CHAPTER 6 - Parasites - The Guests Who Came to Dinner

The intestinal tract is like a luxury hotel for parasites, bacteria and fungus. It’s warm, it’s moist, and oxygen is limited due to all the waste matter that’s packed in there. The colon – one of the most important organs in the body – is a dumping ground for waste, the place where the body toxins and excess nutrients that could be harmful to the system. It’s also where your body absorbs the nutrients that it needs in order to function and survive – so the health of your colon is mighty important. Parasites in particular can be dangerous to the health of the colon, leeching nutrients from the body and emitting emit harmful toxins that can further weaken the colon’s integrity. This can lead to a number of problems, from the mildly annoying to the deadly, such as:
Blood sugar imbalances
Bloating
Sugar cravings
Fatigue
Insomnia
Weight gain or loss
Teeth grinding or TMJ
Diarrhea
Itching
Irritability
Malnutrition
Anemia
Immune deficiency

It’s estimated that over 90 percent of Americans contract a parasite of some kind at some point in their life. They enter our bodies from a variety of sources, including pets, food and unwashed hands. You can pick up parasites from contact with pets and other people, or just by walking barefoot. Children are easily infected by being less aware of hygiene and playing with dirt and other possible contaminated substances. But meat consumption is probably the biggest contributor to parasites flourishing in our bodies.

Eating meat can cause constipation, and constipation creates the perfect environment for parasites to thrive. These unwelcome guests multiply in the haustras, the pouches in the colon where debris is stored. At their least offensive, they cause intestinal gas – but if you experience any of the symptoms above, even something as seemingly minor as chronically itchy skin, you could very well be harboring parasites in your colon.

There are several families of parasites: Roundworms, Tapeworms, Flukes and Single Cell parasites. Each group has its own unique subset of parasites who do different things to your body. Let’s look at some of the more common intestinal parasite and what you can do to avoid them:

Giardia lamblia are protozoan parasites that infect humans via consumption of contaminated food and water. It’s commonly found in untreated water supplies, and is one of the most common causes of diarrhea in travelers, but people sometimes pick them up while swimming in ponds and lakes. Giardia is responsible for the condition known as giardiasis that causes diarrhea, bloating, flatulence, abdominal cramping, weight loss, greasy stools, and dehydration.

Toxoplasma gondii is another protozoan organism commonly found in the colon. Cats and kittens often carry it, and it can be transmitted to humans who handle of cats – especially their feces. You can also be infected with them by breathing in their eggs.

Toxoplasma is responsible for the disease toxoplasmosis, which causes chills, fever, headaches and fatigue. If a pregnant woman contracts toxoplasmosis, it can lead to miscarriage, or birth defects such as blindness and mental retardation. Roundworms are are the most common intestinal parasite in the world, affecting over one billion people. They’re also one of the largest parasites, and can grow to up to 30 inches in length. Humans can contract a roundworm infection by eating improperly cooked meat, or by handling dogs or cats infested with roundworms. Symptoms include loss of appetite, allergic reactions, coughing, abdominal pain, edema, sleep disorders, and weight loss.

Hookworms are able to penetrate the human skin, and often enter the body through the feet when people walk barefoot through contaminated areas. They can be all over the world, in warm, moist tropical areas, and can live in the intestines for up to fifteen years. A hookworm infection may cause symptoms such as itchy skin, blisters, nausea, dizziness, anorexia, and weight loss.

Trichinella parasites, caused by the consumption of raw or undercooked pork, can can mimic the symptoms of up to fifty different diseases. Possible symptoms of infection include muscle soreness, fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, edema of the lips and face, difficulty breathing, difficulty speaking, enlarged lymph glands, and extreme dehydration.

Tapeworms are the largest colon parasites that are known to infect humans. There are different types of tapeworms that infect different animals – there are beef tapeworms, pork tapeworms, fish tapeworms, and dog tapeworms. They can grow to several feet in length and live in the intestines for up to 25 years. Symptoms of a tapeworm infection are diarrhea, abdominal cramping, nausea, and change of appetite.

Flukes, or Trematodas, are small flatworms that can penetrate the human skin when an individual is swimming or bathing in contaminated water. Flukes can travel throughout the body and settle in the liver, lungs or intestines. Symptoms of a fluke infection include diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and swelling.

Avoiding colon parasites

You can reduce your risk of parasitic infection through simple, common-sense behaviors. Becoming vegetarian is a good start! By not eating meat, you avoid the common parasites that are passed on through undercooked food, and you won’t have all of that slow-to-digest meat hanging around your colon and providing a breeding ground for toxic bacteria.

Wash Your Hands Frequently. Carefully washing you hands several times throughout the day can remove the parasites and their eggs with which you may have come in contact. It’s extra important to wash your hands after using the toilet, handling pets, cooking, or changing a baby’s diaper, and before before eating or handling food.

