Signs That You Have a PARASITE (How to Cleanse Naturally) | The Worm Queen

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Hey everyone, welcome to the show. I'm your host, Dr. Axe, and each and every week on this podcast, we dive deep into the science and principles behind how to heal your body physically, mentally, spiritually, and take your life to the next level. On today's episode, I'll be diving deep into parasites. There are so many people today that are struggling with parasites and they don't know it. Parasites have been shown in clinical studies to cause gut and digestive issues, to drain your body of energy, to cause weight issues. Also, it's been linked cancer, and I'll be going through how to cleanse your body of parasites. I get questions all the time from people and they'll say, Dr. Axe, should I do a parasite cleanse? My answer is this: only if you have parasites. If you don't have parasites, actually doing a parasite cleanse could actually be bad for you. But I'll go through how to test for parasites, how to know you have them, and how to cure your body of parasites for good on today's episode, and so much more. Before I dive in though, make sure to subscribe to the channel and hit the link in the show notes to sign up for my weekly weekly wellness newsletter. If you want to keep up with the latest things that are going on in things like peptides and raw milk and, and reversing disease using herbs, diet, and foods as medicine, then again, make sure to sign up for the weekly wellness newsletter in the show notes and make sure to subscribe here to the channel. All right, so parasites are an organism that live in a host organism, and basically it gets its food at the expense of the host. Okay, that's according to the CDC. So parasites are most similar to worms, okay? Many of them are types of worms. And they will live predominantly in your gut and your liver area, a lot of your digestive system. And they will feed off of things in your body, oftentimes things that you need, and they are a pathogen. And so just like you could have a virus or a bad bacteria that's invading your body, causing disease within your body, parasites do that as well. I do wanna say though, not all parasites are the same, but most are organisms that live inside the body feeding off nutrients, and then what they do is they produce waste that weakens your body, particularly your mitochondria, your liver, your gallbladder, and your digestive system. And there are 3 main types of parasites that affect humans. Ones that are called protozoa— these are microscopic, you can only see them under a microscope. There are helminths— these are large worms. And there are also ectoparasites. And some examples of parasites that many of us are exposed to include tapeworms, roundworms, hookworms, mosquitoes. Now listen to this, mosquitoes, because they are dependent on a blood meal from a human host for their survival. So some countries consider mosquitoes forms of parasites. And then also ticks, fleas, lice, and mites, which can burrow into your skin as well. These are examples of certain types of parasites according to the Global Health Organization. And parasites are more common than most people think, especially among people who travel internationally or spend time around animals. In fact, some research estimates that up to 30% of the global, global population will have a parasite at some point. 30%. And if left untreated, they contribute to so many health problems we talked about. I mean, gut problems being number one, but in addition, weakened immune system, fatigue, inflammation, and even a lot of autoimmune diseases and cancer, as you're about to find out. And here are where most people get parasites. Contaminated water. So if you're swimming in a lake or stream or river, and even some tap water, um, can contain parasites. Raw or undercooked meat, especially pork. By the way, pork is by far the biggest carrier of parasites of all animals. Nothing else is even as close. After that, it's going to be undercooked meat from beef, and then fish. And then here's another big one: shellfish, especially shrimp, crab. Oysters can also harbor parasites in addition to heavy metals, which we know seafood can contain as well. Now, as I mentioned before, traveling to foreign countries, exposing yourself to different water and food supplies tends to be where a lot of people pick up parasites. Now here's another crazy part. You can actually pick up parasites walking barefoot in contaminated soil. Now walking barefoot on a farm or out in the grass and things like that, you're typically going to be fine. But if you are in contaminated soil in another country walking barefoot, um, let's say an area like India or Pakistan, your chance of getting a parasite can go up dramatically. And I can, I can tell you from operating a yeah, a cellular medicine clinic and a functional medicine clinic for years, that almost every time I had a patient pick up a parasite, 90% of the time it was after international travel. Now sometimes I would have them pick it up outside of that. It could be from maybe a restaurant they ate at somewhere. It could have been maybe a pet. But the majority of the time when people pick up parasites, of patients I've cared for, it's been after international travel, like going on mission trips, you know, people trying to do good in the world. I remember I had somebody recently came back from South America with a parasite. And I put them on a parasite protocol. I had another person who was overdoing a mission trip in Africa. I think it was Ethiopia. They picked up a parasite. So, so, you know, there's a lot of patients I work with regularly who get it, but international travel is number one. And the other thing I want to mention is that can increase your risk is poor hygiene and sanitation. Not washing hands before or after eating food, especially If you are eating out at certain restaurants or internationally, that increases the risk. Of course, bathrooms, vomiting, um, you know, uh, you know, any sort of exposure to, um, you know, the fecal-oral route is going to increase your risk. Um, the other things I'll mention here too, which I typically don't care— characterize Lyme disease as a parasitic infection. I characterize that as a bacterial infection. But again, if we think about it like that, bites or infected insects such as mosquitoes and ticks and even sand flies, that's a way you can get parasites. Pets and animals, um, from cats and dogs and farm animals, especially pigs, if they lick your face. I mean, I can tell you right now, I have a 1-year-old, we have a puppy, and he's constantly licking her face. Now listen, it's a, it's a risk. And right now I don't even know how to get them to stop. Doing it. But again, your dog licking your face is a way that people are picking up parasites. And then unwashed produce is another way that people pick it up, according to several medical studies. And here's the thing about parasites: they're sneaky, and their symptoms often overlap with common gut and immune system issues. This is why people often— oftentimes don't realize they have a parasitic infection. Some of the biggest symptoms that somebody has a parasite include, number one is gonna be chronic digestive issues. Bloating, diarrhea, gas, long-term it could turn into constipation. But really, loose stools and bloating and gas are the biggest symptom. After that, unexplained fatigue and weight loss, low energy, muscle aches and weaknesses, sugar cravings, very similar to Candida. Parasites feed on sugar. And the other thing would be rashes, skin rashes, itching, even eczema-like symptoms. And the other things that start to happen long-term if somebody has a parasite over the long-term: brain fog, mood swings, and depression, anxiety, headaches, grinding teeth, especially in children, trouble gaining or losing weight, nutrient deficiencies— iron, B12, and magnesium— because parasites actually feed off of and consume some of the nutrients in your body like iron. Um, sleep