Parasites and People

They eat off our tissues then release their toxic waste back into our systems. Yuk! And yet, while most of us are familiar with some of these common culprits - ringworm, tapeworm, mites, and heartworm - few of us want to accept the possibility that our own bodies often host over a dozen different parasites that feed and live off our internal organs.

While parasites are most prevalent in areas with hot, humid climates, they are finding their way into a large number of American homes. Although they usually live in the gastrointestinal tracts of their hosts, they can travel to the joints and tissues causing aches and pain. Keeping your body healthy and clean decreases their chance of survival.

After my brother, a doctor, tested my middle son and me for parasites, I began a simple parasite cleanse and repeated it at least once a year. Years later our family started traveling to Mexico once a year, and after reading the book, "Guess What Came To Dinner" by Ann Louise Gittleman, I decided to do a more intense cleanse. While the health of our family seemed good as far as not having colds and flu, we struggled with food allergies, gas, sore joints and skin problems. Through my research, I learned the importance of treating the entire family at the same time, pets included.

I noticed that my youngest son, at the age of four, was grinding his teeth consistently at night. While this could be due to a lack of certain minerals, or even an emotional disturbance, it can also be due to parasites. Another symptom he has had for almost three years is an appetite swing between not wanting to eat anything at all, to not being able to eat enough. I took him to my chiropractor to have him muscle tested with a bottle of Parasites homeopathic medicine. That was exactly what he needed. Because of the dark circles under his eyes, another sign of parasites, my chiropractor recommended also using liquid black walnut.

Hulda Regehr Clark, Ph.D., N.D., in her book, "The Cure of all Cancers", claims cancer can be cured by ridding the body of parasites. She states, "In 1990 I discovered the true cause of cancer. The cause is a certain parasite, for which I have found evidence in every cancer case regardless of the type of cancer". I've never been diagnosed with cancer, so I can't prove or disprove her bold statement. But, I strongly believe that a person's health will improve after eliminating parasites, changing the environment where they thrive, and rebuilding the body to a healthy state causing new arrivals to perish before settling down to live.

Dr. Clark names the parasite responsible for cancer is the "intestinal fluke", a member of the flatworm family, which typically causes colitis, Crohn's disease and irritable bowel syndrome. It is when the organism moves out of the intestine and into other areas of the body that several problems result.

After reading Dr. Clark's book and seeing pictures of a fluke, I realized that when I did my first major cleanse over ten years ago, I had passed these parasites. Dr. Clark believes that the fluke moves out of the intestine and into other organs such as the liver and survives in our bodies at different times. It may have started in the shoulder, moved to the chest, then back and so on throughout the body.

The common symptomatic complaints are digestive pain, nausea, headaches, or diarrhea (my two older sons experienced these after beginning their cleanses.) Acute symptoms range from ulcers, acne, foul breath, coated tongue, menstrual irregularities, skin problems, sleep disturbances, itching of the skin and the anus, and constant picking of the nose. Since these also relate to other diseases, they are often misdiagnosed for the flu, epstein barr/chronic fatigue syndrome, candida, colitis, or other immune related diseases. Allergies, types of cancer, irritable bowel syndrome and malabsorption syndrome can also be caused by parasites.

Treatment

"The most important element in diagnosing a parasitic infection is often the physician's suspicion that a parasite may be involved - a possibility that is too often overlooked." Consult a doctor if you suspect parasites. The basic test for determining parasites is through a purged stool sample. If this test shows up negative and you still suspect parasites, a doctor may recommend a blood test, sputum test, urine test, radiology test, a biopsy or a culture test.

It is recommended that you maintain the following steps of treatment - preferably under the guidance of a health care practitioner. Various degrees of detoxification may take place throughout your body during treatment.

1. Clean the intestinal tract: Parasites can't survive in a healthy environment. Remove mucus and encrusted waste through colonics and home enemas along with the use of herbal fibers such as: agar-agar, bentonite clay, beet root, comfrey root, flax seeds, papaya and psyllium husks. A tablespoon of unprocessed oil a day helps keep the intestinal system lubricated decreasing the parasite's ability to cling to the walls of the intestine.

