This is a trick question. You do, we all do! All animals have parasites, including humans. It is simply a part of the natural cycle of life. Until I started doing this work, I always thought parasites were only something you could catch when traveling to a developing country, but this is just not true. Parasites are everywhere and are already within us. They can live in our bodies for years without causing any symptoms so we don’t realize they are causing a problem, but eventually, they can become overgrown in the body. The symptoms we feel are our body’s cry for help that the parasites have become too much, and our digestive system, immune system, or other tissues and organs impacted need support. Often these symptoms are often overlooked or we don’t link them to parasites because parasites like to hide and also because these symptoms are often also linked to other issues.
Try not to be too turned off by this post. It might seem gross or scary to know that there are parasites in your body, but dealing with them might be just what you need to get rid of the symptoms you are feeling once and for all, and improve your health and your quality of life. I want to reiterate that we ALL have them, it is quite normal. They may not be a problem for you, but if you are not feeling your best, have a chronic condition or diagnosis, or have had unexplained symptoms for a long time (more on what these are if you read on) you may want to work with a practitioner to specifically target them.
What are parasites?
Parasites are organism that lives on or in a host organism and feeds off of the organs, tissues, and nutrients of that organism. They love to eat up nutrients like our iron stores, they invade our tissues and organs all over the body (not just the gut!) and they attract and house mold, yeast, bacteria, viruses, and heavy metals within the body as well and just like we poop, they create and release their toxic waste right inside of us that our own bodies then need to try to excrete. Sounds nice, huh?
There are a lot of ways we can get parasites which I describe below, but they generally do not thrive very well when we are healthy. The more we’ve got going on from a health perspective, the more they are able to thrive. For example, when we have low stomach acid - which we can get from poor nutrition and lifestyle choices, stress, and more, parasites have an easier time entering the body through our mouth because they are not being killed so easily by the stomach acid our bodies produce. Additionally, if our immune system is down from fighting illness, gut dysbiosis, sleep issues, or chronic stress, our body’s ability to keep the parasites that we do have in check goes way down, allowing them to overgrow and feast.
How do you get parasites?
While there are a lot of ways we can get parasites, we are more susceptible to them when our digestion isn’t running smoothly and also when our immune system is down. Chronic and acute stress, poor eating habits, environmental toxins, iron overload, low stomach acid, excessive antibiotic use, and excessive alcohol consumption are just some of the ways we weaken our terrain and allow these critters to thrive. Children and older folks are especially susceptible.
When we have a weak terrain, it is pretty easy to contract parasites. Some ways that you could contract them include:
Eating raw fish or meat
Walking barefoot
Contaminated water
Interacting with your pets
International travel
Swimming in ponds, lakes, and rivers
Not washing your hands
Eating fruits and veggies
Types of parasites
There are many species of parasites. Some are more well-known than others but there are three main types:
Protozoa Parasites
These parasites are single-celled organisms that can multiply within the host body on their own. Protozoa are microscopic so they are undetectable in your stool. Protozoa are quite common and most of us have them or have had them. Some more common protozoa include Giardia, Blastocystis hominis, and E. Coli. Protozoa can be found all over the body including in the brain, lymph, all along the digestive tract, the bladder, within joints, lungs, and organs like the liver, thyroid, and pancreas.
Helminth Parasites
These are often what you picture when you think of parasites. They are the worm-like organisms you see in biology class and in sci-fi movies. Tapeworms and roundworms are both considered helminth parasites. Helminths can also be flatworms or flukes which tend to be smaller. Typically, Helminths will lay eggs in their host and feed off their available nutrients. They can live in the brain, large intestine, liver and gallbladder, pancreas, lungs, and bladder. I often see flukes in the liver and gallbladder which are often the root cause of issues with these organs.
Ectoparasites
Ticks and fleas are included in the ectoparasite family. These parasites make their home outside of the host’s body. Ectoparasites temporarily feed off of their nutrients through blood-sucking bites or skin-deep burrows. Oftentimes these ectoparasites can be carriers of bacteria like Borrelia which is a cause of Lyme or other parasites like Babesia which can infect the body in the same tick bite and is a Lyme co-infection.
Symptoms of parasites
It’s confusing because many of the symptoms associated with parasites are also linked to other chronic conditions and root causes. This is because oftentimes parasites really are one of the root causes of these other issues. Here are some of the symptoms associated with parasites. I don’t believe this is an exhaustive list. If you have three or more of these symptoms, it might be worth exploring whether you have an overgrowth of parasites in the body.
Leaky gut
Insomnia, restless sleep
Joint pain
Histamine issues, MCAS
Hives
Eye floaters
Unexplained weight gain
Skin issues of all kinds
Diarrhea and/or constipation
Gas and/or bloating
Dairy sensitivity
Itchy butt
Irritability
Depression
Anxiety, nervousness
Increased symptoms on the full moon
Anemia
Vitamin B6 deficiency
White spots on nails
Tumors and cysts
IBD, IBS
Fatigue
Brain fog
Teeth grinding
How to test for parasites
Testing for parasites is not straightforward and can be pretty inaccurate. Stool testing is notoriously inaccurate for parasites as testing processes and parasitology research is not very advanced. Most labs are only able to test for a small selection of parasites and there are hundreds if not thousands of different parasites we can have in the body. Additionally, the only way a stool test can pick up parasites is if we are actually passing them in the stool which is often not the case if they are not living in the digestive tract or are not currently being passed. Most parasites are microscopic and are not picked up on many other types of tests and scans.
We can often conclude or extrapolate that parasites are an issue from specific markers in blood labs and your signs and symptoms, but I find the most accurate way to test for them is via muscle testing or bioresonance testing, which I do in my practice.
If you have at least some of the symptoms that are associated with parasites and/or have a diagnosis of a chronic illness, it is highly likely that you have parasites.
Parasite cleansing is part of the roadmap I do with my clients who are in my AHB Groundwork 7-month program. I do a comprehensive intake and we work on foundations and opening drainage pathways before embarking on parasite cleansing. You can watch my overview video to learn more about my process and read on to the next post to learn about how to be more resilient to parasites and how to best go about eradicating them.
Sources:
https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(10)02308-8/fulltext
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0188440917302485?via%3Dihub
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/apm.12099
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1369527411001627?via%3Dihub
https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/about.html
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/ectoparasite
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