disturbances, especially waking up around 2 to 3 AM, it signifies parasitic infections. Um, some parasites as well, what they do is they release toxins in your body. And this is why there's actually a deep connection— this is going to surprise some of you— um, there's a deep connection between parasites and cancer. So think, think about this: if you have a parasite, your chance of getting cancer goes up dramatically in the long term. Because parasites release toxins that weaken the immune system and promote inflammation. The other thing parasites do is they trigger continuous cell proliferation, which is what happens in cancer. They suppress immune surveillance. And so your body is looking out for cancer cells. Well, parasites create films in the body like biofilms. They also do things that sort of, you know, muck up the cameras that your body has, these surveillance mechanisms. So your body doesn't know to send immune cells and natural killer cells to an area to kill cancer cells. So cancer cells start proliferating and, and multiplying in your body. And what happens too, when you have chronic infections, uh, like parasitic infections, it leads to leaky gut. And that of course leads to more inflammation in the body, which makes— which basically takes up some of your body's energy and reserves that it would typically utilize to kill cancer cells. So here's the reality: if you have parasites, your risk of cancer goes up dramatically. There's a lot of people that have a low-grade infection of parasites, and they can have it for 1 year, 5 years, 20 years. And so these parasites can just sit in your system using up your nutrients, causing systemic inflammation, basically sludging up your immune system where it doesn't recognize or can't find the cancer cells, so they proliferate. And this happens over time. If you have parasites, your risk of Liver, gallbladder, and bile cancer goes up dramatically. Bladder cancer, brain cancers and brain tumors, and lymphoma. Other types of blood cancers go up dramatically. In fact, listen to these statistics. If you have a specific parasite in your body, your chance of getting bile duct cancer goes up by 14 times. That's crazy, 14 times more likely. Than others. I mean, so, so we see that the increased risk is dramatic if you have parasites. And so I want to walk you through now how to rid your body of parasites and heal your body. So I'm going to go through the top diet, the top herbals, and the top forms of lifestyle medicine and treatments to heal and cleanse your body of parasites. The first though is prevention, okay? If you are traveling internationally, be careful what you eat. What I would do if I was traveling internationally is I would bring bentonite clay and I would bring with me, um, a high dose probiotics. First, I would be very careful, well, I— what I eat. I try and just say, hey, can I just have, um, you know, really well-cooked meat? Or bring some of the snacks for yourself. I'll share this with you. My, uh, another one of my best friends, Jordan Rubin, was doing a mission trip with my cousin I just mentioned. His name is Dr. Pete Sulak. And they were on a mission trip in India together. And when Jordan went over there you know, 80% of the food he ate was food he packed for himself. So there are certain countries you go to if you're going on a mission trip where you want to try and avoid some of the food. So he brought with himself certain snacks and foods when he was eating something questionable, and so he would eat that instead. But, but again, listen, you can't always do that. I've been on mission trips and I ate all the food, okay? I've been to China, I've been to Africa, I've been to a lot of places, and, and, and I ate the food. But I did try to order, and this is when I was younger, but I did try and order consciously in some of these places. But again, bentonite clay, doing a teaspoon twice a day. High-dose probiotics, like, like a probiotic that has either hundreds of billions or even trillions of probiotics, um, that's going to be your best bet. Okay, so, so one, doing those types of things. Washing your hands very well. This is also important and good for parasites, um, especially after using a public restroom or traveling. Um, avoiding tap water. That's another big one, okay? Avoiding tap water. And then avoid risky foods, especially that are questionable. Undercooked fish, pork, any type of shellfish, okay? But pork and shellfish are by far the biggest carriers of parasites you're going to find. And the other thing is you can pick up parasites from your vegetables. So wash them in baking soda, wash them, you know, thoroughly, and that, that, that can also help get rid of— get parasites as well. Now here's another amazing to prevent getting a parasite. If you're going to eat a meat— let's say you're going out for sushi one night and you want to do everything you can to avoid getting a parasite, okay, here's what you can do. Take a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and/or a tablespoon of lemon water and take digestive bitters. Those kill parasites before they enter the intestines. So if I'm going out for sushi one night— I just went out last week— I might do— and listen, if you want to be really cautious, do a little bit of bentonite clay tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, some digestive bitters and probiotics. Do all those with the meal and that will help. Here's another thing: a lot of fish and seafood is high in heavy metals. Uh, consuming cilantro and chlorella or spirulina seaweeds actually also decreases your risk of eating a parasite or your body having heavy metals, um, uh, go and start to affect your body as well. So, so to protect your body against both heavy metals and parasites apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, digestive bitters, probiotics, uh, seaweeds like chlorella, spirulina, and even cilantro, and a little bentonite clay are all helpful natural remedies. All right, now I want to dive deeper into pork and its connection to parasites, and I'm going to both cover the science and the ancient history around pigs and parasites. Here's the first thing to know: pigs are omnivorous scavengers. Pigs eat everything, including garbage dead animals, their own feces, and the feces of other animals. You see this in farm environments. If anyone has ever been around pigs or a farm, you'll know this is true. They are built to carry parasites, bacteria, and viruses. And unlike ruminant animals like cows, goats, and sheep, pigs don't have a multi-chambered stomach that helps them break down and sterilize pathogens in the food they eat. Pigs lack a strong detoxification system. Pack— in fact, did you know pigs lack functional sweat glands? They can't sweat out toxins like some other animals. This means that toxins stay in their fat and tissues longer than other animals, and their livers and kidneys are also less efficient at detoxification, which can lead to the buildup of heavy metals, pesticides, and especially parasites. And according to several medical studies, of all of the foods you can eat, the food that gives you the highest risk of a parasitic infection is pork. And, and it's not just conventional pork, it's even wild boar. I want to tell you a story. I had my cousin, uh, one of my best friends, he was living with me in college. Uh, we were in medical school together, and, um, and he was a hunter, okay? And he's an amazing hunter. He would go out and kill, you know, deer and ducks constantly, and and sort of was a survivalist and could, you know, he's one of the people, like if we had the end of the world, okay, and we were living in this, you know, this dystopian society and we had to fend for ourselves, he's the first person I would say I want next to me, okay? So he's a survivalist, but he was out hunting and he killed a wild boar. He brought it back and he started eating it at the house. This was wild, it wasn't farmed, and so it was out in the wild. And, and after a couple weeks, he started getting this