The results of my parasite protocol

A while ago I wrote about parasites as one of the possible root causes of IBS here.

At the time I had no idea that I was infected with two parasites. There were no digestive symptoms to give me a clue, so I thought everything was totally fine “under the hood”. Parasites can cause lots of digestive symptoms or none at all. But they still can throw your biome out of order and cause nutritional deficiencies that manifest as other symptoms.

I took the GI Map in January out of professional curiosity. I was shocked to find two parasites and a candida overgrowth. There was also overgrowth of opportunistic bacteria.

I decided to do an 8-week parasite cleanse that turned into 9 weeks because I experienced die off at the end. This was a signal that the killing phase was not over yet and to keep going. Sometimes it may take a while for the herbs to break through biofilms to get access to the deeply buried pathogens.

I’m sharing my protocol, experience and what worked for me below. I never recommend doing this on your own without experienced help.

My parasite protocol

I picked an herbal protocol with lots of detox support, so I had a generally easy cleanse.

Three weeks into the protocol I began to feel much better. Brighter, lighter, happier and more energetic. For me, the parasite and candida infection manifested as low energy, high anxiety and moodiness, instead of digestive distress.

These symptoms went away a few weeks into the cleanse. With my brighter attitude and renewed energy, I decided to start a passion project I’d been putting off for years. I began to write a digestive health cookbook called “Treats that Heal”.

I had plenty of energy during my cleanse to undertake this big, ambitious project and am almost two months into the writing and photography and still feeling good.

It amazes to me how the bugs in our gut can have such a large influence on our mood and thus our life experience. When my anxiety was at its worst this winter, it seemed to come out of nowhere. Now I know it was internally driven and reorganizing my biome brought massive relief.

The parasite protocol also addressed the candida overgrow with broad spectrum antifungals such as neem and clove. These herbs also went after my opportunistic bacteria that overgrew as a result of the parasitic infection.

When my symptoms were at their worst over the holiday, I was indulging in ice cream and the occasional cake and alcoholic drink. These simple sugars and carbs were the primary food source for the candida and the parasites, helping them thrive, reproduce and grow.

On my protocol, I eliminated alcohol, gluten, grains and refined sugars. I did have a bit of fruit and a little bit of honey (while taste testing my treat recipes). Most people go pretty low carb to battle candida (giving up fruit and honey) but I found going moderately low carb worked just as well if not better for me. If you go too low carb and start producing ketones (which help burn fat for fuel), candida can also feed on ketones. Also a very low carb diets can stress the thyroid and the adrenals.

A majority of my diet consisted of veggies, broth and good quality protein. And a little bit of fruit and honey.

Detox herbs

My parasite protocol was from Cellcore Biosciences. I chose this program for its built in detox support. Also their herbs are high quality: organic, soy free and gluten free.This is the code I used to open my account: HVDCBKCJ

The detox support made my experience more comfortable, and thus more effective. Too many die off symptoms, due to lack of detox and drainage support, can make it too uncomfortable to continue the protocol.

Liver and Kidney support

The liver and kidneys make up a majority of your drainage channels. Supporting them during any protocol is key.

This is the missing piece of many antimicrobial protocols. The killing herbs produce toxic die off that drains into the liver, kidneys and bowels to be removed. If the liver is sluggish and can’t handle filtering extra toxins, you feel backed up, toxic or flu like. It can also cause increased bloating or constipation.

Seventy percent of the blood from the digestive tract flows into the liver so what happens there can affect liver function.

Supporting the liver with herbs keeps it from being overwhelmed with die off. Those uncomfortable symptoms (head aches, body aches, fatigue, bloating, PMS, brain fog) are greatly reduced.

The liver herbs contains NAC, an amino acid that also serves as a biofilm buster.

I took one capsule three time a day with meals.

Biotoxin binder

The biotoxin binder supports detox with the active ingredient of fulvic and humic acid. It binds to the endotoxins produced in the die off process and helps escort them out of the body so you feel more comfortable and less toxic. It also contains broccoli sprouts and molybdenum, two powerful detoxifiers.

I took one capsule three times a day with meals.

