[kaplods]

Scary thing is there are people (or at least person) still doing it. They had a guy on Discovery channel a couple months ago who was an extreme sports dude. He accidentally picked up a tapeworm in some jungle wilderness hike (I think it was a race/sporting even/triathalon thing - sort of like a jungle "Iditarod," and within the last five years).

He liked the weight loss effect so much that he routinely ingests a tapeworm. He lets it live for I think he said six weeks, and then takes the medication to kill the tapeworm. He goes "tapeworm-free" for a little while (to minimize the potential health-hazards long-term tapeworm infestation can cause, like vitamin-deficiency) and then starts the process all over again.

The scariest thing is this isn't a guy with a weight problem, just a guy that wants to be at optimal runner's weight AND be able to eat like a pig.

[Meg]

Mitchmurph is right.

Speaking as one who has had giardia TWICE ... you would know it if you had a parasitic infection. Bloody diarrhea 20 times a day is hard to miss. As are the carcinogenic drugs to kill the parasites (but you gotta take them).

If you really had parasites, getting rid of them would make you gain weight, not lose it. Parasitic infections cause uncontrollable weight loss, like Mitch's friend.

If anyone thinks they have parasites, go to a doctor and get tested. The nasty little critters and their spores are microscopic, so you don't "see" them exit. They need to be cultured and looked at under a microscope. It's definitely not something to either self-diagnose or self-treat!

[Drugchick]

Hmm; wow. Well, like I said, I don't really know what it is she's promoting exactly; whether it's a product or special "cleanser" or not. But hearing what you said I suppose if I wanted a cleansing I would just do it the old fashioned way and just drink water or prune juice or something for a day or two.
I know plenty of people who fast, etc. like this occasionally and it always seemed that just that amount of "detox" was rather good for you. You won't see any so called parasites though.

[kaplods]

The perceived benefits of "detox" and cleansing rituals are more psychological than physical. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But, it's important to know what they're really doing (or not doing) for you.

Fasting can induce endorphins, feel good hormones, so can sleep deprivation, running and other exercise and eating spicy food, or hitting yourself with a hammer for that matter. Emptying the intestines can make you feel "lighter" and more energetic. It's not entirely psychological, many animals will vomit or have diarrhea as the first step in a fight or flight response, because it does physically make them lighter. Some animals will even spontaneously abort a fetus, kangaroos and other marsupials, will often eject their babies from their pouch.

These are really the body's emergency systems kicking in. The "feeling good" though doesn't really signify an improvement in health. In a sense, triggering them intentionally when not needed is creating a "false alarm." If you know what you're doing, it can be a harmless "prank," but if you don't you can interfere with how the system is supposed to work.

[nelie]

I'm sure she will make you lighter, lighter in the pocketbook.

Not too long ago, some company was sending out emails about being an affiliate to their weight loss programs. If I remember correctly, they said it doesn't matter what the product is or how well it doesn't work, the weight loss community is desperate and will throw money at you with any little promise. We see it a lot from various diet pills around here and questionable 'miracle' weight loss programs where sadly people do want to discover some big secret they have been missing.

The secret though, as always, is calorie reduction (diet) and exercise.