WORDS PANK JIT SIN
As health enthusiasts, I’m sure we come across all manners of diet or health trends and fads. Some are normal and make a lot of sense. These include the Mediterranean and keto diets. Others can be quite out there in terms of logic and believability. Let’s visit some of these bizarre health fads and see if we can make sense of them.
Urine drinking and skin application
The more astute among us may have noticed this trend some years back among the taichi and morning exercise groups. I distinctly recall a family member touting the health benefits of drinking one’s own urine. It claims to cure many deficiencies and helps in clearing up mucus.
Drinking one’s own urine is supposed to improve a person’s immunity and reduce allergy symptoms. Some sources claim urine is good for the heart and prevents viral infection.
Urine is also used on the skin as a rub. Rubbing it on the scalp supposedly promotes hair growth and prevents hair loss. In addition, urine proponents claim it can be used to cure acne and other skin conditions.
This writer found little to no scientific evidence about urine being beneficial. In certain cultures, urine is used to treat illness in children. However, it is more likely that such a practice takes place in very poor communities or very isolated ones where access to modern healthcare is difficult.
The perception that urine is sterile, as claimed by urine proponents, is untrue. Urine has bacterial colonies just like any other part of our body. In fact, if you are not careful and drink urine while you are about to develop urinary tract infection, the result could be deadly.
Much of the benefits touted by urine drinking can be obtained from supplements and mainstream medical treatment which are based on sound medical evidence. Urine drinking is a vestige of a time when healthcare was not easily available, and people wanted to do something rather than nothing. Perhaps it’s time we allow urine drinking to die a natural death.
Blood Facial
This was recently in the news and was being popularized by Kim Kardashian. Two persons reportedly contracted HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) from the facial procedure so, it is now under tremendous scrutiny.
Now, it is important that we look at the blood or vampire facial from a scientific point of view. The original procedure requires microdermabrasion (creation of small punctures in the skin) apparatus, thus resulting in the virus spreading from one person to another.
There is some evidence that PRP helps in cell rejuvenation and it is used to help regain hair, and also to help heal joint inflammation,especially after an accident or sports injury. Hence, it isn’t so farfetched that a blood facial can improve the condition of the face. If you come across a facility offering this procedure and would like to give it a try, please check if it is carried out by qualified practitioners. After all, HIV isn’t the only disease you can catch from blood and dirty syringes.
Coffee enema
This health fad seems to be picking up and if we do a quick online search for ‘coffee enema,’ there are quite a number of centres providing coffee enema or peddling wares for individuals to perform their own coffee enema.
Coffee enema is a kind of colon hydrotherapy, where fluid is pumped into the rectum to flush out impurities and toxins. Imagine sticking something up your behind and then forcing coffee water into your rectum (it’s the compartment where the poop is stored before being expelled). Those of us who have used suppositories for constipation will know that even a small amount of liquid going into the rectum gives a very uncomfortable sensation.
Coffee enemas are done by mixing the coffee beforehand and pouring the cooled coffee into an enema bag with a tube that is inserted into the anus. The person has to lie down on one side to allow coffee to remain in the body. The enema bag is lifted high and gravity forces the content into the body. Now, the anus isn’t made to hold in water and the liquid may leak out, so it can be messy.
The theory behind coffee enema and hydrotherapy is this—unhealthy eating habits, alcohol consumption and poor lifestyle choices such as smoking and insufficient sleep—all lead to the buildup of toxins in the colon.
These toxins then contribute to the plethora of health conditions that seem to affect modern humans including arthritis, high blood pressure, brain fog, cancer and more. By means of coffee enemas, one is supposed to remove all these toxins and live a fuller, healthier life.
“…The enema bag is lifted high and gravity forces the content into the body.”
Sounds good so far but wait. It’s not all good news. A number of deaths have been attributed to coffee enema and colon hydrotherapy. A scientific review of colon hydrotherapy found that neither scientific nor complementary and alternative medicine journals had any convincing proof of the effectiveness of colon hydrotherapy and coffee enema. Instead, they noted that many users complained of side effects such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, dizziness, dehydration, acute kidney problems, bowel perforation and infection!
Juice injection
Alright, let’s not get too excited. It was that one woman in China who went overboard in her juice obsession and couldn’t get enough of fruit juices, so she decided to inject herself with it. The idea is, in a nutshell, absurd. Any foreign body that is inserted into our blood will cause a reaction from our immune system. If too much of the foreign body is present, it may overload our system and cause a systemic shock. This is exactly what happened to the lady in China.The only reason why our medicines such as insulin or vaccine does not cause a reaction is because they are highly purified and do not contain contaminants or allergens which are toxic to our body. Please do not inject anything into your body by yourself. It should be done by properly trained medical professionals.
At HealthToday, we try not to force our opinions onto our readers. After all, we’re only human. If you are a proponent of some not-so-common health trend and are experiencing benefits from it, please continue as long as you are not experiencing any harmful effects. If you are still feeling under the weather or your illness is not improving in spite of the treatments, please visit a medical doctor before it’s too late. HT
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