Bowel Mover

The bowel mover did its job well. It kept my bowels moving during the entire protocol. Constipation is typically not an issue for me, but antimicrobial protocols tend to slow even the most regular bowels.

While producing die off toxins you really want your bowels to keep moving so you can remove the waste as quickly as possible. Your body is producing more toxins than usual during this time and it’s important to “take the garbage out” regularly.

This bowel mover is one of the most effective supplements I’ve come across for constipation. The active ingredients are black walnut hulls, cascara sagrada, senna, and ginger (a powerful prokinetic) support peristalsis without being habit forming.

I took one capsule three times a day with meals.

The bowel mover can be purchased here with this code below to open an account:

HVDCBKCJ

Antimicrobial herbs

Para 1

This unique herb is made from the Mimosa Pudica, which expands like a sponge in the intestine and forms a sticky consistency that scrubs toxins, heavy metals and biofilms from the wall of the intestine. It is like a deep cleaning for your intestines and will dislodge the parasites and other pathogens in its path.

I took two capsules twice a day on an empty stomach. First thing in the morning and last thing at night.

Para2

This is the broadspectrum antimicrobial formula used to kill pathogenic bacteria, parasites, and candida. The active ingredients are clove, neem (commonly used for SIBO) and vidanga. It also contains Triphala which is an antioxidant that supports detoxification, the immune system and helps move the bowels.

These herbs have strong antimicrobial properties so they work well but are still gentle on the system and do much less harm to the biome than traditional antibiotics.

My results

I’m currently waiting a month to retake the GI Map to make sure the parasites are gone and the candida overgrowth has been reduced.

Some of the signs that the protocol worked well along the way were crazy sugar cravings as the candida and parasites died.

Sugar craving are unusual for me. As pathogens die, they demand food as their last hope for survival and to reproduce before they die. Carbohydrates and simple sugars are what feeds them.

I remember, one night, feeling hungry right after finishing a filling meal of protein and veggies. It was not hunger driving these cravings, but the pathogens making a last desperate plea to survive. It wasn’t pleasant but I did not give in because feeding pathogens when you’re trying to kill them will take you a few steps back in your progress.

Another sign the killing protocol worked was some yeast symptoms that almost came back. I felt like I was on the verge of getting a yeast infection for two separate weeks but I never did.

It is a normal part of a healing protocol that sometime old symptoms get worse or return before they disappear for good.

What’s next?

Now that the killing is over, it’s time to rebuild.

Get the specific details of what I’m doing here.

Here’s the brief recap. I’m continuing to stay off sugar and alcohol. I’m taking three different probiotics, eating fermented foods, lots of veggies and doing some intermittent fasting.

My mood and nervous system have improved greatly. I feel calm, stable and am sleeping better. I have a brighter outlook on life and more faith and confidence.

The GI map will tell me if the candida is still an issue. If so, I’ll do something to address it specifically. And share that protocol here.

Right now I’m not taking any more herbs for candida as it can effect the results of the GI Map retest.

For now, I think killing the parasites and supporting my beneficial bacteria is enough to get the candida back in balance.

Candida is opportunistic and thrives in a chaotic bacterial environment. When the biome is back in balance, the immune system and beneficial bacteria will keep the candida overgrowth in check. Megasporbiotic (a probiotic that also functions as an antibiotic and antifungal) can also help reduce the overgrowth.

It may seem like a lot of trouble to do a gut healing protocol when you don’t have any digestive symptoms. But the protocol was easy enough, and truthfully, my diet needed cleaning up after the stress of traveling this winter and all the emotional eating that resulted.

Now I am free of anxiety and my energy is much better but the main reason I worked on rebalancing my gut was that I was one course of antibiotics away from developing digestive symptoms. It was my beneficial bacteria that keep things running smoothly in my digestive system. And if I wiped them out and did not rebuild wisely or if I had a bunch of stress thrown at me, IBS would just be a few steps away.

I’ve been there, done that. So I decided to take preventative measures. Your biome is your protection against disease and discomfort. It is the difference between absorbing your nutrients or reacting to them.

Preventative medicine is much easier and more mellow than the “crisis medicine” of addressing symptoms once they have started. You can rebalance your gut at any stage, before or after symptoms start. I just prefer to do it before.