Can Parasites Be What’s Wrong With Me?

Talking about parasites infesting the body can be unsettling, but we all deal with them whether we realize it or not. Can parasites be what’s wrong with you? Learn the signs and symptoms and how to get rid of parasites.

In This Article:

• Symptoms of Parasites
• How We Get Parasites
• How Parasites Affect The Body
• How to Get Rid of Parasites
• Tips for Successful Elimination of Parasites
• How to Cut the Risk of Infestation
• Is There a Test for Parasites?
• How We Got Rid of Parasites

A few years ago, my husband who has lived a pretty healthy life, was starting to have some joint and muscle pain. He does plenty of exercising and we eat a non-GMO, no processed food diet. We have a mind, body, spirit approach to health and well-being.

We’re pretty in tune with our bodies and listen to them as best we can. He had started to have a bit of diarrhea now and again, was wanting to sleep longer, feeling tired after sleeping, waking often during sleep, and I noticed he was grinding his teeth during the night.

We were talking about his health issues one day and he said, “Something is not right with my body.” It had been a slow onset of symptoms taking a couple of years for them to be a real problem.

There was nothing we could put our finger on as initiating the symptoms. I told him he wasn’t getting any younger and maybe his age was starting to catch up with him.

As someone who tries to follow what most people would call a gut feeling (he would call it the subconscious wisdom of his mind), he would not take my first advice and said, “No it’s not age, but it will come to me here shortly.”

Can Parasites Really Be What’s Wrong With Him?

A day later he came into the living room and announced, “It just came to me! I know what’s wrong with my body. I have parasites.”

As far as I know, he had not been reading about or even seen any articles on the subject, so I decided to do some research to see if his intuition was right. I mean parasites?  Pinworms, roundworms, and other harmful intestinal organisms that reside inside the body? That doesn’t sound like something we would have, right?

I was shocked to learn about 50% of the human population has some kind of parasite in their body. Parasites don’t discriminate between male or female, young or old.

Symptoms of Parasites

This list of symptoms of a parasite infestation alarmed me right away!

• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Joint and muscle pains
• Anemia
• Cravings, especially for sugar
• Allergies
• Skin conditions – irritation/itching of the nose, ears, eyes, and anus. Also rashes, eczema, and hives
• Tumors
• Nervousness
• Sleep disorders
• Hyperactivity
• Stress (in the body)
• Teeth grinding
• Persistent fatigue
• Unclear thoughts
• Headaches
• Runny nose
• Loss of desire
• Awful taste in the mouth
• Acne
• Fever
• Vomiting (comes and goes)
• Trouble gaining weight, children particularly
• Food allergies often develop after having an infestation for a while. The time period is different for each individual.
• Dark circles under the eyes
• Yeast/Candida illness
• Body odor
• Bad breath

By now I recognized some of these symptoms in myself. We began intensive research and developed a plan of attack.

How We Get Parasites

You can get parasites in several ways.

• The most common way is ingesting them in food or water.
• You can get them by way of the mucous membranes of the nose and mouth after handling infested food or materials.
• Parasites can be transferred during sexual activity.
• Insect bites or having a scratch or cut on your skin also allows them access to the body.
• Eating raw fish or meat is also a source of parasites.
• It’s possible to get some parasites by walking barefoot through an infested area.
• There are so many types of parasites there’s no way to even begin to discuss them in this article.  

An unhealthy digestive system, including the colon, makes a person susceptible to a debilitating infestation. When we’re unable to discharge our wastes in a healthy manner, a buildup of mucoid plaque develops clogging the walls of our colon. This provides the perfect environment for parasites to flourish.

This is gross I know. Microbiology freaked me out in nursing school. I shiver just thinking about all the creepy critters in, on, and around us!

When we were growing up Granny had one rule about going barefoot. If you cross the fence into the pasture or barnyard, you had to have shoes on. Otherwise, we were barefoot with no ill effects. I still go barefoot for earthing purposes but I’m more careful now about where I do it.

