Are enemas a western thing because of the food they eat?

I have seen a lot of people from US and Europe, which is almost everyone here talk about getting enemas when they were young. But I have never ever heard of anyone from India getting an enema unless the have a surgery perhaps or are geriatric and are in need of constant care.

I have had a appendectomy and a hernia repair surgery and still have never had an enema. I have only seen some of my cousins getting laxative suppositories and that too when they were very young and very very constipated,

Is this because of the food we eat?. I have been a vegetarian most of my life and only started eating meat(mostly chicken) only 4 yrs ago. Even now I eat it only when I can manage to sneak it. ( Its looked down upon in my cast(Brahman priests) to even eat an egg or a garlic. My mom would kill me, if she found out),

So the main staple of our diet is lots of rice and a bit of daal(pulses), any vegetable(bitter gourd, eggplants, okra, cauliflowers, spinach), one chutney, sambar/rassam( I can't explain this, people call this curry or a stew, but I don't think it describes it accurately) and curd. ( I am from Andhra Pradesh and this style is particular to this and 3 other states)

Even Muslims and Punjabi's eat rotti(round thin flat wheat bread) with their food in large quantities( 3 to 5 even 6 for adults). And they eat meat the most.

All these and most of the food here is high in fiber and stuff(also in cholesterol), but most of the westerners as I perceive it, eat mainly meat with very little bread or rice. Is this perhaps the reason enemas are so frequent or is this is just a medical practice which is in the vogue there?

Enemas have been used all over the world for thousands of years, before there was "Western society" as we know it:

Ancient China:

https://books.google.com/books?id=EeVPT6UAk3EC&pg=PA146&lpg=PA146&dq=ancient+china+enema&source=bl&ots=PNHkp1aCCM&sig=Q7bspkNyhj5TAlT0iXuF12UeKYU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjKo6jtyoHRAhXE64MKHVBnD1c4ChDoAQhCMAo#v=onepage&q=ancient%20china%20enema&f=false

Ancient Egypt:

https://books.google.com/books?id=BAFndFpP4oUC&pg=PA115&lpg=PA115&dq=ancient+India+enema&source=bl&ots=jMCn8I3URq&sig=c9sO1LppvWEo_CLVGCy-ZBucgKk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiWhoG0zYHRAhXr6oMKHS6jCysQ6AEINjAE#v=onepage&q=ancient%20India%20enema&f=false

American Indians

http://www.lowrectalcancer.com/Enema%205.pdf

Ancient India

http://www.thehindu.com/2000/07/09/stories/1309048b.htm

Modern India ??

www.saradaayurveda.com/panchakarma.html

I don't have enemas for the need to defacate, I have them for my pleasure. regards, irrigator333

I seem to have earned ere of all enema lover's. I did not mean to offend anyone or stuff.

I just mean to say, I have never ever heard of anyone receiving an enema for treating constipation. I have been to 7 of India's major cities and have never come across anyone getting an enema.

I also not saying that enema's have originated in the west or are exclusive to it or a thing foreign to it. Gandhi ji is mentioned to have taken regular salt water enemas and even said to have discussed it with Lord Louise Mountbatten(Last Viceroy of India) about it.

But the fact remains, I have never heard anyone of my friends or associated or family tell anything about enema.

And as for the Ayurveda references you guys have posted.

Ayurveda is of many types, most of it depends on the place of origin, the sakha of ayurveda the teacher is practicing and stuff. But I must confess I am ignorant in matters of enemas, Ayurveda and a lot of other things.

So I ask, is this prevalent there compared to here and is it because of the very large amounts meat you eat.

Also diarrhea is more prevalent here than constipation,

That does not seem to be the case. If it is certainly not for that reason.

Enemas DO predate man's separation into the different cultures.

They were very likely done by one means or another deep into pre-historic times

People in India do take enemas it is just that they do it in private and dont mention it. They sell enema equipment openly at all the Chemist shops or Drugstores in India.

