How Parasites Might Be Plaguing Your Health and What You Can Do About It

While working with clients I have found that so many people deal with intestinal parasites and their consequences. Some of the symptoms that these little critters can cause include: digestive problems, unexplained constipation, diarrhea, and persistent gas. They can cause skin issues [rashes, hives, eczema, itching], muscle and joint pain, not feeling full after meals, itching of the anus, among many others.

My Experience with Parasites

In my healing journey, parasites played a huge role in my symptoms. The key thing I want to emphasize here is I HAD NO IDEA how much parasites were a part of my health journey, until I did a proper anti-parasitic cleanse. The number of worms that I saw in my stool completely blew my mind. As a thin guy, I didn’t expect myself to have a lot of “real estate” for parasites. However, as I started shedding more and more worms, I noticed some drastic improvements in my overall wellbeing. For one, my bloating practically disappeared. I used to think that certain foods, like rice and fruit are supposed to cause bloating. (If reading this previous sentence made you bloat, you might have a critter or two!) I also noticed a dramatic improvement in my mood. As many people know, so many of our neurotransmitters are synthesized in the gut. Theoretically, any sort of microbial overgrowth could end up having a harmful influence on the gut-brain axis. In my case, my emotions started to stabilize and I no longer felt constant mood swings. As I continued to release more worms, my energy increased and I also stopped waking up abruptly in the middle of the night.

3 Myths About Parasites

Myth #1: It’s a Third World Problem
One of the most persistent myths about parasites is that they are a third world problem and less of an issue in the West. I am consistently surprised to hear people repeat this misinformation. Parasites are a part of the human ecosystem –independent of geography, and can cause health impairments anywhere in the world.

Myth #2: Pharmaceutical Drugs are sufficient for eradicating overgrowth
Another persistent myth is that you can clear out parasites by utilizing a 2-week round of pharmaceutical anti-parasitics. I once had a client mention “oh I had parasites and then my doctor prescribed a 2 week round of Alinea and now I’m clean.” While I think that pharmaceuticals can be very helpful tools, I don’t think that 2 week rounds of a single compound are sufficient. Parasites are intelligent stealth organisms that require some ingenuity and herbal combinations to properly eradicate. In my practice, I have found combinations of Ayurvedic and Peruvian herbs to be very powerful.

Myth #3: All parasites are pathogenic and harmful
As mentioned, these critters have been a part of our human ecosystem for a millennia and sometimes perform commensal functions. The best example of this is found through helminth therapy, which is used to help balance the immune system in patients dealing with severe auto-immune symptoms. However, this is not to say that we do not want to eradicate and weed out parasitic overgrowths. Especially considering how significant of an issue I have found parasites to be in my practice. Rather, the key point here is that we don’t want to obsess over endless eradication of bugs and end up sanitizing the gut –which can lead to various other imbalances. Microbiome Medicine is about restoring a balanced ecosystem that is commensal and supportive of optimal health and wellbeing.

Herbal Approaches to Parasites:

A Peruvian herbalist I studied under taught that one of the largest arms of Amazonian medicine is focused on anti-parasitics. I have found that many of these herbs and their combinations are very powerful and effective. On the other side of the world, Ayurvedic Herbalism also offers unique perspectives regarding anti-parasitic medicine. In my own practice, I combine these herbal anti-microbials to help eradicate and rebalance. Another key component to my practice is timeline. Depending on the severity of the overgrowth, I usually have my clients maintain herbal regimens for anywhere from 2 months to 6 months. Anything less is usually not sufficient.

If you’re interested in doing a parasite screening, consider looking into a functional stool test so you start your gut healing journey.