30-Day Parasite Cleanse: The 4 Steps Most People Get Wrong

Bloating, gas, and unexplained fatigue? Dr. Josh Axe explores gut parasites and shares his recommended 30-day cleanse approach, including commonly overlooked steps, why he believes cleanses fail, and his top 10 foods and supplements. Download my FREE 30 Day Healing Protocol. https://draxe.com/protocols/parasites/

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Josh Axe?

  This summer, the United States had one of the largest outbreaks of parasites ever recorded. 12,883 people in 21 states, including right here in the state of Tennessee, got sick from a parasite hiding in shredded iceberg lettuce. And at least 600 people ended up hospitalized. And those are only the people that got tested. Now, here's the reality. Most parasites don't make you so sick you're hospitalized. Most of them make you a little sick over time. You start to notice symptoms like bloating that comes and goes, gas after you eat, sugar cravings you can't explain, grinding your teeth at night, itching at night,

• 0:44Josh Axe?

  and being tired no matter how you sleep. And also abnormal bowel movements like loose stools. And most people are told, hey, you have IBS, or it's stress, or possibly even you're just getting older. But sometimes it's from something living in your gut. And here's why most cleanses fail. They start by killing the parasites. But if you kill the parasite and your body isn't ready for it, you feel worse. You get headaches, rashes, brain fog, and then most people quit. Today, I want to walk you through the 30-day cleanse I actually recommend in the order that works. Listen to that, that's important. In the order that works. Also cover the step almost everybody skips.

• 1:25Josh Axe?

  And it's important to recognize way more people have parasitic infections than they realize. And most people also don't realize this is that parasites, if you have them for a long period of time, which you can, listen, it's very similar to having candida or a low-grade virus in your body. You can have this for two years, 10 years, 20 years, and it builds up in your body. And then it increases your risk of cancer. And so I'll cover that connection today. Also, the herb behind a Nobel Prize that's linked to killing parasites. And my top 10 parasite food and supplements ranked. Welcome to the Dr. Axe Show.

• 2:16Josh Axe?

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• 3:01Josh Axe?

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• 3:22Josh Axe?

  So far more people get sick from parasites in America today than you might realize. 1.1 million people get sick a year in the United States from Giardia. That's over a million people from one type of parasite. Also, we have Cryptosporidium. Nearly 700,000 people are sick a year from that parasite. Then we have Toxoplasma. This is carried by 40 million Americans. This is the main parasite you're going to find in pork. And then an outbreak this summer, we had Cyclospora. We had over 12,000 people sick. And then we have a parasite that's really interesting. It's called Blastoceps hominis. And in one study done on 27,000 individuals,

• 4:06Josh Axe?

  19% of people, it's nearly 20%, had this parasite. And so there are so many different types of parasites that we are being infected by, and we don't realize it. Hey, and if you've learned something already, do me a favor. Hit the subscribe button. Currently, the show is free, and it helps it stay free. And it continues to allow me to put out world-class content. So hit the subscribe button right now. You're then entered into win our giveaway, which is worth over $5,000. We're giving away an infrared sauna, red light mask, and so much more. So don't forget to subscribe. Now, something I've seen in my clinical practice is I've had people say, I think I have a parasite. They went and got tested before they came to see me.

• 4:49Josh Axe?

  And they said, but the test, it didn't show up. Listen to this study, though. Parasites often don't show up in every bowel movement. In one study, the first stool sample caught 75% of infections. They then did a second sample, and it raised it to 92%. So there's a test that I do in my clinic, and we call it GI MAP. And so we actually do three total tests over three days of stool samples. We ship that in, and then we can actually look at and know with more certainty if somebody actually does have a parasitic infection. But again, around 25% of the time, you could go in and have a parasite test done, and you have a parasite, but it's not showing up on your blood work or stool test.

• 5:33Josh Axe?

  So my point with all of this is, is many more people have parasites that are damaging their body, causing leaky gut, bloating, brain fog, other health issues, even contributing to cancer, and they don't know it. And here is how most people get exposed to parasites. And I think what most people tend to picture is a trip overseas, right? I know plenty of people that have gone to Mexico or certain other countries and have come back with a major parasitic infection. However, outside of that, which by the way, that does happen, travel is up there, you know, up there around being number one. But in addition to that, it's fresh produce, like lettuce. It can be lakes and well water if you're swimming in a lake.

• 6:15Josh Axe?

  Raw or rare meat, especially with pork. Cat litter boxes, raw fish and sushi. And then, of course, as I mentioned, travel. These are the number one ways people get exposed to parasites. Now, here are some that will likely surprise you. Listen to this. Pools and splash pads, okay? That's behind 57% of US crypto outbreak cases. Parasites can survive in chlorine for seven days. So most people think, hey, chlorine, that's going to kill a parasite. It'll take seven days before it kills it. Here's another big one. Farms and petting zoos, okay? Linked to one in seven in the United States of these outbreaks that we're seeing in parasites.

