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The cost of free love
After Helen's libertine days turned sour, she began to wonder: Was it about desire or just another way to conform?
By Virginia Vitzthum
[07/13/99]

Ginkgo below
Chinese herbalists consider ginkgo an aphrodisiac. So does at least one man in Dallas.
By Stephen G. Michaud
[07/12/99]

Urge
Nancy Chan: Diary of a Manhattan call girl
About the story and list of characters.
By Tracy Quan
[07/12/99]

Urge
Episode 1: Secret books and other tricks of the trade
Allison renounces the profession and makes Nancy the reluctant keeper of her client list.
By Tracy Quan
[07/12/99]

Sexpert Opinion
A guy's guide to lousy sex
Why should women have all the misery?
By Susie Bright
[07/10/99]

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Charm is a gastroenterologist, professor of medicine at the University of California and amiable oddball who calls himself -- sans any trace of irony -- America's No. 2 Doctor, the King of the Colon and the Prince of Poop. He spells out his last name as an acronym for his personal mantra: Choosing Health And Realizing Miracles. And he believes in the miracle of colonics.

You've seen the ads in the back pages of certain health magazines, in "personal services" sections of alternative newspapers and on bulletin boards at organic food stores: colon hydrotherapy, colonic irrigation, get your colonic here. It's the naturopathic procedure that calls for gallons of water to be pumped through your large intestine to wash out any lurking toxic sludge.

In recent years, getting a colonic has become the celebrity health fad du jour. Princess Diana was an outspoken fan -- British newspapers reported that she spent $4,300 a year grooming her colon -- and just a few weeks ago Damon Wayans was chatting up the procedure on Howard Stern's radio show. The name itself has the ring of the high life -- it sounds like the trendy cocktail you'd overhear a celebrity ordering at some Hollywood bar-to-the-stars: "I'll have a gin-and-colonic, Rudy, extra lime."

Maybe you've wondered about the procedure. How does it work? Is it good for your health? Or is it, in fact, bad for you? Is it dangerous? It depends on whom you ask.

"It's extremely beneficial," says A.R. Hoenninger, a naturopathic doctor and executive director of the International Association for Colon Hydrotherapy in San Antonio.

"It's insane," says Dr. Stephen Barrett, a retired psychiatrist and investigative reporter who runs the nonprofit watchdog agency QuackWatch.

Next page | Nobody, except 7-year-old boys, likes talking about bowel function