After receiving my VIOME results (an at-home gut intelligence test), I finally tracked down the sneaky little parasite that’s caused me months of agony; Blastocystis Hominis. If you’ve been following my story, you’d know I had been experiencing a range of health issues including unexplainable bloating, excessive gas, chronic fatigue, and debilitating brain fog. Prior to receiving my VIOME results, I was on a leaky-gut cleanse to clear candida and curb the symptoms of candida overgrowth. What’s extremely interesting is that Blastocystis Hominis can actually cause Candida. Which sadly means, I could attempt every Candida cleanse under the sun, and sure the symptoms could go away for a short amount of time, but as long as this parasite was in me, Candida would keep returning back like that tinder troll you already blocked.
To read that a microscopic organism could be the culprit to most of my health issues, was both relieving and super icky at the same time. OMG, I’M THAT GIRL WITH THE PARASITE!! It can be quite the head f*ck to think of an actual PARASITE causing complete havoc on my insides. Yet, on the bright sight, I was now empowered with the information needed to heal.
Hold up, what is Blastocystis?
- Blastocystis is an enteric parasite that inhabits the intestinal tract of humans and many animals with global distribution.
- They can survive outside of a host body and makes it easy to contract via unwashed fruit, veg & contaminated water.
- It is often identified as the most common eukaryotic organism reported in human fecal samples and is being recognized more often than ever before.
What you may not know about Parasites
- Parasites aren’t just contracted in third world countries. In fact there are more parasitic infections acquired in the U.S. than in Africa.
- According to the award-winning documentary, ‘The Body Snatchers’, “Parasites have killed more humans than all the wars in history.”
- Today, scientists have identified over 300 types of parasites thriving in North America, ranging in size from microscopic single-celled organisms to 30ft long tapeworms visible to the naked eye.
- Contracting a parasite can be easy, through contaminated water, animals and pets, undercooked meat, unwashed fruits & veggies, and even the soil of the soles of your feet.
- Symptoms of fatigue, constipation, bloating after meals, gas, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and mood swings often go unnoticed, misdiagnosed or dismissed as normal.
Now comes the fight
Ok don’t get scared, because fighting a parasite isn’t as overwhelming as it may seem. It really comes down to the following 3 strategies.
Supplements/Herbs:
Human experiences and scientific results inform me that antibiotics aren’t the answers to my problem. They wipe out everything in my gut, good and bad, exposing me to any and all pathogens. Other notable discoveries about Blastocystis stated that the bacteria actually burrows into the intestinal walls when they sense an antibiotic attack.
I’m usually against antibiotics anyway, but learning this information really cemented my decision not to go down that route. Au naturale was my only option, and after a bit of digging, I came across Eric Bakker – a naturopath based in New Zealand. An expert on Blasto, Mr. Baker formulated a supplement that’s designed specifically to clear both Candida and Blastocystis. It contains garlic, oregano oil, clove, black walnut, neem, grapefruit seed, berberine HCI, Betaine HCI & Caprylic Acid. The bottle wasn’t cheap but considering it was a straight forward treatment (just 1-3 pills daily) I figured it was worth the $60.
‘To ensure I was building up the good bacteria in my gut, I was diligent with taking herbs, supplements and good quality probiotics while removing the bad.‘
The Right Diet
Along with supplements, a strict diet was vital to the success of the cleanse, I would starve the parasites then finish them off with herbs. Blastocystis feeds off refined sugar more than Candida does, hence a sugar-free/refined carb-free diet is imperative to ensure an effective cleanse. Another thing to completely avoid is alcohol, as this converts to sugar in the body. Note that even things like vanilla essence contain small amounts, as does kombucha. Bye-bye Sunday Funday.
I now dumbed it down and just focused on drinking as much water as I could along with a whole foods diet consisting of leafy greens like bok choy, spinach, and chard. I only bought organic and thoroughly washed all my vegetables to avoid contamination.
Colonics
According to Cindy from Vitality Flow, three colonic treatments in conjunction with my parasite cleanse increased the benefits of colon hydrotherapy for overall digestive health.
So here’s the scoop – the water pressure and temperature are carefully controlled and all waste is drained away discreetly in a closed system with absolutely no mess or odors. The filling and emptying of the large intestine is repeated several times while your colon hydrotherapist massages your abdomen. Unlike an enema, colonic hydrotherapy reaches the whole length of your large intestine.
At Vitality Flow they use the Hydro-San Colon Therapy System. This a “closed” Colon Hydrotherapy system, meaning there is no exposure of waste material to the air. This waste material travels through a hose and travels directly into the sewage system. Cindy was in the room with me throughout the process, keeping me comfortable while massaging my stomach with a handheld device, detailing what we were seeing while the waste was passing through the hose.
I’ll spare you the graphic goodies and give you the PG version. More or less, I had a lot of gas/air bubbles along with a decent amount of hard, dry matter. This explains the extremely hard lower stomach I had that just wouldn’t budge. This stuff honestly wouldn’t have come out any other way. As you can see from my before and after pictures, my stomach was full and bloated. All these pictures were taken in the morning on an empty stomach. It’s clear my stomach needed help to loosen all that dehydrated hard matter along with trapped gas out of my large intestine. This then allowed for more seamless bowel movements and in turn allowing the dead parasites to be excreted more regularly.
It should be noted, even if you’re not going through a parasite cleanse, there could be benefits from a colonic once a year. Over time, matter builds up on the lining of our extremely long large intestine, and this matter can just sit there for years on end, causing toxic buildup and contribute to digestive problems, fatigue, and skin issues. It is common for people to feel more energetic, think clearer, experience more seamless bowel movements, have clearer skin and brighter eyes after doing a series of colonics. However, do your own research, and always do what’s best for you.
Update on symptoms
As of today, I have completed a 4-week dose of my CanXida herbs, 3 rounds of colonics, and haven’t had any of the symptoms of chronic fatigue and extreme bloating that I was experiencing before. My crazy flare ups after eating garlic have subsided and I’m actually starting to see my abs again.
I’ll be getting retested with VIOME in the coming months, and post the results with updates on my progress via my Instagram – @peanut.head
Also check out my other blog posts to learn more about my journey to discovering this parasite including the Candida Cleanse I did, and my experience with the VIOME Test.
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