yellow lesion all over his back. And he's like, I— do you know what this is? And I'm like, you know what you have? I said, you have a parasite. And so it was literally coming out of his skin, this, this yellow lesion coming out of his skin. And he, and he stopped eating it, and then it just went away. And this is probably the highest quality boar pork you could possibly have, and he still got parasites from it. Okay, parasites love pigs, okay? And they carry numerous parasites. And study after study proves this. In fact, according to a CDC study, they said pork is the primary source of trichinosis infections in the entire world, okay? In the entire world. Um, it's also one of the top for tapeworms according to the World Health Organization, CDC. It's one of the top sources toxoplasmosis. And from a biblical standpoint, when you read Leviticus 11:7-8, here's what it says: And the pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses, for they are unclean. And then again in Deuteronomy 14:8: The pig is also unclean. Although it has a split hoof, it does not chew the cud, You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses. And then of course we know Leviticus 11:10-12, it also says, shellfish, any creature in the water that does not have fins and scales is unclean as well. So we know in the Old Testament, God forbids pork and shellfish because it's unclean. What does it mean unclean? Well, of course it has bad bacteria, it has parasites, it has heavy metals, it has all of these toxins in it, unclean. It's got, it has toxins. You have a much higher toxic load eating those animals. Now, I do wanna mention, whenever I share with this at lectures, I'll have Christians say, "Well, Jesus declared that nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him." Mark 7:15, okay? Now, let me ask you this though. If you were to go out to a farm, and this is gonna sound disgusting, but I just wanna put this in perspective, okay? And you would eat the feces of an animal that was on the ground, does that make you unclean? So Jesus here isn't saying, "Hey, eat whatever you want. Go and eat trash, you know, go and eat out of a garbage bin or go to a farm and eat the most vile thing you can find." That doesn't mean you should eat it. It means that it's not a sin or that shouldn't be the reason you're not eating it. You wanna honor God with your body. You wanna be a follower of Jesus. And so my point there is, Just because it's not seen as following the law, there's a different perspective around it now, and we aren't to follow it the same way the Jews did during that time, that doesn't mean all of a sudden that pork is clean and it's actually a healthy thing for you to eat, okay? So I just wanna be clear about that because oftentimes I have people push back and say, "Well, no, pork is okay to eat." And we know Peter had a vision as well in Acts 10, you know, as another example where he says, you know, rise up and eat. I just want to point out again, my personal perspective is it is not necessarily sinful, okay, to go and eat pork or fast food or something else that we know is not good for you. Um, but it also doesn't mean that pork, the animal itself, is changed and now is clean. We know all the studies show it is the top carrier of parasites and is the dirtiest of all animals and the worst for your health. That you could eat. So, so again, um, just be careful when eating pork, or don't eat— I just— my recommendation is don't eat pork or shellfish at all because it's that bad for your body. So there are so many reasons not to eat pork. Pork carries parasites. Pork has poor detox channels. The Bible, in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, recommend you not eat it. Uh, science supports this. Functional medicine lens, pork is also very high in omega-6 fatty acids. It doesn't have omega-3, so it's inflammatory just in terms of their tissues themselves. And so there are a lot of reasons not to consume pork for that very reason. And you're much better— and let me say this, I think the biggest, the biggest way I see most people eating pork today is via bacon. I mean, ham of course is very high up there too, but bacon is probably the most common. My wife Chelsea and I do a lot of beef bacon, and turkey bacon. The reason I mentioned beef bacon first is I know all the bacon— pork bacon lovers are gonna be like, turkey bacon's not even on the same level as turkey bacon, or turkey bacon's not on the same level as beef, uh, pork bacon. Understood. Okay, understood. But beef bacon is phenomenal. It is absolutely awesome. So you can pick that up at Whole Foods Market, you can order it online. If you want to switch and you still want bacon, try beef bacon. It's delicious. There's a good swap for you. Now I want to dive into how to start to rid body of parasites. Now, doing it the way I'm going to share with you is the most gentle but yet powerful way to heal from parasitic infections. And if you have any of the symptoms I mentioned earlier, these can benefit your body greatly. Eating things like more pumpkin seeds, garlic, papaya, coconut oil have antiparasitic properties and can help your body heal. So I'm going to walk you through both the diet and the top herbals for healing your body of parasites. I want to mention one study here. There was one review— this was done on 500 different herbs and plants, and it was looking at their antiparasitic properties. And 78% of these were found to be helpful to getting rid of parasites, with 91 being very effective. So again, there's about 91 herbs that are very effective at getting rid of parasites, and there are also lots of foods that are effective. Now let me walk through the absolute best for getting rid of parasites. Before I mention this though, again I want to, I want to say that if you don't have a parasite, doing a very intense parasite cleanse with some of these herbals can be somewhat hard on your intestines. So unless you think you do have a parasite, I wouldn't do the herbals. I would just do the foods, um, to start. And then if you— and, and here's a great thing to do: if you want to know if you have a parasite, do a stool test. You can do a simple stool test at a lab. You could see a functional medicine practitioner and they could simply order for you a, a, a microbiome test or a GI map or stool test and see if you have parasites or not. It'll show up there. So, so that's a sure and fire way to know if you have parasites. And if it shows up, then do all of these herbs I'm going to share with you. If you don't know if you have a parasite or you don't think you do, then I wouldn't necessarily take these herbs, okay? Or if you think I might but I don't know, do the diet in the meantime and then maybe wait until you can get tested or go get tested, uh, right away to see if you do. All right, now I'm going to dive into the top anti-parasitic herbals that can help kill parasites. The first is black walnut. It contains a compound called juglone, which has been shown to be effective against both pinworms and tapeworms. It's also used frequently for detoxification. I want to mention, this is something we use on our farm. In fact, I own 4,000 acres of land with Jordan Rubin in Missouri. Also, we own a farm in Tennessee, and we grow black walnut trees, and then we use these black walnuts to help treat our sheep especially. So sheep, uh, and certain animals on the farm tend to pick up parasites more easily than others, but the biggest for us is sheep. And so we use black walnuts sometimes in the feed, or we put them around different areas on the farm to actually protect our animals from parasitic infection. So black walnut is amazing thing. And again, black, black walnut trees You'll see growing just naturally around. I know they're in Tennessee, they're in other areas throughout the United States. And so black walnut is a great way to heal your body of parasites and taking that as an herbal tincture or a powder. The next big one is wormwood. Wormwood is one of the most bitter, disgusting foods you