# colon, parasite cleansing, etc **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 5, 2013, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colon-parasite-cleansing-etc/654927 "2013-04-05T15:16:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colon-parasite-cleansing-etc/654927/21 "2013-04-05T17:45:11Z")
> [@colander](#): > > Where I come from, we have a saying: > > “If it ain’t passed clinical trials, they can shove it back up their pie holes.” Or, to quote Dara O’Briain, “You know what they call alternative medicine that actually works? They call it medicine.” ---
**Author:** ![ChickenLegs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@ChickenLegs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChickenLegs)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colon-parasite-cleansing-etc/654927/22 "2013-04-05T17:48:11Z")
If there are any parasites that can survive the amout of alcohol that goes through my body, I’m not gonna F with them. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colon-parasite-cleansing-etc/654927/23 "2013-04-05T17:49:34Z")
> [@Tollhouse](#): > > For those of you who feel its hype, does this also carry over to the use of natural medicine and herbal products in general? I have a relatuve who is a R.N. she is pretty much of the school of thought that anything not resembling western medicine is a bunch of bull. well, “natural” or “herbal” medicine isn’t woo in and of itself. It’s that if “natural” or “herbal” medicine are shown to be effective and acceptably safe, they _become_ medicine. ---
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colon-parasite-cleansing-etc/654927/24 "2013-04-05T18:12:01Z")
So I should also cancel my appointment then for the practicioner who was gonna balance my chakra energy, and the little old chinese practicioner who said he could help realign my chi? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colon-parasite-cleansing-etc/654927/25 "2013-04-05T18:47:48Z")
> [@phouka](#): > > These ‘cleansing’ products are nothing more than hogwash. Now, now, **phouka** , why so harsh? There are some _excellent_ brands of hogwash available, which work very well. If you have any hogs that needs cleansing (inside or out), that is. As for colonic or liver cleansing, I imaging a bottle of Drano would work just fine, and cheaper too. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colon-parasite-cleansing-etc/654927/26 "2013-04-05T18:50:54Z")
> [@Tollhouse](#): > > i was browsing in a health store There’s your problem. Stop doing that. You’ll end up healthier. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colon-parasite-cleansing-etc/654927/27 "2013-04-05T19:58:12Z")
[Most non-third-world people don’t have tapeworms](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapeworm_infection#Occurrence). > [@](#): > > Occurrence > > Most occurrences are found in areas which lack adequate sanitation and include Southeast Asia, West Africa, and East Africa. Having observed tapeworms in pets, you can usually see shed segments wiggling in stool. They look like animated pieces of rice. If you don’t see that in your own stool, I wouldn’t worry. StG ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colon-parasite-cleansing-etc/654927/28 "2013-04-05T20:13:59Z")
Again, on the parasites, unless you’re living in a very poor, undeveloped part of the world, the chances of you picking up an intestinal parasite are slim to none. There’s even discussion that the _lack_ of parasites in first world populations may be one of the causes of some intestinal related auto-immune diseases. [Here’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intestinal_parasite) a list of symptoms from having intestinal parasites. Unless you’re experiencing this severely enough that it’s interfering with your daily life, you most assuredly don’t have parasites. As for “natural” things being medicinal, the topic’s far too complicated to make a blanket statement. Many of the medicines available now come from “natural” stuff. Aspirin was isolated from both willow bark and the spirea flower. Heroin and other narcotics come from the poppy. Tamoxifen is derived from the yew tree. Penicillin was isolated from a type of mold that grows on cantaloupes. But “natural” stuff can be dangerous or deadly as well. There’s a type of mushroom called the Angel of Death that will cause you to die a hideous, drawn out death by killing off your liver. Strychnine can be taken from the belladonna plant, and the deadliest poison on the planet, ricin, is made from the castor bean. Even if it’s not out and out dangerous, there are a lot of herbs used medicinally that can interfere with legitimate medication, have unintended consequences ([like this moron found out](http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2007/12/21/colloidal-silver-the-real-blue-man-group)), or convince a person they shouldn’t bother going to a doctor when they really, really should. > [@Senegoid](#): > > Now, now, phouka, why so harsh? There are some excellent brands of hogwash available, which work very well. If you have any hogs that needs cleansing (inside or out), that is. You have a point. No doubt, commercial brands of hogwash have to pass some form of USDA regulation too. My great-grandfather, Isaac Wainscott (married four times and sired 17 children) took a “spring tonic” every year, thinking it was necessary to cleanse his bowels. The last time he took it, he got diarrhea so bad that his family had to replace his bed with a bale of cotton to absorb the mess. He ended up dying of that. Don’t be like Grandpa Isaac. