Parasites: it's like a hitchhiker; you KNOW when they are in the car with you.

Jan 15, 2024

Working in a busy herbal apothecary, I don’t always read the health news out there, but I do know via my customers and clients what is talked about in the natural health circles out in the ethers…..and I can tell when something is repeated over and over again because many will come in asking the same question: “do you carry moringa”, “do you know anything about MSM”, etc etc. Some of the info is based on science, sure, but a LOT of it is just about selling products: enter parasites.

Yes, humans get parasites, it’s part of life and part of living on earth. We can be exposed to parasites by contamination of food, water, and sometimes just walking around barefoot. Some of these little buggers are: protozoans, helminths (worms), flukes, roundworms, and then there are parasites that can live outside the body: lice, fleas etc. While it’s important to understand the potential risks, it’s also important to have a balanced view about parasites and educate yourself about how one is at higher risk for exposure.

Why so many videos and posts about parasites lately? I saw one video a bit ago with a women talking about Americans and how we do not deworm every year like they do (in an asian country somewhere…perhaps somewhere in Southeast Asia is my best guess), preparing food outside on the dirt, on a camp fire. The short answer is our food here in the States is cleaner. PEROID. Is it perfect? No, but we do have a few standards here that reduces the risk of exposure to parasites. We have standards of how our meat is processed, and water quality standards, which is a MAJOR route of exposure in so-called third world countries. Ever go to Mexico? The few times I have gone, it’s always the last day and there it is…..stomach cramps, loose stools etc. I won’t go into the details, but you KNOW it’s there. That little bugger hitching a ride. Which brings me to the point of this post: if you have a parasite, you KNOW you have a parasite. So the people who come in looking for a dewormer, I give them information about the many wonderful anti-parasitic herbs I use to help people expel parasites, but the honest truth is, deworming is instigated by feeling ill, it’s not a “oh, I dunno, I think I need to deworm myself just bc the people on the video told me to”. I like being proactive, don’t get me wrong here, but these anti-parasitic herbs are powerful and can kill off good bacteria too, so it’s not something to go into lightly or for long periods of time for ‘prevention”.

There are some caveat to the ill-feeling: some people have what is called dysbiosis, which can sometimes feel to the untrained person, like a parasite. Gall bladder problems make your guts hurt, then there is straight up food poisoning (which tends to be transient). Taking a brief history, symptom check, medication list, and asking about diet can clue a practitioner in to what may be occurring in there, and it’s likely NOT a parasite at all.

Here is a list of parasites I found on Wiki. It’s an extensive list and encompasses tick-born illness too. I personally consider viruses a kind parasites as well since it is basically what they are; they can’t live outside a life form or they will die and they use animals to procreate, it’s pretty much the definition of a parasite, but I digress, point is if you have a parasite it’s no secrete. They aren’t that stealthy. In fact, they are downright obnoxious with severe boundary issues.

So if you feel like you have a parasite: diarrhea, stomach cramping, fatigue, trouble sleeping, or perhaps a blood born illness: fatigue, trouble sleeping, body aches/pains, brain fog, muscle weakness, bordering on debilitating (or downright debilitating), or other symptoms hard to ignore depending upon the parasite, here are some basic herbs I use to ‘deworm”.

Black walnut hull, black sesame seed, oregon grape root, goldenseal, barberry, activated charcoal, wormwood, mugwort, garlic, marshmallow root, slippery elm, Resins: (myrrh, frankincense), cryptolepis, sida acuta, teasel root…….the list is long and the use and formulations are different depending upon the type of parasite.

For intestinal parasites I have an encapsulated powdered formulation to be taken daily, or for Lyme Dis-ease and it’s potential co-infections I have different herbs to suggest, but whatever the parasite, herbs can help.

So, be mindful of alarmism around parasites and especially so if they are trying to sell you something with disgusting pictures of god-knows-what coming out of their colon. While it’s possible to have a parasite no matter where you live, the risk here in the US is not as high as some other areas of the world AND any digestive discomfort you may have could be a slew of other issues that need to be addressed and nothing to do with a parasite. Buddy up to your local herbalist and ask them. You may just have low stomach acid and need a digestive bitter, or a probiotic, or perhaps cut out all the sugar and processed foods. Occam’s razor comes to mind.

Sara Woods Kender
sara@sarasherbs.com
Clinical Herbalist
Reiki Master/Teacher

Psychic Medium

Munay-Ki Attuned

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