will ever try, okay, or herbs you'll ever try. When you taste it, you'll understand why it would kill anything. Okay, it also contains artemisinin, which has been shown to kill parasites according to several studies. Um, it's also effective against malaria-causing parasites. It stimulates bile production, which aids digestion in the removal of parasites. And if you want to know the flavor that most kills parasites, it's bitter. Okay, so you'll notice pretty much every herb that I'll mention is very, very bitter. So things that are bitter kill parasites. That's why I mentioned if you're going to consume a food that's questionable, you can go and buy digestive bitters that have black walnut and gentian herb and a lot of these other things in them that are very bitter, and they will kill off parasites while you're eating that food during that time. But again, wormwood is really, really powerful, and you'll know why it's called wormwood, okay? Because it tastes— it tastes like— it tastes terrible, but it's a parasite killer. Here's another big one. Now, this was the number one herb used in all of Indian And of course, as I mentioned before, there are— I've had several patients who have gone to India and gotten parasitic infections. And Pau d'Arco was one of the primary herbals used in all of Ayurvedic and Indian medicine for killing off parasitic infections. It also is a powerful antifungal. It's known to inhibit the growth of parasites according to a British medical journal. Also helps fight Candida. So major, major benefits of pau d'arco when it comes to its ability to kill parasites. And what I have had patients do with pau d'arco, because it doesn't taste as bitter and bad as most of these other herbals, I have them drink it as a tea. Pau d'arco tea. What I'll tend to have patients do is add pau d'arco tea to a chai tea or a tea that has clove, cinnamon, and ginger, and do those together because pau d'arco is very cooling and you don't always want that. You want to blend a cooling herb with a warming herb. So pau d'arco mixed with like a pumpkin pie spice or a chai tea or, or a cinnamon ginger clove is a really, really great combination for killing parasites. Number 4 herb for killing parasites is oil of oregano. It's rich in carvacrol and thymol, two potent antimicrobial compounds that kill parasites according to a British Journal of Veterinary Medicine. And it's also known for killing Giardia and other gut infections. So this is a great option. We have— we of course know oil of oregano is one of the greatest natural antibiotics of all time, but it's also a natural antiparasitic. Garlic is another big one— antimicrobial, antiparasitic— and it actually helps kill parasites' eggs. It contains allicin, a sulfur compound that disrupts parasites' metabolism and also boosts immune function and gets rid of parasitic waste. So garlic's a great option, especially raw. This is where you could like crush it and put it in a hummus recipe or an Italian recipe, or just take a bite and swallow it. But garlic is great. Now I do want to mention with these things again, eating raw garlic all the time, all the time, if you have a weak digestive system, will start to bother your digestive lining, okay? It could actually contribute to leaky gut. So it's something you want to be cautious with and know how your digestive system is. And also, this is why it's good to know if you have a parasite or not. Now here's another one, um, Artemisia. It's also known as sweet wormwood, and then another one is called mugwort. Okay, this is another form or a cousin or relative of wormwood, and these are especially effective against parasites, as I mentioned— pinworms, flukes, roundworms— and getting rid of parasites. And they also have liver-supporting properties, as Artemisia does. Um, Artemisia is something I'll recommend sometimes as well for, for mold and oftentimes for Lyme disease. Artemisia is an herb that's used for that as well. And a lot of these, these pathogens operate in a similar way. And so a lot of the herbs you'll see that are good for viral infections and parasitic infections and bacterial infections, a lot of them cross over and they'll kill any type of pathogen and even sometimes cancer cells. Number 7 is clove or clove clove oil contains eugenol. This has been shown to kill parasitic eggs. It works synergistically with things like wormwood and black walnut for a complete parasitic cleanse. So oftentimes you want to get a product that has all of these together or take them in combination of one another. Now here's another thing. Now this isn't necessarily a— this isn't an herbal, but it's a supplement. And high-dose probiotics are also very effective. For treating and taking care of parasitic infections. I would recommend a probiotic that's high in soil-based organisms like Bacillus subtilis. You might also look for one that has Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, and also look for one that has humic acid or fulvic acid. Those also act as binders— that humic acid to— or fulvic acid along with the probiotic. And I would do as much as 1 trillion probiotics a day, so very high-dose probiotics. To treat parasitic infections. And one other great thing about using probiotics, according to one clinical study, is taking probiotics makes iron unavailable for microbes. And so if you have probiotics, it actually, it sort of protects the nutrients in your body to where parasites can't feed off of them. So there's a lot of different reasons why probiotics are essential. For gut health, including for fighting everything from parasitic infections, mold, Lyme disease, and any type of infection in the body. Now, the other one I mentioned earlier that is so beneficial is bentonite clay. This helps bind the toxins, heavy metals, and parasitic waste for easy elimination. And this is according to WebMD, but bentonite clay has been used for thousands of years for treating parasites. Um, it aids in cleansing the digestive tract. Again, the big thing it will do, it will will bind to parasites and eliminate them from your system. And it works really well when you take high-dose probiotics, bentonite clay, and you do these herbs together. Okay, it, it creates the most effective cleanse. The other one I mentioned here— I did mention with the Pro X is humic acid. It's a natural detoxifier that binds the toxins and parasites, supports the immune system. That's great. And then here's another one: you can also take a fiber supplement when you're doing a parasite cleanse. It could be psyllium husk, it could be acacia fiber, it could be apple pectin, or just eating apples. Um, but I think that, that especially Granny Smith apples, doing a lot of those along with just vegetables, um, you know, primarily, and maybe some healthy fatty acids in some organic, um, you know, um, organic meat. Uh, but, but that's, that, that's, those are some things you want to do there. But again, eating more fiber is also especially if you're taking it with the probiotics and the clay. One question I commonly get is, how long should a parasite cleanse last? It just really depends on the person. It could be as short as 2 weeks or as long as typically 2 months. It typically is the range that I put most people within, is that 2 weeks to 2 month period, but just depends upon the person. And sometimes what we want to do is we want to cycle on and off the herbs while staying on the diet the entire time. And listen, some people may need longer if they've, you know, had a parasitic infection for, you know, 3— for, for 20 years. But for the most part, 2 weeks to 2 months will kill parasites if you follow exactly what I'm sharing with you. I do want to mention before we move on into the healing foods that, um, there are some of these herbals and clay that can interact with medication. So make sure if you are on, you know, certain medications to consult your provider. Now let me walk you through the top foods for killing parasites. Number 1 are pumpkin seeds. These contain unique compounds which paralyze