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colon-parasite-cleansing-etc/654927/29 "2013-04-05T20:22:12Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > well, “natural” or “herbal” medicine isn’t woo in and of itself. It’s that if “natural” or “herbal” medicine are shown to be effective and acceptably safe, they _become_ medicine. Yep. A great example is willow bark. People all over had taken powdered willow bark or steeped willow bark tea to help with fevers, pains and headaches (Hippocrates had recommended it ~2,400 years ago). Is it all woo? Or some placebo? Nope! Willow bark contains salicin. [After decades of work in the 19th century,](http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blaspirin.htm) > [@](#): > > In 1838, Raffaele Piria [an Italian chemist] then working at the Sorbonne in Paris, split salicin into a sugar and an aromatic component (salicylaldehyde) and converted the latter, by hydrolysis and oxidation, to an acid of crystallised colourless needles, which he named salicylic acid." The main problem was that salicylic acid is REALLY rough on stomachs, so it had to be buffered somehow. If it’s buffered with sodium (sodium salicylate) and acetyl chloride, it creates acetylsalicylic acid. Better known as _ **aspirin** _! So today, if you have a killer headache, could you brew up some willow bark tea? [Sure can!](http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000LQNEFQ). But to be totally frank: _why?_ You have little to no control over it. Do you know for sure the company you buy from is on the up and up? Or if the willow they (or you if you DIY it) have has pesticides, animal shit or whatever that hasn’t been removed? You can’t even know the dosage of salicin you’re ingesting; the best you can do is a decent estimate. Contrast that to buying a bottle of aspirin, which has the same salicin that has been purified and then buffered, made to precise standards, and has a uniform dosage per pill. In addition, they’re strictly regulated. Unless you have some allergy to, like, a dye used in the pill coating, why would you use willow bark instead? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colon-parasite-cleansing-etc/654927/30 "2013-04-05T20:25:59Z")
> [@Tollhouse](#): > > For those of you who feel its hype, does this also carry over to the use of natural medicine and herbal products in general? I have a relatuve who is a R.N. she is pretty much of the school of thought that anything not resembling western medicine is a bunch of bull. The term “western medicine” is a misnomer. There is nothing exclusively “western” about evidence-based standards for science and medicine - you’ll find them used around the world (for example, Traditional Chinese Medicine is increasingly being replaced by evidence-based medicine in China). Some herbal products work as advertised. Many more are overhyped, unproven or outright useless. The whole I-am-full-of-toxins-and-parasites-and-must-cleanse-myself doctrine is a pile of metaphysical dung. ---
**Author:** ![DadWagonDriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colon-parasite-cleansing-etc/654927/31 "2013-04-05T20:32:41Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I cleansed my colon this morning as I do most mornings. You wouldn’t believe the shit that came out!!! \*Starts slow clap ---
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colon-parasite-cleansing-etc/654927/32 "2013-04-05T22:06:24Z")
In reading more about it, I think I might skip it. One school says you should, and another says you shouldnt because you cant get rid of all of them anyways, and the ones you do get out will just return, and its better to just create an environment in your body that will discourage their growth. The phase called die off where they are dying off can make you pretty sick too, some people said the buggers can cause pretty severe symptoms like bad.headaches, nausea, even fainting. They claim all that is a good sign as it means the parasites are dying off. One person claimed a thirty foot tapewofm came out torn in half, looking like it died a violenf death. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colon-parasite-cleansing-etc/654927/33 "2013-04-05T22:09:04Z")
Because of my age, I’ve had 2 routine screening colonoscopies. Imagine my surprise when prepping for the first one to not see 25 pounds of undigested meat purged from my intestinal tract!! :rolleyes: Nor were there worms of any description. I have a flaky coworker who is big into woo. I heard her declare that our teeth are full of “toxins” that need to be drawn out with activated charcoal. What’s even scarier - she’s managed to reproduce!!! :eek: I avoid “health stores” and I feel fine! ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colon-parasite-cleansing-etc/654927/34 "2013-04-05T22:16:00Z")
> [@Tollhouse](#): > > In reading more about it, I think I might skip it. One school says you should, and another says you shouldnt because you cant get rid of all of them anyways, and the ones you do get out will just return, and its better to just create an environment in your body that will discourage their growth. The phase called die off where they are dying off can make you pretty sick too, some people said the buggers can cause pretty severe symptoms like bad.headaches, nausea, even fainting. They claim all that is a good sign as it means the parasites are dying off. One person claimed a thirty foot tapewofm came out torn in half, looking like it died a violenf death. **Another** school, the one that’s not full of quacks and idiots, says you should skip it because _it will do nothing for you except take your money_. Did you even read anything anyone posted here? You do not have tapeworms, FFS. Back away from the “health” store. Go for a walk. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colon-parasite-cleansing-etc/654927/35 "2013-04-05T22:43:29Z")
