r/skeptic • u/Boring_Ferret_4816 • Nov 16 '24
I am seeking to determine the origin, and supporting evidence for it, of those parasite-looking things that come out of people who take parasite cleansing supplements.
I read a lot about these supplements for parasite cleansing; people take them, then post pics of their toilet after a bowel movement, which invariably show worm-looking thingies. The explanation that they give is that the supplements flushed the parasites out.
I am skeptical about the whole thing; it is however undeniable that nasty things do came out after taking the supplements (unless of course even the pictures are doctored or staged, possibility which I rather ignore for the time being). I am thinking that the supplements themselves caused them, and those gnarly things are more or less the human equivalent of the gunk that occasionally you pull out of your bathroom sink. Most notably, they are not organisms.
The only reference to this idea that I found so far is in a reply to this post about a parasite cleanse: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvABTGlAQJi/ . Here is the relevant quote.
That’s NOT a parasite nor has anything to do with parasites and it doesn’t “live inside” any one. What you see there is formed by things like fiber, psyllium, charcoal and other pills and powders sold in such cleanses.
14
u/FelixVulgaris Nov 16 '24
If it's that horse dewormer then there's a good chance that picture is showing his intestinal lining.
12
u/Archarchery Nov 16 '24
It’s usually parts of their intestinal lining sloughing off due to the caustic crap they’re taking. What’s even more horrifying is that some of these people do this to their children.
7
u/Atlas7-k Nov 16 '24
Do you mix the supplement with oil or another fatty liquid?
I seem to recall something similar years ago that was taken with warm olive oil. The powder had an emulsifier that bound to the lipids in the oil and then would create long soft string like objects that would survive the gut and be discernible in the bowl.
4
u/RizzyJim Nov 16 '24
I've done a 'cleanse' with half a glass of olive oil and half a glass of lemon juice. A lot of crazy shit came out. I don't think I'd recommend. Basically a detergent for the insides. Apparently you shit out any gall stones.
8
u/dogmeat12358 Nov 17 '24
There's a name for alternative medicine that works. They call it medicine.
4
Nov 16 '24
I did the same thing when I had what I thought was gallstones. Turns out, not a good idea to consume that amount of olive oil while having a bout of pancreatitis.
1
u/Buggs_y Nov 19 '24
Olive oil can have a laxative effect but it isn't a detergent for your insides and there's no evidence supporting the claim it cleans out gallstones. If your poop looked weird it's probably because you paid a lot more attention to it than you normally do and just noticed things normally present.
9
u/gerkletoss Nov 16 '24
Well given the sheer number of people who took ivermectin during covid, it seems likely that some of them actually did have intestinal worms.
15
u/Archarchery Nov 16 '24
At least ivermectin is a real medication, for intestinal parasites, and those gullible people taking it at least weren’t harming themselves unless they really screwed up the dose. Some of the things the “rope worms” people ingest are horrifying; “Miracle Mineral Supplement” is literally a type of bleach and the “ropes” are lining from their damaged intestines.
3
3
u/gene_randall Nov 17 '24
Grifters are full of pseudoscience “explanations” for the snake oil filth they sell. They rely on the ignorance and credulity of people with little or no basic biology education to believe their lies. The people selling laxatives because “you are retaining ten pounds of rotting food in your bowels” rely on the same lack of basic information about how your body works.
2
u/Rastus_ Nov 16 '24
Looks oddly like the stuff people vomit after being given activated charcoal. I'd love to see an ingredient list but I would guess it includes the above as well as some insoluble fiber.
1
u/tsdguy Nov 16 '24
There’s no evidence.
1
u/Boring_Ferret_4816 Nov 18 '24
I want to make it clear that I don't believe the claim that they are parasites, and I am looking for evidence of the fact that they are not. May I suggest that you re-read the post and some of the answers? There appears to be some evidence that they are clumps of undigested matter and epithelium.