parasites and make them easier to expel from the intestines. Part of it is due to its very high zinc content, which also helps strengthen the immune system. But pumpkin seeds also contain anti-parasitic compounds. And what I recommend most people do is take pumpkin seed butter or take pumpkin seeds, throw them in a smoothie, let those be ground up and consume them that way. But doing several tablespoons of pumpkin seeds daily, or pumpkin seed butter— it's like a nut butter, like an almond butter, but you can get it, especially sprouted pumpkin seed butter— is great to add to smoothies. Doing that with some celery or a Granny Smith apple is a great way to kill parasites. In fact, there was a study done on this. A 2023 study evaluated the effects of pumpkin seed oil on mice infected with parasites. And the treatment group exhibited a significant reduction in parasite burden, with a 75% decrease in adult worms and a 66% decrease in the larva of parasites. Additionally, was— there was marked reduction in intestinal inflammation. So doing pumpkin seed butter or pumpkin seeds or even pumpkin seed oil has really, really powerful anti-parasitic properties. The number 2 food for killing parasites is papaya and papaya seeds. Now, papaya seeds contain papa and carpane, which are compounds— they're, they're alkaloids that kill parasites. Studies suggest dried papaya seeds are particularly effective at eliminating parasites including tapeworms and roundworms. And the fruit itself, by the way, is also rich in digestive enzymes like papain, which help break down food and cleanse the gut. So eating both papaya and papaya seeds are very, very healing for getting rid of parasites. In one small study, a mixture of honey and papaya seeds was found to clear stools with parasites in 77% of participants, according to the Journal of Medicinal Food. And an animal study was found that papaya seeds were the most effective food of all foods at treating parasites, reducing parasitic eggs and adult counts. So remember, top 2 if you want to know— you want to kill parasites It's papaya and papaya seeds. The seeds are the most effective. Papaya as well, and then pumpkin seeds. But pumpkin seeds and papaya seeds, the biggest parasite killers out there. The next foods are carrots and beets. They both contain natural fiber that helps sweep out parasites from the body. They're high in vitamin A, and beets in particular help detoxify the liver and gallbladder, reducing parasitic load. Number 4 is pineapple, especially the core of pineapple, which is high in bromelain, This enzyme aids in dissolving the protective biofilms that parasites create to shield themselves from the immune system, and this helps also break down this parasitic structure and helps reduce inflammation and flush out parasites. So pineapple is also very powerful. But basically, you know, there's a— there, there are a group of fruits that are high in, um, these really unique types of enzymes, and it tends to be papaya, pineapple, figs, and kiwi are all very, very high in these very unique types of enzymes that are very good for digestive health and killing off parasites. And there was a really cool study done on pineapples. Now here, let's say here's what they did. They made a juice blend and they took carrots and the peels of pineapple, so the outer part of the pineapple. Maybe they threw the core in there too, but they kind of, you know, maybe left the other part to eat. But they basically made a made a juice from carrots and the parts of the pineapple that most people discard. And they found that this combination of juice of 75% carrot peel, 25% pineapple peel demonstrated significant antiparasitic activity. And so this is something you could do. You can make a daily juice of pineapple— again, the outer portion and the middle portion— carrots and beets, and also throw in things like ginger and other incredible— and some of— some other foods and create an anti-parasitic juice, which is powerful. Number 6 food for killing parasites is coconut oil. Coconut oil is rich in lauric acid, which has been shown to kill parasites and their eggs. Number 7 is apple cider vinegar. Apple cider vinegar helps kill parasites because it helps maintain the ideal levels of stomach acid, okay? And what happens is parasites need to be at a very specific pH in order to survive. When you make the stomach more acidic it starts to kill off those parasites and it also improves bile flow using apple cider vinegar. There was a study that actually explored this and they found that when you used apple cider vinegar, um, it decreased the egg survival of parasites by about 95%. So really, really powerful there. And here's the last one, fermented foods, sauerkraut, kimchi, miso, kefir, but these probiotic-rich foods actually help kill parasites and crowd them out of according to the Journal of Helminthology. And fermentation produces these beneficial acids that basically create an environment where parasites can't grow anymore. So, so loads of benefits there of doing a lot of these fermented foods like sauerkraut. Now I want to go through a few treatments people should also consider if they have parasites. One are coffee enemas. Coffee enemas help stimulate bile production and liver detoxification helping flush parasites out of the system, according to a study published in the Clinical Nutrition Research Journal. It's great for colon cleanse— it's obviously coffee enemas are great for colon cleansing. But, and I would say that the best time I do this, the best time to do this is the spring, especially March, April, and May. But you could do it any type of year. But again, doing coffee enemas are very good way of getting rid of parasites. Um, now I do want to mention, when you are going through a parasite cleanse, let's say you listen to this episode and you decide yourself, I'm going to I'm going to do some of the herbs. I'm going to follow a diet similar to what Dr. Axe suggested, and I'm going to do some coffee enemas. Know that you can get some die-off symptoms. Sometimes the first— it's anywhere typically 3 days to 2 weeks— people can feel worse because when your body is ready, it's almost like if somebody's had an addiction to, um, alcohol or drug addiction or sugar and they get off, or caffeine, and they get off of it you can get headaches, you can get sweaty, you can just feel nauseous and sick. That's normal if you have parasites and you do this cleanse. Um, not everyone will have it, but some people will. And so just know you may sort of ease your body into it, or just deal— deal with— know you're going to deal with those symptoms typically for a few days, and then your— and then your body will get better. And so here's the reality: parasites are much more common than people realize. And the symptoms can be subtle. Typically it's related to immune issues, digestive issues, or detoxification issues you'll notice within your body. Um, supporting your gut health, immune health, and detoxification health is key. And if you suspect you have a parasite, here's the big thing: go and get a GI map or stool sample, and then you'll know for sure. So that's the most effective way to know if you have one or not. Now, Now, I wanna bring on an expert, one of the top experts in the world on parasites. Her name is Kim Rogers. She's a wellness professional with over 18 years of experience, and she was struggling with Lyme disease, endometriosis, and mold poisoning, which led her to creating a holistic solution to heal her body. And today she's known as the Worm Queen or Parasite Queen because she's that much of an expert at helping people heal their body parasites, Lyme disease, and other types of infections. And her company is called Rogers Hood Apothecary. It's dedicated to empowering individuals to heal themselves 100% naturally. And she has a lot of detoxification kits specifically for parasites. So take a minute now and listen to this interview I do with Kim Rogers, one of the world's leading parasite experts. Hey Kim, welcome to the show.