> [@Tollhouse](#): > > The phase called die off where they are dying off can make you pretty sick too, some people said the buggers can cause pretty severe symptoms like bad.headaches, nausea, even fainting. They claim all that is a good sign as it means the parasites are dying off. It’s far, far more likely that any such symptoms are either psychological or due to whatever “cleansing” glop these people are ingesting. While “cleanses” are typically harmful only to your wallet, the idea that deleterious symptoms after woo therapy are a positive sign can be really dangerous when the woo therapies are for cancer. I’ve seen numerous accounts of people whose cancer symptoms worsened because they avoided effective treatment in favor of quackery, only to be told that they were getting better and the pain, nausea etc. were a consequence of the tumor cells dying off. > [@](#): > > One person claimed a thirty foot tapewofm came out torn in half, looking like it died a violenf death. It probably got in a battle with a horde of pinworms and lost. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colon-parasite-cleansing-etc/654927/36 "2013-04-05T22:47:01Z")
> [@Tollhouse](#): > > In reading more about it, I think I might skip it. One school says you should, and another says you shouldnt because you cant get rid of all of them anyways, and the ones you do get out will just return, and its better to just create an environment in your body that will discourage their growth. The phase called die off where they are dying off can make you pretty sick too, some people said the buggers can cause pretty severe symptoms like bad.headaches, nausea, even fainting. They claim all that is a good sign as it means the parasites are dying off. One person claimed a thirty foot tapewofm came out torn in half, looking like it died a violenf death. these people are dumb, lying, or charlatans. if you live in the developed world, it’s very very very very unlikely you have any intestinal parasites. and even if you did, you’re not going to get rid of it/them with something you find in a “health” store, you need a doctor. IMHO, if you eat a reasonable diet, you don’t need one goddamn thing from a “health” store. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colon-parasite-cleansing-etc/654927/37 "2013-04-05T23:00:39Z")
> [@Tollhouse](#): > > So I should also cancel my appointment then for the practicioner who was gonna balance my chakra energy, and the little old chinese practicioner who said he could help realign my chi? 😕 You know, the sad thing is that real alternative health woo is so dumb, I can’t tell if this was meant to be a joke or not. Anyway, yeah, this crap is precisely the kind of stuff you should stay away from; it isn’t as ragingly dangerous as eating an unknown weed in the form of ‘herbal medicine’, but it’s certainly a waste of money and it’s potentially quite dangerous if you use it instead of real medicine if you do have something wrong with you. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colon-parasite-cleansing-etc/654927/38 "2013-04-05T23:10:22Z")
You should get Penn & Teller’s BULLSHIT, season 1, episode 2 called 'Alternative Medicine. Probably be able to get most of it on YouTube. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2013, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colon-parasite-cleansing-etc/654927/39 "2013-04-06T02:10:26Z")
> [@Tollhouse](#): > > In reading more about it, I think I might skip it. One school says you should, and another says you shouldnt because you cant get rid of all of them anyways, and the ones you do get out will just return, and its better to just create an environment in your body that will discourage their growth. The phase called die off where they are dying off can make you pretty sick too, some people said the buggers can cause pretty severe symptoms like bad.headaches, nausea, even fainting. They claim all that is a good sign as it means the parasites are dying off. One person claimed a thirty foot tapewofm came out torn in half, looking like it died a violenf death. Well, whatever you do, DON’T GET A ROOT CANAL!!! Nuff said. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2013, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colon-parasite-cleansing-etc/654927/40 "2013-04-06T02:38:40Z")
> [@Tollhouse](#): > > In reading more about it, I think I might skip it. One school says you should, and another says you shouldnt because you cant get rid of all of them anyways, and the ones you do get out will just return, and its better to just create an environment in your body that will discourage their growth. The phase called die off where they are dying off can make you pretty sick too, some people said the buggers can cause pretty severe symptoms like bad.headaches, nausea, even fainting. They claim all that is a good sign as it means the parasites are dying off. One person claimed a thirty foot tapewofm came out torn in half, looking like it died a violenf death. This is the third, or possibly fourth time you have restated this. It doesn’t matter how you reword it, it is the same statement. You are not filled with parasites. I am not filled with parasites. Save your money, stop hanging around healthfood stores, and read something more fun than Tales of the Tapeworm. Eat a balanced diet, enjoy your life, get lots of rest and drink plenty of fresh water. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colon-parasite-cleansing-etc/654927.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colon-parasite-cleansing-etc/654927.md?page=3)