How Parasites Affect The Body

*Warning: This will be gross but don’t worry I didn’t include photos of the nasty things*

Once parasites get inside your body, they’ll remain there, living off nutrients and foods you take in. As the parasites use up the nutrients you take in, they release toxins in your body in their waste products.

These toxins are responsible for the symptoms you’re experiencing. They are also linked to bowel diseases like IBS or leaky gut. Parasites have been misdiagnosed as cancer because they resemble tumors on scans when they are clumped together.  

If you experience stomach pain frequently, you may have a roundworm infestation. Other symptoms of roundworm infections include pain in your eyes, asthma, and rashes. When these worms secrete their wastes, they can cause rashes or unexplained breakouts in most people.

A hookworm infection usually manifests itself first in your skin and hair. As hookworms mature, they will feed off your blood which results in abdominal pain, abnormally dry skin/hair, acne, and death in some people.

Pinworms are common in kids, infecting up to 20% of them. They could result in acute health problems. These worms can lay up to 10,000 eggs per day!

Like we said there are too many kinds of parasites to list, I just share these as they are the most common infestations in people. Don’t lose heart, you can get rid of them without too much discomfort. 

Candida Albicans is a fungal yeast we naturally have in our bodies. It is necessary to many functions of our guts and lives at peace with us and the other natural organisms in us, most of the time. However, when the microbial flora balance is upset in there, things go haywire!

Yeast gets out of control and causes all kinds of problems throughout the whole body. We could write an article on Candida all by itself. Usually, the imbalance is directly related to an overabundance of invasive parasites starving out all the good guys. 

**I’m not offering medical advice or saying you have a parasite infestation. I’m just saying with the statistic being 50% of us are infested, it’s worth considering if you have the symptoms.**

How to Get Rid of Parasites

Okay, enough with the disgusting mental images and facts. By now you’re asking, “How do I cleanse my body of parasites?”

I’m often asked if ginger kills parasites. Ginger does many wonderful things for the body, I use it almost daily, but using only ginger for parasites is not effective.

There’s not one herb or tincture which can kill all parasites by itself. There’s a multiprong approach.

It may sound confusing, but we’ve been there and figured it out so we’ll share with you what we’ve learned.

There are three major herbs that kill over 100 types of parasites:

• Black Walnut Hull, Wormwood, and Cloves. Taking all three of these together is the first wave of attack.
• Black Walnut hull and wormwood kill mature parasites while the Clove kills the eggs. 
• If you start them early on, chances are good you’ll be clear of parasites at the end of the cycle.

You can find these combined in one treatment at many health food stores or your favorite natural health store online. I share below what we did to rid our bodies of parasites.

TIPS For Successful Elimination of Parasites

Before you begin a parasite cleanse of any kind, it’s important to eat easily digested, soft foods. We went on broth for three days before we began our cleanse. 

• Garlic is an essential part of a parasite cleanse. It kills all kinds of parasites. We eat a lot of garlic for several reasons but eating it every day is beneficial in preventing parasites which may be hiding in food from infecting you.
• Avoid sugars while you have an infestation or are on a cleanse. Parasites thrive in a high sugar environment. We don’t eat much sugar. Especially once we read The Case Against Sugar.
• Eat cultured and fermented foods like kefir and yogurt because of the natural probiotic nature and benefits of fermented foods.
• Taking a Bromelain nutritional supplement contributes to helping the body heal. Dr. Axe has an article on the benefits you can expect from bromelain.
• Coconut Oil is one of the most useful tools in our home. From cooking to oil pulling to homemade personal care products. We even give it to our animals. The medium-chain saturated fats in coconut oil have incredible anti-fungal properties. The recommended dose for Candida is 3 Tablespoons a day. 
• Oregano Oil is one of the most powerful antifungals in the world. The recommended amount for parasite infestation is 3 drops of Oregano Oil in in a glass of water 2-3x daily.
• Colloidal Silver works against parasites by destroying the enzymes involved with supplying them oxygen. It’s effective against viruses, fungal infections, and bacteria just to name a few of its amazing health benefits.
• Apple Cider Vinegar is one of the most versatile tools available to us. ACV vinegar helps to deal with parasites by creating an alkalized environment in the gut which they don’t like. One Tablespoon in a glass of water three times a day.
•  Ginger is loaded with anti-oxidants and volatile oils which kill many parasites. We use fresh ginger slices, dehydrated ginger slices, and ginger powder. Use it to make ginger tea or add it to your food.

