Rectal feeding is an obsolete method of nourishment in which predigested liquid nutrients were administered as enemas, historically called nutrient enemata. Before intravenous feeding was developed, physicians attempted to sustain patients who could not eat by introducing milk, eggs, broth, or wine into the rectum, hoping the bowel would absorb them. The large intestine can absorb water, salts, and simple sugars, but it cannot take up meaningful amounts of protein or fat, so the method provided little real nutrition and often caused irritation and diarrhoea. It lingered into the early twentieth century for lack of alternatives. Modern clinical nutrition has entirely replaced it with enteral tube feeding and parenteral intravenous nutrition, which deliver complete, measurable nourishment safely.