ARE COLONICS BACK? Flushing out your pipes used to be a concept for kooks. Karyn Repinski explores Hollywood’s detox du jour.

skin—the whites of my eyes are brighter, and my skin looks better. I’m just clearer.” A good cleansing is even credited with kick-starting an emotional transformation. “The first time I had a colonic, I couldn’t believe how all of a sudden I felt this euphoria,” recalls Vanessa Packer, co-founder of both ModelFit, the New York gym where models like Miranda Kerr and Karlie Kloss frequent, and the healthy-lifestyle website Bonberi. “I had a sense of weightlessness and lightness of being that blew me away.” The benefits lasted for days, says Packer, who now gets a colonic at least once a month. “They’re one of the stepping-stones to feeling great, mentally and physically, every day.”

But whether colonics are necessary or even safe is up for debate. Mainstream doctors are adamant: Colon cleansing is neither wise nor useful—particularly if you have a history of gastrointestinal disease, colon surgery, haemorrhoids, kidney disease, or heart disease. Risks can be as severe as bowel perforation. “Patients may look to colon cleansing as a way to ‘enhance their well-being,’ but in reality, they may be doing themselves harm,” says Ranit Mishori, professor of family medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine, whose 2011 review of the medical literature on colon cleansing found no evidence of any medical value and noted a host of adversea effects, from cramping to kidney failure.

The risk of serious side effects is thought to be lowerlo when the procedure is performed by trained personnel. Look for a therapist certified by the International Association for Colon Hydrotherapy,Hy and make sure the therapist uses eithereith disposable plastic tools or metal ones that havehav been autoclaved between each use. The water shouldsho be filtered and regulated to within a few degreesdegr of body temperature.

IfI you like the idea of giving your system a spring cleaningclea but are squeamish about having a tube stuckstuc up your bottom, Junger recommends adding a am magnesium citrate supplement into your routine to help prevent constipation, eat more fibre-rich foods, drinkdrin adequate amounts of water, and exercise regularly.reg These are all reliable ways to keep things movingm along.