Thanks for having me, Dr.

Well, I'm excited to talk about all things parasites. Now, we were talking about mushrooms earlier, and I know that I've, you know, grown mushrooms and you have as well, and some of the benefits there. But yeah, I'm excited to just talk to you a little bit more about parasites. I know you've got an amazing story of how parasites devastated your body. Yes. Walk us through a little bit of that, and then what are some things that you did that allowed you to fully regain your health?

So I ended up finding out that I had parasites because they were contaminating our water. But I went out to our property in 2009 because I was kind of circling the drain and we didn't really know exactly what was going on with me. And I come from Western medicine, I have two healthcare degrees and I ran 25 healthcare colleges, so I'm pretty aware on a professional level like how my health should be. And then on a personal level, my health was really starting to decline even more. I had stage torn endometriosis and 13 surgeries and a hysterectomy. And so they just kept saying to me, oh, it's your endometriosis is back. We don't really know what's wrong with you. And that just isn't good enough for me. Like, this is my body and I need to know what's going on with it. And so we decided to basically sell our, our whole life in 2019 and move out to our recreational property to build a log home and to get me healthy again. So about a year and a half into it, I had done a lot of mushrooms and Jeremy was, um, growing them for us.

What were some of the mushrooms you guys were using?

Uh, lion's mane, turkey tail, reishi, cordyceps, psilocybin, and we would go out and forage amanita because you can't grow her. So we just started to kind of figure out ways to protect my brain. And to get rid of the inflammation.

What were some of the symptoms you were having?

I was extremely inflamed to the point where you couldn't really even see my eyes sometimes because my eyes were so swollen. Wow. And I was about 100 pounds heavier than I am now. Wow. And I just could not get a hold of my health. I wasn't going to the bathroom. It had been 30 days, and that really alerted me that something was going on with me. Wow. So that was in 2020, in September.

And what did you start doing to where you finally said, okay, I'm noticing some improvements now? What were some of the things you were— obviously you started using some of these, you know, mushrooms that have been used for thousands of years for healing, but what are some of the other things?

Well, I started looking into other alternatives to heal, and I was on TikTok and I old TikTok, and this girl popped up on a video and said she almost unalived herself over worms. And I thought, that's so weird, but I want to know what she did. So I dug in, and she used another parasite cleanse. And I had had this pain on my right side, and usually when that pain came, it was my endometriosis was back. And I can't have any more surgeries so I was looking at any alternative. So I took the, the parasite cleanse, and within 3 days that pain was gone. And I saw roundworm, flukes, and pinworms. And come to find later, I know I have Cryptosporidium parvium, which is Parvo, which was basically shutting down my body.

Wow. Yeah, I mean, I think there are so many people that are suffering with issues and they don't realize that they have some sort of infection, whether it be long COVID or mold or a parasite, and it's just devastating their bodies. And so for you, it's— and I, you know, I don't think most people think of parasites unless they maybe were traveling in a foreign country and come back, and then maybe they are clued in on, okay, well, that's where I got a parasite. And that is the most common thing I see with patients when they pick up parasites, is they were traveling internationally, they come back, and then there is that issue. But it can happen in the United States as well.

Yes, it can.

And you said yours was from the water supply?

Correct, correct. We actually have tested the water in Hoodsport where our—

And this is in Washington State?

Correct, in Washington. We've tested the water in Seattle and in Hoodsport and they both come back positive for nematodes. So we filter all of our water. Even when we travel, we're filtering our water. We bring a filter everywhere we go.

Yeah, I tell people one of the first health investments you should make is into a good water filter.

Water filter.

Yes, for sure.

Yeah, you have to. It's your foundation of your health. As soon as I started to look at the possibilities that our water was contaminated, I immediately said we need a water filter. We stopped using the bidet because, you know, we put filters on our shower. I was brushing— I wasn't drinking the contaminated water, I was just brushing my teeth with it. I was showering with it. I was cleaning my produce with it. Here I'm thinking I'm doing all the right things by cleaning my produce, but really I was just recontaminating what may not even have really been on there.

Wow. And so this led you to do a parasite cleanse? Correct. And one of the things I know you do now is you offer a parasite cleanse yourself. I know it's Rogers Hood Apothecary. Yes. And so you've got some amazing products including a parasite cleanse. Now I know when I was doing parasite cleanses with patients, which I still have them do, and again, you've got such a great— and if people are saying to themselves— listen, if you think you have a parasite, I think that you've got an amazing parasite cleanse people should, should, should consider buying.

Um, thank you.

Yeah, but, but I, I think that for a lot of people, they don't, um, you know, they, they don't, uh— most people, I think, are just unaware if they have a parasite. And so I've done stool testing in the past with a lot of patients, like a GI map, and sometimes that clues us in. But there are other things too.— I think for you it was your symptoms, right? You just started noticing that with all of the swelling, with all of the joint pain, um, were there any other symptoms that you thought, well, this is why I think it's a parasite?

