John Harvey Kellogg performed surgery to reshape the colon for more rapid elimination. Today we understand more clearly the importance of dietary fiber, hydration, and so forth. Medical scientists also know that these have nothing to do with intestinal toxicity. Colonic irrigation should be considered a health fetish. Just as the ancient Egyptians did, health neurotics may temporarily relieve their health anxieties by colonics, laxatives, and purges.
Colonics also has erotic appeal to some.
A substantial amount of colonic product marketing is aimed at male homosexuals. Colonics is often done in massage parlors that serve erotic desires. A 1991 survey by the Wisconsin Board of Physician Quality Assurance found that colonic irrigation is poorly regulated. Thirty state boards of medical examiners and six boards of osteopathic medicine responded to a mail survey. The others either had no position or made vague comments.