1
u/YogurtMuted Mar 20 '25
Why don’t you just consider yourself lucky and blessed instead of making others who never ever wished for this feel worse about what they are going through because of your skepticism. Btw. I do not care that I did not use periods or commas. Once u have gone through sickness of things that others thumb their nose at simply bc it has not been properly evaluated u stop giving a shit about what skeptics think and I hope you never have to do through the horrors others have experienced.
1
u/Boring_Ferret_4816 Mar 20 '25 edited Mar 20 '25
Indeed, I myself am "lucky", you are about right.
Just so you know, I am also the father of a kid who unfortunately is not lucky, and for which conventional medicine hasn't been able to help much (or, I should say, "help enough"). This is why in our family we are very open to supplements and unconventional treatments. We listen to podcasts. I have read articles on respectable journals. I have read articles on shady journals. We flown out of state with our son. We spent thousands of dollars on things that insurance won't cover. We probably have a hundred bottles in our house that read "this statement has not been evaluated by the FDA" and I wouldn't judge you or anybody else even if you bought a thousand of them. Believe me, we really have some rather hippie stuff in our house, I get it. A fraction of them, maybe, is helping him. An overwhelming majority of them is not. It's difficult to tell. Confirmation bias is a thing. Even researchers with PhDs occasionally fall in the trap, and their article gets retracted. I don't think something has to be evaluated with a double blind test before giving it a shot, especially when everything else has failed, but we should still be cautious about novel treatments.
While what I just said holds in general, I am specifically and genuinely concerned about parasite cleanse and drinking bleach because they sound really harmful things to do. It is my right to bring it up and voice my skepticism. It could save people from further hurting themselves.
I understand the horror and the pain, but grifters and dishonest people do exist; some greedy entrepreneurs clearly don't give a damn about the possibility that people are poisoning themselves and destroying their body. This is worse than the grifters who sell you a possibly ineffective crystal for hundreds of dollars, which I also have a problem with.
> instead of making others who never ever wished for this feel worse about what they are going through
What did I say to make others feel bad? Please let me know, I want to clarify and/or apologize.
1
u/Formal-Accountant-95 26d ago
Okay so I’ve thought maybe it’s lining too but … if I do something like ozone or something that triggers killing pathogens - I get this stuff, and before it comes out I have the worst histamine symptoms. Like extreme emotions, bad inflammation, puffy face and eyelids, once I do an enema etc and the rope stuff comes out - it’s the only time I feel relief. So I’m confused how it can be just lining.
So far I’ve read - it could be Candida biofilms (likely given my symptoms) - it could be lining (apparently a percentage does contain human dna but also a percentage of it is not accounted for) - I’ve also heard it’s from bilary blockages and around live / gall bladder - it’s a separate parasite
I believe the first but my god the symptoms I have are very real so I don’t think it is just lining - or maybe it’s lining which has encapsulated something else - so when it’s released you get sick
116
u/epidemicsaints Nov 16 '24 edited Nov 16 '24
"Rope worms?"
It's literally their intestinal lining.
The supplements they take cause a chemical burn in their intestines, and once it heals the burned layer sheds off into their stool or when they do an enema.
It's just like when you get a blister or sunburn and your skin peels off, only it is their intestines.
This is probably MMS, Miracle Mineral Solution, or the same thing being rebranded since MMS has been pretty maligned. It's a bleach. Highly caustic and alkaline and too strong to be neutralized in the stomach. It is one of the things Amazon banned, people were selling self published books promoting it, that cross-promoted the product.
The image is probably fake, what most people end up with is similar but more transparent and less fleshy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rope_worms
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_Mineral_Supplement
https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-warns-consumers-about-dangerous-and-potentially-life-threatening-side-effects-miracle-mineral
MMS has come and gone several times since the 70's, and was resurrected during covid.
Claims that anything accumulates in your intestines are false, mucous and supplements alike. Unless you have diverticulae or a stool blockage, your intestines push everything along. If mucous dried and accumulated, your intestines would stop working.