My skin issues. I have really great skin. I've always had good skin because I've taken care of it. But there was a time in that, that frame where I was that sick that my skin was not healing. I had bumps on my face and I could never get them to heal. And that was a huge indication for me because they were coming out of my skin, and it was really kind of a crazy situation where I would see them and not really think anything of it, but it was an infestation.

So yeah, yeah, you know, anytime anybody does a parasite cleanse, I think what, what I try and do as a protocol is have some things we talked about, like mushrooms, that are more immune strengthening to where your own body is helping eliminate, uh, the pathogen, but also you need some things that are going to help with killing the parasites themselves. So what are some of your favorite herbals for helping kill parasites?

Well, we do include the support inside of all of our tinctures. You can't just do wormwood and black walnut whole. You actually have to go in and completely support your organs because they're going through something new, right? You're detoxing and you need to support those in order to allow them to detox out. So I like cilantro, but my favorite two herbs are foraged, and one is Usnea, and I use that in our tincture Sustain. It helps remove bacteria and viruses while you're doing it because they're dropping those in your body and in your blood, so you're trying to make sure that you're supporting that. I love Oregon grapefruit. I actually I actually love it more than wormwood. Yeah. And then lungwort lichen, actually. And all of these come from the area that I lived where our log home is.

That's amazing.

Yeah, it was really a beautiful way to bring what had healed me in on my property to what I can provide to other people to heal them.

Yeah, yeah, it's so powerful. You know, when you look at different cultures around the world, um, they've all dealt with parasites. And so like the ancient cultures, well, whether it's Chinese medicine or Ayurveda or Native Americans, they would have different, you know, maybe it's wormwood or black walnut or usnea or some of these others as part of a protocol for healing. And so also, I'd love for you to share, because I think this is important. Sometimes people do things haphazardly rather than a full comprehensive protocol. And I think this is important for anything, whether somebody has type 2 diabetes or hypothyroidism or whatever it is, one of the things, reasons I think I've had success with reversing a lot of conditions with patients is it's a full-on protocol. Yes. Not just one diet change or one supplement. So when you're thinking about healing and helping people reverse parasites, what are some of those different components that are essential for somebody eliminating the parasites for good?

You definitely have to do a system, and that is where I learned, because 'cause we just did one antiparasitic tincture and here I'm dropping heavy metals because they hold on to heavy metals. So you need to bring in like a heavy metal herb, which we did with cilantro. So Metal Flush is our heavy metal detox. You have to support your liver because your liver is helping you detox. So those are the things with a binder. The binder is one of the most important things because it's binding the positively charged toxins like a magnet and helping remove them from your body so that they're not coming out your skin or dropping back into your body, creating more chaos. And we didn't know all of this stuff. I mean, I come from Western medicine. Yeah, this isn't something that, like, we sat down and we were taught. And I was a professor, and I still didn't know about any of these things. In fact, I found out about them because of the comments on my TikTok that went viral. That's what started this whole thing. I did a 60-second viral video that got a million views in 2 hours. It shut down my, my TikTok account. It shut down my phone because so many people were commenting. They were like, oh, you have to bind, make sure you do this. Like, there were so many people inside of the comments that I'm like, oh, this is a thing. Like, I can't even believe this is going on. And then they were, you know, you have to do heavy metals, Kim, you have to do this. So I'm just like taking all this information in and really figuring out exactly what to do with it all.

Well, good for you to being committed to learning, you know, and doing the research yourself. I love that, that you were, you were able to, you know, and take your own experience and now you're helping so many others. Yeah, which I, which I absolutely love.

Oh, thanks.

Yeah, it's Powerful. Yeah, you, you, one of the, one of the, uh, things I'd mentioned on, um, this parasite episode is, is that like I have a family member who was diagnosed with glioblastoma. Okay. And he did a lot of mission trips to India and Pakistan. And as we were working with myself and some other physicians, we really believe that a big part of the reason he developed brain cancer is due to parasites. And, and one of the things that was actually shocking as I was going through some of the statistics is Parasites greatly increase your risk of cancer because if you have a co-infection, your body can't spend that same energy fighting cancer, right? Because I mean, these are— they actually are very similar, the way parasites and fungal infections and cancer even sort of invade and attack the body.

Well, they leave your cells stagnant, so there's like no movement. So they're just becoming abnormal.

That's right.

Then you have to keep your body moving. You have to keep that energy flowing or you can develop cancer.

Well, you know what's interesting? In Chinese medicine, they always said that the cause of cancer is qi stagnation and blood stagnation. And so it's stagnation, it's things not moving. If we imagine our bodies as a sort of living stream versus a swamp, you want to be that living stream. And to your point, parasites and these pathogens keep things from moving and you have these senescent cells building up and everything else that starts making the body sick. And that's why, you know, one of the things that a lot of these herbs have in common that are just disgusting tasting, you know, is they're bitter, right? And so bitter causes your gallbladder and liver to release bile, which is part of what, you know, is moving, moving things in your, in your system. And we get very little bitter foods today. Most people are doing all sweet and salty. Yep. Almost It's no bitter and sour, and those bitter and sour flavors are really what these herbs are probably gonna taste like.

And it is a little bitter. I mean, we try and use, we use raw honey, unfiltered, unpasteurized, but we keep the medicine, the medicinal value by not bringing it too high with heat. And so we try and make it taste as good as possible, 'cause you know, I mean, it's herbs soaking in alcohol.

Well, I think for most people, if they have a parasite, they're gonna deal with something that just tastes, you know, and I know your guys' taste, it's moderate. It's not like, you know, you're not putting it in your drink and trying to drink it at night. It tastes like good, but it's also, it's not that bad. But if somebody really wants to heal, they're fine doing a tincture here and there that has, you know, that has a mild bitter flavor.

Tinctures are so much better than any other way you can take antiparasitics.

Why is that?

Because they absorb immediately into your body and they're readily available. You're not fighting with stomach acid, you're not fighting with, um, processing it. It just immediately absorbs right into your mouth and right into your body.

Yeah. You know, something else I've always thought, and I don't have evidence to prove this at all, but I do think there's something about you tasting the flavor of what you're consuming.