Avoid contaminated water. Unclean water is a common source of parasitic infection. Use bottled water for drinking or cooking if you don’t trust the source of your water supply – and don’t bathe in water that may be infested with parasites.

Wear shoes outdoors. Going barefoot is a pleasurable experience, but some colon parasites can enter the body through the soles of the feet. Be sure to wear shoes, especially if you are in an area like the beach or a park where there may be animal feces on the ground.
Wash and peel all fruits and vegetables. A quick scrub will remove parasites from fresh produce, and it’s important that you do so before you eat them.

Brain-eating worms

Some parasites can move to the human brain, and the results are quite horrible. It’s not especially easy for a parasite to make it to the brain – brain parasite’s life does have its hardships. To begin with, the parasite has to find a way into the brain – there’s a protective barrier between the bloodstream and the brain fluid, called the blood-brain barrier that creates a tight seal so that substances from the bloodstream, including bacteria and parasites, don’t leak into the brain. Even if a parasite does make it into the brain, it still has to battle the body’s immune system, which attack foreign bodies to protect us from harm. But some very tenacious parasites have found ways to fight back, evolving as tough warriors that can overcome the immune system. And these are the parasites that also do the most damage once they beat the odds.

Millions of people around the world are infected by brain parasites, mostly in non-industrialized countries where sanitation is poor. Many of these brain parasites cause debilitating conditions and sometimes even death. One of the most debilitating of these is the pork tapeworm, Taenia solium, which is also one of the most common disease-causing brain parasites. Infecting over 50 million people worldwide, Taenia solium is the leading cause of brain seizures.

Usually contracted from eating undercooked pork, the parasite attaches itself to the intestine and grows several feet long. The especially tenacious worms that make it to the brain don’t grow nearly that large, but they can do irreparable damage, even causing death. The risk to the brain comes when the eggs of these worms are swallowed – if ingested during their larval stage, the worms attach themselves to the intestine, but if eggs are swallowed, they hatch in the stomach and – for reasons that are still a mystery to researchers – can break through the blood-brain barrier and enter the brain. Some scientists believe that the larvae release enzymes that are able to dissolve enough of the blood-brain barrier to create a passage into the brain.

Once they reach the brain, the worms attach themselves to either the brain tissue or to cavities through which brain fluid flows, causing a disease called neurocysticercosis. The disease is the result of cysts in the brain created by the parasites. The symptoms exhibited by victims of neurocysticercosis depend on the part of the brain in which the cysts form. When attached to brain tissue, then victims usually experience seizures. If the larvae attaches to the brain-fluid cavities, however, victims headaches, nausea, dizziness, and altered mental states – in addition to seizures! – because the flow of the brain fluid is blocked by the larvae. The lining of the brain-fluid cavities also become inflamed, further constricting the flow of the brain fluid and creating pressure on the brain. This increased pressure forces the heart to work in order to pump blood to the brain, which increases the pressure even more. If left untreated, parts of the brain begin to die from a deficiency of blood and serious brain damage occurs.

It can be a very slow process, often undetected for years – many people play host to brain parasites for a long time before showing any symptoms, as the worms have a sophisticated method of breaking down any antibodies in their vicinity and actually using them as a food source, effectively turning the body’s tools for fighting them into a way for them to actually flourish!

One way to avoid contracting Taenia solium is to make sure that any pork you eat is thoroughly cooked. But an even better way to avoid these nasty, brain-eating worms is to become a vegetarian – why play Russian Roulette with the health of your brain when you can simply skip eating animal proteins entirely and get all your nutrition form a plant-based diet?

Cleaning out the pipes

One way to maintain colon health is to occasionally treat yourself to a colon cleansing. This can be administered by a professional, you can purchase herbal products designed for the purpose at a natural foods store, or you can ask a nutritionist to advise you on a good colon cleansing method.

A colon cleanse isn’t the same thing as an enema or dosing yourself with laxatives. There are drawbacks to both of those practices. Enemas, while fine when administered correctly on an occasional basis, can actually creat as many problems as they solve. If you use tap water, for instance, more problems that they solve. For example, if you use tap water, you may be injecting more parasites into your intestine. Enemas also only cleanse the larger, lower part of the intestine and do nothing to clean out the small intestine where many parasites dwell.

Laxatives may seem to be doing a great job of "blowing out the pipes" they’re also ineffective at cleaning the small intestine, and irritate the sensitive lining of the bowels. Overuse of laxatives leads to inefficient absorption of important nutrients and acts as a diuretic, increasing the risk of dehydration. The body can also become dependent on laxatives, ultimately causing more constipation than before.

Talk to your nutritionist or ask at your natural foods store for recommendations on doing an herbal colon cleanse. After flushing the toxin-producing parasites from your body, you’ll feel much better!