Parasites.

[FalcoColumbarius]

I was just introduced to this vid:


It's under ten minutes long and I would really like to get some opinions on this.

Falco.

[yojimbo]

It started out as a hypochondriacs nightmare, then brought religion in, which was hilarious.

Its true enough, but I think its rather overstating the facts. They also deliberately misinform by making statements about all these millions of organisms being transmitted around on door handles and handshakes, which is true, but thats not an environment to find parasite eggs, they will just be bacteria and virii, which might make you sick, but its hardly the same. Although I do wonder why people think cats are so clean when they crap and piss in a box of sand, push that sand over the crap to keep it fresh (yes thats why, not to hide it) and then let them walk on food preparing countertops...

[FalcoColumbarius]

Yeah, cats... independent contractors. If they knew about Brylcreem I'd bet they would use it!

One thing about the vid that caught my attention is the title page where they quote the National Geographic but stage it in such a way that gave me the impression that this is a National Geographic documentary. Had this just been a suggestion to see the vid then I wouldn't have posted it. What grabbed me was the guy who told me about it said he did the cleanse and has benefited greatly from it. I could go to the local health food shop and spend $21 or $35 or $70 for the "therapy" ~ or I could do what he did and go to the supermarket and spend say six bucks on the raw materials and dump them into a coffee grinder then pack my own gelatin capsules. I have to say that he looked healthy and he wasn't making anything from telling me about this.

It was a bit sensational, wasn't it. Of the locals that I've been talking to ~ everyone wants to sound like they know what they're talking about without actually saying anything?

Speaking of cats ~ then there's John Hurt and The Alien:



Falco.

[yojimbo]

Yeah there was very little of that if any, that was actually from a proper healthcare professional.

It reminded me a lot of some 'nutritionist' witchdoctors a few people I know have been to, different witchdoctors too, so I guess its common.

Here is what happens. You are feeling ropey and carrying extra weight you cant shift so you go along for their assessment. They then run some pseudoscientific tests. Usually its something like "Hold this canister of liquid while I run a low voltage through it and you and we see if the light on the machine lights up. It then does and they say,"Oh so you eat a lot of potatoes" which is like a horoscope saying you will have a disagreement this week and an opportunity at work. They then tell you that you have candida, causing candidiasis, a condition caused by candida fungus which is naturally occurring but grows out of control due to modern lifestyle. Antibiotics kill all the probiotics that help keep it in check and it likes all the food we do, sugar, refined wheat, booze etc.

They then give you a new diet, no more sugars, booze, only whole non wheat grains etc. After a few weeks on that and you feel better, better moods, lost a few pounds etc. Then you go telling everyone you know that you had candida infections and this diet cured you etc. Whereas anyone with half a brain can see that if you stop eating processed food and consider what you are pushing in your face then you are going to be eating better and so feeling better. And you still probably have candida, its naturally occurring, it probably does have a negative effect on peoples moods etc, but probably not to the degree these witchdoctors insist it does. Ie overstating the facts.

Parasites are real, and people that do outdoor sports will often take worming tablets once a year or so 'just because'. But that doesnt mean we should assume our insides are writhing and wriggling with snakes just because we went camping this year, or ate japanese. But people see that, get worried, spend far too much on their snakeoil, also start looking at what they are eating, then miraculously start feeling healthier, their ego kicks in and they tell everyone about parasites and how they are feeling so much better after their 'cleanse', because they have to justify what they spent on the snakeoil at least to themselves, and dont want to admit that the most likely reason they feel better, is that they ate crap before. Occams razor.

I also enjoyed how many shots there were of fat people, implying fatties are riddled with worms, which is ironic, since they probably arent mountain biking through mud, canoing in rivers, and all the food they eat has been processed to the point that its certified parasite free.

Keep spreading the fear!

[Spearo]

Although I do wonder why people think cats are so clean when they crap and piss in a box of sand, push that sand over the crap to keep it fresh (yes thats why, not to hide it) .

How about no.

It's a submissive act. Dominant cats in the wild don't bury their shit.