Yeah.

And that impacting the body. You know, I've thought about this pretty often with a lot of the sweeteners that may not have calories, but you're still tasting something sweet. And I'm not saying that has the full effect on the body as, let's say, a sugar would, but maybe there is a mild effect there. And I do believe that there's something about when you're tasting that bitter flavor, it may be having a more powerful physiological reaction of— in the body.

And it kind of changes your thought process as well. I say to heal. Yeah, that's really what I say all the time, because you got to feel it. You got to know that you're healing, and you got to know that it's, it's actually working. Yeah, right. And that's kind of what Paraphy does when you're taking it, is that you feel that heal. It might not be the best tasting, but you immediately know it's getting to work, and the herbs are getting in there and doing what they need to do on on multi-different levels, not just, you know, anti-parasitic levels.

Okay, so when you put about— you mentioned this ParaPhy. This is a kit you have. What are, what are those, uh, I guess we talked about when we put together a protocol, there are multiple things we need to be doing when doing a parasite cleanse. So what are those different components in the one that you've put together, um, and what are each of those doing?

So ParaPhy is your parasite cleanse. Cleanse. It has hawthorn berry, clove, garlic in it. And then we have Sustain, which has Oregon grapefruit, sustain, and peppermint.

And what's the goal of Sustain?

It's, um, to help fight Candida. So you're already feeling not so great while you're doing this, you might as well go in and eliminate some of the Candida as well, because we all have a flare of Candida from the yeast in our body. So we want to eliminate that And the usnea actually goes in and assists with making you not feel so hungry. So it's kind of snuffing out their wants of eating crappy and giving them strength. So it's kind of going in and curving that for you. And then Metal Flush is our third tincture, and that is our heavy metal detox tincture. And that has cilantro and dandelion root and burdock. So that it helps with your liver function as well as, you know, pulling out some of those heavy metals. Because when you're killing off anything like a parasite or a worm, they're gonna dump that when they feel afraid, when they feel threatened. They're gonna dump some eggs, so that's where you bring in black walnut hull. They're gonna dump the heavy metals, so that's where you bring in cilantro. And then they're gonna dump in some possible bacteria and viruses that you never even knew you had going on, and that's where I brought and Usnea.

So all of them play a part in order for you to be able to have a comfortable cleanse, because, you know, so, so your cleanse, it is a parasite cleanse, but really you'd mentioned you've got an anti-parasite tincture, anti-heavy metals tincture. Yes. And you also have an anti-Candida tincture.

Correct. So you're in a binder, and then a binder for all of those.

Yeah, it's smart. It's really smart.

And we include instructions.

And, you know, almost every person who has a lot of the symptoms you have, which is a lot of people.

I mean, it's so many. It's so many.

But most of them have co-infections. It's Lyme plus a viral infection plus parasites plus more. I mean, so many people are dealing with that today. So I think that's— I think it's brilliant. I think it's so smart.

And Usnea helps with Lyme as well. And I have chronic Lyme, and I didn't know I had Lyme until 2023. So all of these were a co-infection. For me, but I didn't know that. And so parasites was my first go in, get rid of it, and then work on the next layer of healing for myself. Yeah, because I didn't know. I mean, this isn't something that— this information is not readily available. Yeah, really. I am so honored to be here because you do talk about parasites and you are such a wellness guru, and I'm just so thankful for your knowledge because I might not have made it through all of the things that I went through without knowing that there were people out there like you helping me understand the different layers that you have to go through in order to heal your body. It just isn't talked about, and I feel like I want to talk about it as much as I can in life. And that's kind of why they named me the Worm Queen. Yeah, because I'm not afraid to talk about it.

Yeah, well, you know, I, I think, I think for so many years there are, you know, we saw in mainstream medicine a lot of a lot of the physicians think, well, if it doesn't show up on a conventional blood test, which of course they're not even testing for this, but then it's not real. Well, finally people started saying, oh, well, I guess there is Lyme disease, or when they do stool tests, oh, I guess people do have parasites. And so I still feel like it's something that even the functional medicine community is catching up with. And it's something that, you know, I do wanna say, I think my practice has always been, focusing on personalized medicine. I think there are some people saying, well, everyone has a parasite, or everyone has Candida, or everyone has heavy metals, versus saying, you know what, no, we really want to be able to test and analyze exactly what have someone— has some— someone going on, and then really create a very specific protocol for that individual in order to heal. And one of the reasons I want to have you on is I do know there are quite a few people who are dealing with parasites and co-infections, and you've been able to heal yourself Yes, which I always, uh, just admire greatly. And because, you know, when you overcome something yourself, there's a level of authority there. And I think that that's just as— that's as— your opinion is as powerful as almost any doctor's because you did it despite what your degree is or not. Now, I know you've been in the, you know, medical profession for a while too, but again, I do think that there's so much power in what you've done. And just want to say, hey, thanks so much for being on the front lines and helping people heal from, you know, parasites, which is you know, for a lot of people it's absolutely, um, just overwhelming their life.

It is. It's devastating. It's— it makes you feel alone when you're— especially when you're chronically ill and you can't get answers, you're gaslit. It's really important for people to know that there's someone to turn to so that they have hope still. And I was very isolated and I was very chronically ill, and I don't want anyone to ever feel alone anymore. Yeah. So everything I do is for my community in order for us to be able to heal together and know that you're not out there just like flaring in the wind, you know.

Yeah, yeah, it's so powerful.

Thank you for those kind words.

Yeah, well, Kim, thanks so much for coming on today. So, so grateful for you. And just want to say, hey audience, I, I am so grateful for you. I also want to mention Kim was so kind to offer a discount to anybody who wants to take advantage of her parasite cleanse kit. And so you can go to rogershood.com and use the code AXE— that's A-X-E— to get 10% off if you want to do this parasite, Candida, metal cleanse that is done the right way. So again, want to say just thank you to all of you out there for watching this show, for being part of this show. And again, thanks so much to Kim Rogers for coming on here and being on the front lines of helping people heal and overcome parasitic infections. Thanks everybody for watching. Thanks for listening. Thanks for subscribing. I'll see you on the next episode.