10 completely bizarre constipation cures from history

one orders a vomit and t’other a purge

And with violent heat their remedies urge,

Of the poor patient how hard is the lot,

For one way or other he must go to pot.

Here are 10 of the most fascinating constipation cures in history:

1. Electric belts

In the mid-18th century, electricity was the height of modernity, having been ‘discovered’ by Benjamin Franklin in 1752. Soon, some too-excited doctors began to tout electrotherapy as a miracle cure for a whole host of ailments, including constipation, liver disease, gout and even impotence. By the late 19th century, this technology had been adapted into a so-called ‘electropathetic belt’, designed to give the wearer continual small electric shocks. Tens of thousands of these were sold in Britain and the US until the 1920s, when, after lawsuits disputed their medical efficacy, the fad thankfully died out.

2. Mercury

Recently, scientists used a state-of-the-art x-ray process to uncover the contents of a sealed 160-year-old medicine vial owned by the Japanese physician Ogata Koan. Inside was a powdery white substance called mercuric chloride, which was commonly used to treat syphilis as well as constipation. Unfortunately, it’s highly toxic: chronic exposure leads to mercury poisoning, in which the patient exhibits tremors and memory loss. Famous US explorers Lewis and Clark took laxative pills containing mercuric chloride to treat constipation, but ended up, ironically, with chronic diarrhoea.

3. Wine

A tiny fragment with Greek writing from the 2nd century AD provides an ancient remedy for constipation: ‘a little new wine, diluted until somewhat watery.' Those afflicted with persistent constipation were instructed to drink the stronger stuff. This remedy would certainly loosen your inhibitions, if not your bowels.

4. Tobacco smoke enema

In its native US, tobacco was administered as a smoke enema to resuscitate those who had nearly drowned. Imported from colonial Virginia into England in the 18th century, doctors began blowing smoke up people’s rectums (using a tube attached to bellows) for a whole range of reasons. In 1827, a London medical journal described how one poor woman afflicted with chronic constipation was treated with repeat tobacco smoke enemas, but found relief only after 21 days, reportedly declaring, ‘I am now in heaven’ after the event.

5. Cornflakes

Physician and devout Seventh-day Adventist John Harvey Kellogg invented cornflakes to promote a plain diet that would prevent the consumer from masturbating. Kellogg believed all sex was detrimental to physical health, as well as a moral failing. But, at the height of fear about ‘autointoxication’ at the turn of the last century, Kellogg also believed constipation was another impure condition of the human body, and hoped to use cornflakes to introduce more fibre into the American diet to counteract it. Thankfully, another of his inventions, an enema machine that flushed the bowels with water and yogurt, has not stood the test of time.

6. Honey enema

In the sixth dynasty of ancient Egypt, one physician was awarded the illustrious position of Shepherd of the King’s Rectum, a great honour in the medical profession, given the pharaoh was seen as a god. In ancient Egyptian medicine, the body was thought to be made up of 22 channels that carried different substances like blood, mucus and excrement. Any blockage could allow toxins to build up in the intestine, leading to myriad health issues and even death. As a result, the pharaoh’s Shepherd gave him regular enemas, which were made with a (presumably sticky) concoction of water or wine mixed with honey.

7. Metallic antimony

Once consumed, this so-called ‘everlasting pill’ would irritate your insides enough to cause a bowel movement before it was fished out of the excrement, ready to be reused. Made from antinomy, a toxic semi-metal, patients from the medieval period right up to the 19th century could try this purgative method to cure constipation. In the 1970s, a compound of antimony called tartar emetic was still being administered, this time to remedy parasitic infections. While on the plus side, it got rid of the parasite, it was known to also kill the patient.

8. Liquorice

Originating in the Mediterranean and Asia, liquorice was first cultivated on a large scale in England in 17th-century Pontefract, Yorkshire. Soon, the area spawned Pontefract cakes – circular liquorice lozenges stamped with an image of Pontefract Castle that you can still buy today. While some love liquorice sweets, they have a rather medicinal taste, and for good reason: it was primarily used as a medicine that helped stomach upsets, including constipation.

9. Rhubarb powder

Now complemented with sugar in tarts or a crumble, rhubarb has, for most of history, been used as a bitter medicine. In Chinese tradition, rhubarb roots are a cure for constipation, and in Britain, ground rhubarb root was exclusively used an exotic purgative traded from the East until the 18th century.

10. Jujube

You’ve heard about the laxative effect of prunes, but what about ziziphus mauritiana? Also known as the ‘Indian plum’ or Indian jujube, this tropical fruit has long been used as a cure for constipation in Chad, while the related ‘Chinese date’ or Chinese jujube has taken on this role in Oman and elsewhere.

Further reading:

Home remedies for constipation
90% of us aren’t eating enough fibre. Here are the worst things that does to your body
The best probiotic supplements tried and tested
10 high fibre foods
The most disgusting British foods ever

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