[yojimbo]

Heh, I had no idea that the scatological habits of cats was emotive

Its what I read before, it was in the internet so must be correct, amirite? The logic was it maintained the scent of the scat for longer, naturally now I cant find it and just find references to the submissive behaviour Regardless, and as a past cat owner, I still find it ironic that we treat them as clean animals. But then dogs arent much different, but at least they grateful for being able to lick their contaminated saliva all over you!

[glenn]

"itchy bum or female problems" We can say itchy bum, but not be more specific about "female problems?" Funny.

It's a commercial. They list basically every single possible human ailment and tie it back to parasites, then encourage you to "cleanse for life" with their product.

[yojimbo]

The classic itching anus. Apparently the worms spread because people scratch and pick up the egss, which the worms come out at night to lay. Then transfer them to other places.

What disgusts me more than the worms popping out at night to do this was the fact that people with an itch there actually get in and have a good scratch. These people wouldnt have parasites if they weren't so filthy.

[glenn]

A wise man once said:

"go to bed with itchy bum, wake up with smelly finger"

[robbieg]

Sounds like.... "SOMETHING HORRIBLE IN YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD.... NEXT ON FOX"

Highly related:


Yay shock media.

[FalcoColumbarius]

Well... I was really skeptical until I saw that doc on attacking babies. Now I'm sold.

This is the deal. For three years I was getting my drinking water from a spring in Lynn Valley, North Vancouver. The reason I did this was because I was sick of tasting bleach in the water I drank ~ and picking bits and pieces out of the screen on my kitchen sink faucet was getting a bit old. The spring is in a park and before I started using this water I talked to the warden and he told me that the spring was tested every six months, very alkaline and safe to drink. After three years this sign appeared by the spring that read: Health Canada warns that all surface water should be treated before drinking.

So I went back down to the warden's place, it was a new guy, and asked him:

• "I see you guys have put a sign up at the spring, is this to protect your backsides in the event something goes wrong?"
  "Well sir, we have no idea what's in that spring."
  "Wha?"
  "There are houses up the hill above that spring and we don't know what is leaking from their sumps."
  "Sorry mate, but I was in here three years ago talking to a man wearing the same shirt that you're wearing and he told me that you test that spring every six months."
  "You must be mistaken, sir."
  "No, don't think you're following me ~ I didn't get this information from my brother's wife's dentist's assistant ~ I was talking to him directly, like we are now, and he told me this directly."
  "You must be mistaken, sir."

So I went to the Home Hardware in North Van and purchased a onetime water testing kit ($10). The way this kit works is it has this yellow powder in a bag in which you place the water, seal it shut and wait three days. If the colour is still yellow then the water is safe to drink. If it turns green or blue it means that there are coliform bacteria in the water that are eating the yellow powder. Well, the water from my container turned green. I thought that it might have been from my container so I bought another kit and took it straight from the source. It turned green the very next day.

Since then, I've been getting my water from another source that is not only tested but goes through a UV purification system and is a part of an official drinking fountain in the picnic area of this park (it's a well that is fed by the creek).

In the meantime my bowels have been experiencing things that could denote parasites (or other things), I did "samples" for my doctor but results have been negative. Also, as I've discovered over time, modern medicine is not perfect.

So this is what I'm doing: I've spent the better part of sixty bucks on this kit and doing this cleanse. I'm aware that I may have squandered $60.00 but considering the track record of these herbs I figure that at worse I've had a relatively cheap learning experience. As far as parasites go ~ everyone has them, it's a prerequisite of life. It's the nasty ones that you do this cleanse for.

I've eaten raw fish in some form or another my whole life, never had issues that I was aware of.

It's really weird growing up in a world where the water has been pristine but in recent years it's getting more polluted. I look around me and see people just taking this in stride ~ and when I tell some of these young'uns how it used to be they laugh and look at me as if I'm on drugs.

Today is day two of the cleanse and I've noticed that I'm using the lav more. I'll keep you posted.

Falco.

P.S.: If this sort of discussion grosses you out ~ then pretend that we're standing around with beers discussing the exhaust manifold on a Delica.

[yojimbo]

I would rather not talk about your exhaust emissions!

We're lucky in this area, its chalk bedrock and the tap water is pumped out of it, its treated but not much, so in effect its spring water with a small amount of chlorine or something, but I honestly dont notice it.

Hope your engine flush works out for you :D