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all it a movement. After waxing and waning in popularity over the past few decades, colonics seem to be back in style—and are being buzzed about as a surefire way to eradicate a bevy of medical woes, maintain good health, and, of course, flatten your stomach. The treatment, which involves cleansing the colon by flooding it with vast amounts of water, used to be one that people mostly whispered about. Now, models are tweeting about their treatments, and its purported benefits are becoming part of the health care conversation. Gwyneth Paltrow, who’s divulged that she kicks off a detox with a colonic (“They definitely get things going”), has played a starring role in its resurgence. In addition to posting her go-to places for colonics on her website, Goop, she has even laid out the basics in a Q&A—“The Nuts and Bolts of Colonics”—with internist Alejandro Junger, the site’s expert on digestive health.
The idea that colonics are necessary to remove any toxins that leads to everything from constipation to skin conditions, is reaching the masses. The We Care Spa in Desert Hot Springs, California, which has been offering daily colonics as part of a detox programme for 30 years, has seen such an uptick in demand that it recently opened an outpost to handle the overflow, says Bridgette Becker, an educator and certified colon hydrotherapist at We Care. Becker says there’s far more diversity in its clientele than a decade ago. “People who have been more aligned with the Western medical model are starting to open up and explore more preventative measures,” she notes. “These aren’t necessarily health-conscious s people, but they want to feel good and know thisis helps them get there.” Most guests do a three-, six-, x-, or eight-day detox programme (which, for thehe majority of them, includes a daily colonic), but many any come just to have their insides hosed out.
The treatment has a fierce following, and proponents say that advantages outweigh any initialitial anxiety. “I just feel so much better,” reports top hairstylist Sally Hershberger, who visits We Care twowo or three times a year. “I feel lighter, and my stomach goes down. I’ve even noticed a difference in my eyess and