I think our forefathers from Germany, Great Brittain, eastern European countries brought this technique with them to America and it caught on here. I believe it was cultural. My grandmother and her mom (from Germany) gave and took enemas all the time. My other grandmother's family came to Kentucky's tobacco growing areas from Scotland and gram took a small enema every morning of her life.

I don't think it has anything to do with the amount of meat in our diets. It became popular in the US in the late 1800's, through the early 1960's. Most physicians trained before the mid 60's were enema advocates and told their patients, especially mothers, to use them fairly often.

the "Managed Care" concept took enemas out of use, due to the intense labor they put on nursing staffs. Now it's an oral laxative, then a Dulcolax suppo., then a Fleet disposable. If all those fail, a large volume enema is finally given. This gives nurses much more time for other patients with other needs.

There IS NO conspiracy among drug companies to stamp out large volume enemas. Bowel care products account for a tiny fraction of sales by big pharma.

@jimmyt44 notes

There IS NO conspiracy among drug companies to stamp out large volume enemas. Bowel care products account for a tiny fraction of sales by big pharma.

Simple answer is no, as enemas as such are & have been an acceptable standard practice across numerous nations

Recently I had watched a program in relation to the dispensing of medicinal products whereby it had stated that “Bowel Care” goods sold commercially lay second behind the sale of Cold & Flu medication

It may be worthy to mention that the world's rubber capitol is/was Akron, Ohio where a vast number of manufacturers produced enemas and flooded them into the market early to mid-century.

@Sha I had never heard of anybody getting an enema, except for barium enemas and stories happening in the 17th or 18th century, before moving to the US. Enemas were rare in France in the 1970s-1980s.

My European grandparents with whom I lived close too, considered enemas to be the first course of action in treating childhood ailments. As such, I received a dozen or more enemas growing up from mom & grandma.

Many of my Slavic & Polish friends would sometimes share that they too had gotten them.

,

I seem to have earned ere of all enema lover's. I did not mean to offend anyone or stuff.

I just mean to say, I have never ever heard of anyone receiving an enema for treating constipation. I have been to 7 of India's major cities and have never come across anyone getting an enema.

I also not saying that enema's have originated in the west or are exclusive to it or a thing foreign to it. Gandhi ji is mentioned to have taken regular salt water enemas and even said to have discussed it with Lord Louise Mountbatten(Last Viceroy of India) about it.

But the fact remains, I have never heard anyone of my friends or associated or family tell anything about enema.

And as for the Ayurveda references you guys have posted.

Ayurveda is of many types, most of it depends on the place of origin, the sakha of ayurveda the teacher is practicing and stuff. But I must confess I am ignorant in matters of enemas, Ayurveda and a lot of other things.

So I ask, is this prevalent there compared to here and is it because of the very large amounts meat you eat.

Also diarrhea is more prevalent here than constipation,

No ire here, just some agreement with your perspective.

I have visited/traveled in six European countries, three Asian/SE Asian countries, and lived three years in Japan as well as seven US states and have never, ever seen anyone, other than my bride, receive or even talk about enemas. I do not count erotic/pornographic or other media in which enemas may be discussed or shown.

The reason, I believe, is that, even in societies where bathroom practices are more open than in most Western countries, defecating and urinating (and most practices associated with them) are considered to some extent to be totally private concerns.

It's not that enemas don't happen in all societies, it's that very few people talk about it or partake in it, except with close family members or other people with such interests. Those who have never seen an enema given/taken, or talked about it with someone else, just haven't been in right place at the right time with the right people for it to happen.

Years ago I was working on a project that meant a visit to Singapore. While there I needed to get some aspirin or Tylenol so I went to the local mall--these places are not horizontal like ours in the U.S. but vertical. The drug store was not very large and tucked into a corner on one of the floors, but I could not help noticing that they had both our familiar red combination enema bags on display, but also in another section those things called Asian Figs that I learned later are small doses of nearly pure glycerine. So to answer the question, enemas are not just a western remedy.

Montbatten was male like louis Armstrong (rip bro).I think he was killed by the IRA but I’ll check that