Diatomaceous Earth (D.E.)

[lph]

Kill off the worms by eating diatom shells (raining microscopic broken glass onto the worms, which slices them up and they bleed to death), and you suddenly get the benefit of the nutrients your parasites had been stealing from you.

The stuff I learn here.

[OakLeaf]

But aren't the worms actually important to the immune system?

It sure is gross to think about though ...

[zoom-zoom]

The stuff I learn here.

Ha, that is exactly what I was thinking!

[TsPoet]

Ditto

Hmm. Makes me want to go and get a dewormer. Is that anything like that you can get from the health food store that is not DE?

I do give my two sweet doggies kissies from time to time.

You really don't want to, unless they are "overgrown" for some reason. And if they are, then there is most likely an underlying reason you should deal with, first.

[Tri Girl]

oh for goodness sakes- I had no idea there were worms living in my gut and eating my nutrients.
I'm glad I read this before the Super Bowl party- I think I just lost my appetite for all the junk food that will certainly be there... egads!

[Catrin]

oh for goodness sakes- I had no idea there were worms living in my gut and eating my nutrients.
I'm glad I read this before the Super Bowl party- I think I just lost my appetite for all the junk food that will certainly be there... egads!

I had no idea either...ewwwwww ... Not that it will stop me from eating - and I guess that I did know that already but try really, really hard not to think about it

TSPoet, why don't we want to "de-worm"? Is it simply because that is the way of things and it would interfere with the "balance" of the "flora and fauna" of our gut? I can't believe I just said that

[KnottedYet]

You can't really "de-worm."

Nematodes, in particular, are everywhere.

If we took away everything that was you, and left only the nematodes that infest you, there would be a 3-D shadow of you left... made entirely of nematode worms.

For the most part, your worms are benign. Sometimes you can get an over-growth, which will sap your energy and nutrients. Sometimes you can get some mean critters which will actually consume more than their fair share (pinworms, tapeworms, those evil worms that cause elephantiasis, etc.)

If you are pretty healthy, you have nothing to worry about from your worms.

Next lets talk about the mites that live in your eyelashes!

[badger]

ugh, I was disgusted at those "rid your worms" sort of herbal supplements you can get and the description of some of the stuff that was coming out of the people attesting to those products. I didn't think I had them, too.

I used diatomaceous earth once when I had fleas. Was told that the sharp edges would slice them open and kill them, but considering you need to squeeze them between your nails to kill them, the DE hardly did anything to them.

[makbike]

I absolutely love to teach symbiotic relationships to my students. My middle schoolers eat it up, squirm, tell me how disgusting it all is but they love it - the more disgusting it is the more they "eat it up." I am looking forward to pulling my tapeworm and roundworm collections out in a couple of weeks - will be the talk of the school - my short moment in fame m Long live our parasitic buddies.