2. Modify your diet: Avoid white flour and sugar. Eating a nutritional diet will build the intestinal tract while starving the parasite. A diet of 25% fat, 25% protein, and 50% complex carbohydrates is recommended.

3. Limit Your Intake of: Raw fruits and vegetables, avoid cold or iced foods and drinks. They cause the intestine to contract and hold in toxins. Avoid red meats. Add garlic, onions, carrot tops, radish roots, kelp, raw cabbage, ground almonds, pumpkin and sauerkraut to your diet. Enzymes such as bromelain, papain, pepsin, and hydrochloric acid help aid in digestion of food and parasites.

4. Eliminate parasites with: Effective substances such as Nature's Sunshine herbal supplements, medication, homeopathic remedies, and supplements. Taking large doses of powdered vitamin C helps keep the colon clean and the bowel moving. Again, Type A blood is a predisposition in which the body doesn't produce enough hydrochloric acid, therefore, supplementing is often necessary.

5. Rebuild the intestinal tract: With friendly bacteria. An overgrowth of Candida Albicans prevents production of hydrochloric acid and provides a toxic environment in which parasites can live. Add Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus bifidus, Bifidophilus, and other flora supplements after eliminating the parasites. This restores the good flora which keeps the parasites from surviving.

6. Avoid re-infection: Through a change in lifestyle and environment. Drink safe water, not stream or even city-treated water. Invest in a reverse osmosis water treatment which blocks even the tiniest micro-organism.

Again, the most frequent ways parasites enter our bodies are through:

1. Contaminated water and food.
2. Saliva (kissing).
3. The pores of the skin (walking barefoot).
4. Petting and handling animals and their feces.
5. Fleas and other insect bites.
6. Through the nose on windy days.
7. Sexual intercourse.

It is important to remember to wash hands after petting pets, handling dirt or preparing raw meat. Thoroughly rinse your vegetables in water with 1-2 tablespoons of Clorox bleach, change bedding daily during treatment, and practice other common safe-guarding tips. Be aware that parasites can also be transmitted through blood transfusions and breast milk.

Cleansing

Parasites are believed to be most active during a full moon. Therefore if you choose to do a cleanse, start two days before the moon is full. Drinking lots of water, eating figs and sesame seeds on an empty stomach will assit your cleanse during treatment. You may experience flu-like symptoms as the parasites die off. Hydrated bentonite and charcoal help to quickly rid the body of the die off.

A cleansing fast, recommended by Jack Ritchason, for the intestinal tract consists in eating raw fruits and drinking fresh fruit juices diluted with equal parts of water for three days. During the fast Ritchason recommends taking the following:

1. Herbal Pumpkin, 3, 3x a day
2. Black Walnut, 4, 3x a day
3. Chaparral, 1, 3x a day
4. Special Formula #1, 1, 3x a day
5. Normal dosage of Vitamin C

Herbs

There are a number of suggested remedies to use including: Homeopathic Remedy para-remedy; black walnut, cranberry powder, buttnut root, herbal pumpkin and thyme and sage which can be used every day on foods for seasoning.

Horsetail is known to kill the eggs of parasites, and wormwood helps expel worms and parasites. Garlic when eaten raw or used as an extract, helps kill roundworm and hoodworm. Plants containing alkaloid, or berberin, such as golden seal, help prevent the growth of parasites in the intestine and vaginal area. Some people have benefited from taking two capsules of Red clover, Pau d'Arco, and Echinacea three times a day. Nature's Sunshine recommends starting with their Tiao He cleanse, then using the Para cleanse.

We need to replace the myth that it's normal to have parasites living in our bodies with the fact that it is un-healthy to have an organism feeding off our nutrients, blood, and waste material. Our bodies don't need the extra hundry hitch-hikers.

Sources: "Do You Have Parasites?" in Sunshine Sharing, Vol. 4 #10, 1993; "Parasites" in Today's Herbs, Vol. 15 #9, 1995; "The Neglected Tonics!" in Sunshine Sharing, Vol. 3 #6, 1992.

Please send E-mail to: iridology@netzero.net if you have any questions.