• 7:00Josh Axe?

  Sandboxes in gardens, that can happen. Daycare linked to one in eight of these outbreaks that we saw this summer of crypto outbreaks. Dogs and cats, and then wild game, especially bear meat and pork. And this moves further into the discussion about why I don't eat pork. Number one, I don't eat pork because the Bible calls it an unclean food. Now, when Jesus came, it didn't all of a sudden become clean, right? Those foods, pork and shellfish, didn't become healthy. They were still, they're still unhealthy. Leviticus 11:7 says, "And the swine is unclean to you." And pork is one of the greatest carriers of tapeworms,

• 7:43Josh Axe?

  Trichinella, and Toxoplasma. All of these parasites that we're exposed to and that many people, I talked about this earlier. 40% of people carry some level of Toxoplasma. And the biggest food exposure is from pork. So this is backed up by the Bible and history. It's also backed up by current medical science today, looking at how many people are exposed to Toxoplasma parasite via pork. Now, here's the good news is you can do beef bacon, which tastes just about like pork bacon, or even better, there's also turkey bacon. There are much better and healthier options. So you don't have to eat pork, especially if you want to stay away from parasites.

• 8:26Josh Axe?

  And here's sort of what these parasites do in your body. The first thing that these parasites do is they damage your gut lining, okay? That then will cause leaky gut. So food particles are leaking into your bloodstream, like gluten or casein, or even parasites getting into your bloodstream, causing extra other types of microbes to get in there. It then causes your immune system to stay on high alert. And then your immune system's having to focus on taking care of this parasitic infection. Over time, that immune reaction is going to cause chronic inflammation, which can lead to tiredness and bloating and sugar cravings. And then that starts to steal your body's nutrients. Now, your body has less copper, less zinc,

• 9:10Josh Axe?

  a lot less of these immune minerals your body actually needs. So you get this vicious loop that's happening when you get a parasitic infection. And it can also increase your risk of other diseases, like other types of viruses and cancer and other health problems. And this leads into the cancer connection. And here's what most people never hear. The World Health Organization Cancer Agency lists three parasites as proven causes of cancer. And they actually put them in the same category of tobacco and smoking, okay? We see this, one are liver flukes. We see this affecting the bile ducts in the liver, okay? And this is with bile duct cancer and liver cancer.

• 9:53Josh Axe?

  There's a secondary type of liver fluke called the Chinese liver fluke. This is also tied to bile duct and liver cancer. We also see blood flukes tied to bladder cancer. And there's also just general parasites being tied to brain tumors or brain cancers, what we call glioblastoma. And this is why one of the things you're starting to see is people who have, are diagnosed with cancer, many of them will start doing parasite cleanses and taking certain medications like ivermectin to actually kill the parasite. Because the parasite, if your body is spending all this time dealing with a parasite, it's like if you were in a boxing match and you have to fight two people, it's a lot harder to beat two people than one person, right? If you're in a fight. So if your body is fighting, your immune system is fighting parasites

• 10:38Josh Axe?

  and cancer simultaneously, it's harder to win. Versus if you kill the parasite, then your body can focus on just fighting cancer. You have a greater chance of survival and healing.

• 10:51Josh Axe?

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• 11:35Josh Axe?

  an at-home blood test kit, plus a full hour with one of my senior health advisors. If you're ready to get to the root cause of your symptoms, go to mybloodwork.com, that's mybloodwork.com today so we can help.

• 11:50Josh Axe?

  I want to walk you through how a parasite cleanse actually works, okay? A parasite cleanse isn't taking one product, okay? It is a four-step process in the right order to help you heal. Number one thing you want to do to prepare your body to kill a parasite is prepare, okay? Strengthen your own body, seal your gut lining, cut out the sugar, cut out refined foods, eat a lot of soups, things easy to digest, supplement with things like zinc, strengthen your immune system. That's number one, prepare your body. The second thing you want to do is open your detoxification pathways, open your liver channels, open your gut, open your lymphatic system, support your body in having more bowel movements and getting your body going,

• 12:33Josh Axe?

  things like magnesium, getting your body open and moving. B vitamins are also very important for this. Number three is you want to kill the parasite. This is where taking herbs like oregano and wormwood and black walnut and clove actually going and killing the parasite. Number four, once you kill these, some of these parasites, you then want to bind to them and help your body get rid of them out of the body. That four-step process is critical. And a 30-day roadmap would look like this. Spending anywhere from one day to even up to 30 days, preparing and strengthening your body, but at least that first week. And then after that, you want to open up those channels, and then you want to kill from about day 11 to 24, and then bind 11 to 30.

