In this previous post LINK I already explained everything I did to treat a stubborn parasite infection (or I should I say co existence, because they had just settled down there for the long term), and here LINK I described in detail my two years long war with the aforementioned parasites.
I wanted to devote a shorter post to maintenance, things that we can do to prevent parasites from returning. First of all, I need to say that simply having a healthy diet without sugar and wheat, or even grains, is probably not enough. I’d been juicing for years, eating ridiculously healthy (and not much, because my gallbladder was not working properly) , and my giant tapeworm wasn’t even bothered, making my life miserable.
I have read reports of people going straight from a SAD (Standard American Diet) or Western diet to, say, a green juice fast, and sometimes passing dead parasites as a result, raw carrots were mentioned a few times, but it’s not common. Those little critters are tough!
Anyway, I wanted to make a list with the foods that I still eat on a daily basis to keep parasites at bay. Most of them can be easily incorporated into your regular eating and you won’t even notice.
Disclaimer; these remedies are only for the worm-like kind of parasites, known as Nematodes, and not the amoeba-like microscopic parasites, which are a completely different league, and out of my direct experience.
Anyway, these are my tried and true steps to keep the parasite population down.
1. Increase Stomach Acid, as the stomach is the first roadblock in the digestive process, where eventual larvae that made it inside get destroyed.
You can increase stomach acid first of all by chewing thoroughly.
According to the Macrobiotic Diet, for optimal digestion each bite should be chewed until the food is liquid, which can take a LOT of bites. George Ohsawa, the father of macrobiotics, recommended 50 to 100 bites, but in modern times consuming a meal that way takes longer than any lunch hour. I usually negotiate and never go under 30, but it takes time, and good teeth!
Watch a documentary about George Ohsawa
Aside from chewing, try drinking half a spoon of raw Apple Cider Vinegar in water before meals, that is also supposed to increase stomach acid.
If you need to bring in the big guns, Betaine HCL is a common supplement used to increase stomach acid. For me it was always too strong, and when I tried it it felt like my stomach was trying to digest itself, so if you are sensitive proceed with caution.
Of course the first premise for enjoying healthy stomach acid levels is eating a healthy diet based on real food.
2. Fermented Foods. LINK Fermented food is full of probiotics, which feed the good bacteria in the gut. Those little good bacteria are the second line of defence against the larvae that survived going through the stomach. Many good bacteria will also destroy the intruders and make life really difficult to any survivors.
Probiotic foods will not work for everyone, because many contain histamines as a byproduct of some fermentation processes, and some people are so sensitive to histamines that even small amounts will trigger a negative response.
Eating fermented foods was the one thing that caused my parasites to show themselves (as corpses), so for me fermented food will always be at the top of my list of remedies .
3. Paralyse Them: Pumpkin Seeds and Pumpkin Seed Oil
First of all, you won’t mind this one, because pumpkin seed oil is DELICIOUS (and, sadly, very expensive) and will make every salad or cooked greens taste like a million bucks.
Pumpkin seeds and pumpkin seed oil have the peculiar effect of paralysing nematodes (the worm-like parasites) , for this reason I normally eat them before meals, so that the beasties will leave my nutrients alone, and I also eat them before taking any remedy or medication that will kill the critters, so that they won’t be able to resist the poison, or they won’t run away, or whatever parasites do in those cases.
A couple of academic sources about pumpkin seeds, it’s not just an old wife’s tale: this article and this.
4. Destroy Them: Raw (or fermented) Garlic and Papaya Seeds.
A daily food that definitely harms parasites is raw garlic. My mother often remembered how as a child in the immediate post WW2 years, she and her brother were given crushed garlic cloves in a spoon with olive oil to kill parasites. As for years I couldn’t digest raw garlic, I learned how to make garlic fermented in honey LINK.
It takes at least between 2 or 3 MONTHS for fermented garlic to be ready, but in the end you will have a delicious concoction in which the honey tastes of garlic and the garlic tastes of honey, perfect sweet and sour accompaniment for any meat or vegetable dish, and a very powerful antibacterial and antifungal (and anti parasitic) remedy. An extra bonus: during the fermentation process the garlic goes through a very odd blue phase, where it becomes blue for several weeks, so, you see, it’s all kinds of awesome.
You can also ferment the garlic in brine, I imagine that will still taste of, well, garlic, but with all the added bonus of fermentation.
Another alternative is Black Garlic, garlic that has been basically slow heated for WEEKS until it becomes dark brown close to black, It possesses a sweet taste, pretty far from that of raw garlic, and is sold as a delicacy for gourmet dishes, but it holds on to most of garlic’s powerful qualities. If you can tolerate garlic, and you can afford it, you will love it.
I found papaya seeds mentioned in some academic papers about traditional treatment of parasites in various African countries, here too. It seems to have proven antihelminthic properties
I did try eating papaya seeds for several days in a row without much noticeable effects, aside from a remarkable belly ache, but possibly a) I didn’t eat enough of them b) they were fresh out of the fruit, not dry c) I had too many parasites and it wasn’t strong enough. I wouldn’t knock it off.
Another tropical fruit extensively mentioned as anti parasitic is pineapple, I never noticed any effect in that regard but I still integrate it in my diet regularly, it can’t hurt, right? and I love pineapple. Probably the sugar doesn’t help. Mmmm.
5. Pomegranate Juice and Rind
During my long years of frantic research for antiparasitic remedies, I came across an old text from 1800 something describing how a tea obtained from pomegranate rinds was used to expel a tapeworm. I tried to recover that text, I found an article quoting different authors from the 1800s that mentioned the anti parasitic properties of pomegranate. In the end I found the original text I remembered here, and it was not in the other list.
So, all in all, the bark and root of pomegranate were pretty popular as tapeworm remedies, even in Egyptian times, That seems worth investigating. You can read here a longer overview of its pharmacological properties.
Because I was living in Germany at the time and for some reason pomegranate rinds were sold in most natural shops to make tea (I imagine because of its antioxidant properties?), I bought some, but I confess I forgot to use them. because after all the other treatments were working, and if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.
I drank litres of pomegranate juice during my tapeworm days and the beast wasn’t even fazed. Anyway, pomegranate juice is full of antioxidants and can’t hurt, and whenever I find nice pomegranates to add to my juice I make sure to leave a lot of bark, in case that helps.
No scientific method was used here!
6. Kill Them All! Diatomaceous Earth (not a food)
Just like pumpkin seeds, I like to take diatomaceous Earth (the food grade version, which is meant for human consumption) before meals. Diatomaceous Earth is pretty popular in gardening shops as a plant-friendly insecticide against ants and bugs. In addition to that, hundreds of veterinary studies confirm that it is a powerful anti parasitic. As usual, there is a lack of studies on human subjects, but if it works so well for most animals (sheep, bison, horses, chicken, pigeons, rabbits, cows, mice, goats, pigs and pets), without any apparent toxicity effects, then there is no reason why it shouldn’t work on humans. The silica-rich powder acts like a million tiny blades at microscopic level and goes out through the intestine without being absorbed in the body.
The food grade version is ground to a much finer powder than the others, in order to accommodate the delicate human digestion. Personally I tolerated it better inside gelatine capsules than just straight in some water, and I can confirm that it’s a wonderful parasite killer.
Well, these are my daily food integrations to reduce the chances of getting parasites again, I hope you find something useful (and tasty) to add to your meals. Stay healthy!