You can make ginger tea and drink it as often as you like throughout the day.

• If you use fresh or dehydrated ginger pieces to make your tea, add two quarter size pieces to 6-8 ounces of boiling water, cover and let steep for 15 minutes before drinking.
• If you’re using ginger powder, add a teaspoon to 6-8 ounces of hot water, let sit 5 minutes and drink when cool enough. We like to add a little raw, organic honey to ours.

How to Cut the Risk of Infestation

How can we be part of the 50% of the population without a parasite problem? You know I don’t put much stock in numbers. I mean how can they know exactly what percentage when each person isn’t tested? That being said, I sure don’t want to have this experience again.

Any deficiency in the immune system makes a person more susceptible to an infestation. We all have stress. In our American society, it’s almost unavoidable. It’s really part of the human experience. How we deal with stress is the important part.

Stress

Stress causes us to secrete higher levels of cortisol which is a suppressant to the immune system. Finding healthy ways to avoid, eliminate or at least decrease our stress levels is a priority for a healthy lifestyle.

We do stretching, practice deep breathing, and meditate on God’s Word. We also walk and do light exercises. We have had to cut off unhealthy relationships and purposefully turn negative thoughts and energy into positive ones.

Now this sounds easy, but it’s not! It takes practice and acceptance of failure…lots of failure. Eventually, the mind and body realign and it becomes the natural way of dealing with things. It’s not as simple as turning over a new leaf.

SLEEP!

When you’re asleep, your body is its busiest. It has a natural rhythm and likes to do jobs at a certain time in your sleep cycle. Make sure you get at least 7 hours of sleep each night. The best thing for your body is 8-9 hours. More than 9 or less than 7 creates stress on the body.

Taking a 15-20 minute power-nap in the middle of the day will help keep your energy level up and help strengthen your immune system. Be careful though, if you nap longer than 15-20 minutes, your body will start working and you may feel bad when you wake up because you’ve interrupted a process.

Colon Cleanse

Keeping a healthy, clean colon is vital to your overall health and especially to eliminating toxins and parasites from the body. 

Drinking plenty of water, enemas, eating a high fiber diet, and proper exercise will help keep you going. Did you know a healthy, clean colon will have a bowel movement every time you eat? Just like a baby.

Shocked? It’s true. A healthy adult should have at least one large bowel movement every day.

Is There a Test For Parasites?

Testing for parasites is not exact. I have friends who were tested for parasites and the doctor told them they were clear. They went ahead and did a parasite cleanse and discovered they were infested. The doctor confirmed their “findings”. 

You may want to be tested, in which case, you can decide or discuss with your doctor whether or not to do a parasite cleanse. They have chemical treatments for parasitic infections but we don’t use any medications unless there is no other option. We haven’t experienced a time of no other option in our health journey yet.

How We Got Rid of Parasites

In addition to using garlic, ginger, ACV, coconut oil, fermented foods, and colon cleansing, we ordered a parasite cleanse from Nature’s Sunshine . We took one round and two weeks later we did a second round. After the first round, all our symptoms were gone, but we felt it necessary to do a second round because we felt we had a bad infestation.

I’m not offering you medical advice, I’m sharing our experience and what we’ve learned.

How are we now? 5 months later and we have none of the problems we were experiencing. We’ve decided to do a parasite cleanse whenever we experience the symptoms.

Resources for you:

Parasite Symptoms

6 Unbelievable Health Benefits of Bromelain

How Much Sleep Do You Need?

Sleep Improves Weight, Mood, and Energy

Nature’s Sunshine Paracleanse

Parasites in Humans

CDC on Parasites

The Case Against Sugar

Saadatnia, Geita; Golkar, Majid. A Review on Human Toxoplasmosis. Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases. Nov2012, Vol. 44 Issue 11, p805-814. 10p. DOI: 10.3109/00365548.2012.693197.