• 13:18Josh Axe?

  And then after that, you want to start to rebuild and strengthen your body and just follow a really good, clean diet over time. And so diving here a little bit more into these phases. Number one is preparing your body. Here's the big thing you want to focus on, reduce inflammation and cut out all sugar. There's just two things there to heal your gut, get rid of sugar. I'd also recommend getting rid of gluten. Eat a lot of well-cooked vegetables, things like rice, sweet potatoes, certain types of fruit, low glycemic fruit, healthy fats like avocado, coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, and then lean, healthy meat like chicken. In addition to that, drink a lot of bone broth, okay? By the way, also when I say cut out sugar, I would also cut out alcohol, refined flours,

• 14:03Josh Axe?

  anything that's going to cause inflammation of the gut, all right? And then you want to drink a lot of bone broth. Take L-glutamine, five grams twice daily, and then a good probiotic that contains Espalardie, that's a beneficial yeast. You want to do that as well, and that's going to strengthen and prepare your body. Phase two of a parasite cleanse, this is really tied to supporting your gut, your liver, your kidneys, and your lymphatic system. Now, in order to support your bowels, I would recommend magnesium citrate, 300 to 600 milligrams at night, okay? Number two, supporting your liver. I would recommend milk thistle. You could do castor oil packs over your liver for about three to four weeks.

• 14:45Josh Axe?

  In addition, things like N-acetylcysteine or glutathione, B vitamins are the most important thing for your liver. And then supporting your lymph system. Sweating, like infrared sauna would be fantastic. Doing a mini trampoline rebounder, just walking regularly, drinking plenty of water. This is going to help open up those detoxification channels. And then phase number three is kill the parasite. And again, this is the point that people typically just jump to. They do a parasite cleanse, and they take a bunch of herbals and try and kill the parasite, and that's all that they do. That's not enough, okay? It takes diet, plus opening up the channels, plus killing, plus binding. Oil of oregano breaks down the outer membrane in what we call biofilms

• 15:28Josh Axe?

  that can protect different microorganisms like parasites. So oil of oregano, wormwood sets off free radicals inside the parasite. Berberine helps it stop attaching to different areas of the body. Black walnut, this is just amazing because it's been used for centuries. That bitter action supports the liver gallbladder and can directly kill the parasite. And then clove actually is great for killing off eggs of parasites because one of the issues with parasites is parasites will die in your body, but they keep laying eggs. So they continue to survive and thrive and spread to different areas of your body. And so clove is that key ingredient, that key herbal for that specifically.

• 16:13Josh Axe?

  And there's some great studies on some of these individual herbals. There was a study done on 14 adults with intestinal parasites. They took 600 milligrams of emulsified oregano oil every day for six weeks, and they were able to kill Blastoceus hominis completely in eight of them, okay? Eight of 14. And then listen to this historical proof. Around 340, the Chinese physician Gu Hong wrote in his notes, "To soak wormwood in cold water and drink it." Then in the 1970s, Tu Yu Yu followed that clue. He isolated a compound in wormwood called Artemisia or Artemisin, and he won the 2015 Nobel Prize for it, okay?

• 16:58Josh Axe?

  So this Nobel Prize-winning compound is found in wormwood, and it kills parasites, and it's been used now for thousands of years. Here's just a couple more interesting studies. In a community study done in Western China, pumpkin seeds alone made nine of 12 people with tapeworm pass the entire worm in about 14 hours. All right, now I want to dive into the top 10 supplements in ranking order to kill parasites. Number one is milk thistle. The reason why milk thistle is beneficial is it supports your liver in detoxifying and opening up the channels. And then number nine is magnesium citrate. Magnesium citrate supports your bowel movements.

• 17:40Josh Axe?

  So again, milk thistle gets your liver going, magnesium gets your bowels going. Number eight is clove. This can have a big impact. Again, it kills the larvae or the eggs of the parasites. Number seven is garlic and garlic extract. It is a natural anti-parasite. Number six, black walnut. This has been used for centuries. Number five, bentonite clay, activated charcoal. Some of these different binders are great for helping eliminate parasites out of the body. I also like modified citrus pectin. Number four is berberine. Taking that with your meals can kill parasites. Wormwood ranks number three. Again, Nobel Prize won for this amazing compound, Artemisia, found in wormwood.

• 18:23Josh Axe?

