# Parasite diet

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parasite-diet/578886>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 18, 2011, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parasite-diet/578886 "2011-04-18T22:12:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CheeseDonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@CheeseDonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheeseDonkey)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parasite-diet/578886/1 "2011-04-18T22:12:25Z")

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I was taking a walk today when I began thinking of a revolutionary new diet - the parasite diet. Specifically, the pinworm and/or roundworm diet.

This is my thinking. Say, someone wants to lose a few pounds–why not have them ingest pinworm eggs, let the pinworms hatch and do their magic for a few weeks, then have the person ingest anti-pinworm medication to kill them off before they get out of control. There’s a good 5-10 pounds lost right there, perhaps even more if they are lucky.

How feasible is that? Can the negative effects of pinworms really be that much worse than the side-effects of all the synthetic diet pills people are shoving into their faces these days?

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parasite-diet/578886/2 "2011-04-18T22:20:02Z")

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Back in the 50s, it was rumored that a popular weight-loss capsule contained a tapeworm. I don’t know whether there was any truth to it, probably not.

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**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parasite-diet/578886/3 "2011-04-18T22:27:54Z")

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Cecil on [Tapeworms](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2805/tale-of-the-tape-can-tapeworms-help-you-lose-weight)

But you were asking about pinworms, so I know it isn’t exactly an answer.

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**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parasite-diet/578886/4 "2011-04-18T22:40:39Z")

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Uh, pinworms exit the rectum at night to lay eggs, and they itch. A lot. I don’t believe they take much nutrition away from the host, but I wouldn’t wish them upon anybody. Even if they helped people get skinny, I doubt people really would be all that enthusiastic about a parasite they can SEE every night. The draw of the tapeworm idea is at least in part that it’s “invisible” and otherwise innocuous to the host.

Gross.