAC levels at day 12 after the coffee enema and at days 6 and 12 after oral coffee consumption were significantly reduced from their corresponding baseline values. Thus, no beneficial effects with respect to an enhancement of serum GSH and TEAC levels or a decrease in serum MDA concentrations were demonstrated after coffee enema or orally consumed ready-to-drink coffee.

Pharmacokinetics of Caffeine following a Single Administration of Coffee Enema versus Oral Coffee Consumption in Healthy Male Subjects

“…Nevertheless, since most of the caffeine in systemic circulation is normally eliminated within 4-5 half-lives (approximately 24 h) [38], it could be postulated that even multiple doses of coffee enemas (e.g., once a day or once every other day) would not result in the accumulation of caffeine in the body and hence should not adversely affect hemodynamic parameters. This postulation is in accordance with the results from our previous study demonstrating that multiple doses of a coffee enema (3 times weekly for 6 visits) do not adversely affect either the hemodynamic parameters or the electrolyte balance in healthy male subjects [9]. However, since caffeine is known to be extensively metabolized by hepatic cytochrome P-450 1A2 (CYP1A2) [39], and this metabolizing enzyme appears to be polymorphically distributed in human populations; therefore, CYP1A2 slow metabolizers possibly exhibit higher plasma caffeine concentrations and more pronounced hemodynamic effects following the coffee enema than the rapid metabolizers.…”

“…The present study was a substudy related to the investigation which has been reported elsewhere by Teekachunhatean et al [9]. This study was an open-label, randomized two-phase crossover study.…”

“…These data are consistent with the results reported in previous studies. Indeed, several lines of evidence reported no change in these hemodynamic parameters after approximately 100–200 mg of caffeine (either in the form of coffee or purified caffeine) when administered orally to healthy subjects [9, 35–37]. Since the coffee enema resulted in a significantly lower extent of caffeine absorption, it is therefore not surprising that the coffee enema did not produce statistically significant clinical changes in such hemodynamic parameters when compared to the baseline values.…”

“…According to the Gerson regimen [5, 6], caffeine from the coffee enema is believed to cause dialysis of toxic products from blood across the colonic walls or to cause dilation of the bile ducts, which in turn facilitates the process of elimination of toxic products from the liver. Nonetheless, none of these claims regarding the production of substantial health benefits by coffee enema and other colonic cleansing treatments has been supported by scientific research [7–9]. Although the evidence for health benefits is lacking, the usage of coffee enema is still very popular among patients in Thailand, especially in the treatment of cancers, allergies, asthma, urticaria, migraine, dyslipidemia, obesity and chronic constipation, and so forth.…”

Coffee Enema for Preparation for Small Bowel Video Capsule Endoscopy: A Pilot Study

“…Coffee enemas are used in alternative medicine [9,10,11,12]. It has been suggested that the enzymes in coffee stimulate bile excretion [13], which if true suggests that a coffee enema may prevent dark bile fluid accumulation in the distal small bowel.…”