  Number two are probiotics, and I would go very high dose. And I would take one that has Espalardie, that's a beneficial yeast. That's number two for killing parasites. Number one is oregano oil, 200 milligrams, three times a day with meals. Great evidence and big impact as well. Now, here's what your kill face should look like. Now, you can go and bind an anti-parasite herbal supplement that probably is a blend of all of these together, okay? And take these multiple times a day. But generally, if not, if you're taking them separately, here's what this should look like. For breakfast, oil of oregano with berberine, with wormwood, with black walnut, and then take that good bacteria or good yeast, sarcomycium spilardei, or a high-dose probiotic.

• 19:08Josh Axe?

  By the way, what I like to do is not only take Espalardie, a probiotic has that with SBO probiotics. I like to do higher dose and then long-term afterwards. For lunch, oil of oregano, clove, and garlic. For dinner, oil of oregano, berberine, wormwood, and black walnut. That's the exact same as breakfast, and then the probiotic again. And then at bedtime, taking a binder and then higher-dose magnesium, typically 300, I prefer even 600 milligrams a day, or even doing that twice a day is ideal, especially if you deal with any form of constipation.

• 19:41Josh Axe?

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• 20:26Josh Axe?

  for you to read this content. I hope it's going to change your life.

• 20:31Josh Axe?

  And then we have our top 10 anti-parasite foods. Ranking number one are pumpkin seeds. So you can do about three tablespoons of ground up pumpkin seeds once daily, or eat and chew those pumpkin seeds very well. Number two is papaya seeds. Very similar action, but also a little different from pumpkin seeds. So those two types of seeds rank number one, pumpkin seeds and papaya seeds. Number three is garlic, contains allicin, a potent anti-parasitic. Pineapple, especially the middle, the core, they're containing bromelin, is great for carrying parasites. Pomegranates contain compounds there. Coconut oil contains

• 21:12Josh Axe?

  these medium-chain fatty acids and caprylic acid that kills parasites. And then doing oregano and thyme, a lot of those is an herbal. Eating sauerkraut is fantastic for killing parasites. Drinking bone broth and eating steamed carrots, all fantastic for killing parasites. But generally, your parasite diet should include all of these foods, along with, you could do a little bit of meat, like chicken that's well-cooked in a soup, rice, sweet potato, berries, steamed vegetables. And if you follow that diet in combination with eating these almost daily, it's the perfect diet for killing parasites. And then phase four here of your parasite cleanse is bind and eliminate. So here's what happens.

• 21:56Josh Axe?

  Your liver packs what it clears into bile, and bile empties right back into your gut. Without something grabbing a hold of those toxins and parasites, much of it gets reabsorbed in your body and goes around again and again. So sometimes when people do parasite cleanses, even afterwards, they almost feel worse off. They feel lethargic with brain fog, almost a little sweaty. They just feel terrible. That's because they didn't do this properly, and they skipped a step. So again, if you're not using a binder, it's going to go from gut to liver to bile, right back into your gut again. So again, you want to take a binder at bedtime. Activated charcoal, betoni clay, modified citrus pectin, chlorella, probiotics

• 22:38Josh Axe?

  can act as a mild binder, humic acid. And then the other big thing is you do want to keep your bowels going, using ground flax or chia, silium, acacia fiber, things like that. So that good fiber with loads of water, you want to drink, you know, at least half your body weight in water, if not your whole body weight in water, and then magnesium, and then walking a lot. This is going to keep those bowels moving, which is very important. And then you also want to be doing some of those fermented vegetables and probiotics going forward, even after doing the full 30-day cleanse. Now, you've heard me mention this Espalardie probiotic several times. I want to mention why I keep referencing it. There's a good study on this. This was published in 2011 in the Parasitology Research Journal,

• 23:21Josh Axe?

  okay? And they found in children with blastocystis, this parasite, the probiotic yeast Espalardie worked at 250mg twice daily for 10 days, worked better than no treatment, and as well or better than an antibiotic. Isn't it incredible? So this probiotic was effective in 94.4% of patients at one month, whereas the antibiotic drug only 73% of patients. So again, Espalardie and probiotics are a must if you're doing a parasite cleanse, both during the cleanse, but I would continue with larger doses for at least 90 days after. And if the parasite cleanse works, which it will if you do the right process, you will notice less bloating,

• 24:06Josh Axe?

  fewer cravings, better energy, better sleep, and then you can retest a couple months later and see where your body's at, doing a PCR stool test or an in-depth GI map. This is something I've done for years with my patients, doing these advanced GI maps, and it's helped so many people. You know, we do this at my local clinic. By the way, the other thing is, it might be a parasite, but it could be something else. Oftentimes when we test, we find other things as well. Could be a bad bacteria, could be a virus, could be mold. There are many things that can be hiding in our gut for years, causing, again, food cravings, brain fog, bloating, digestive issues over time. Now, I also want to talk

• 24:48Josh Axe?

  about ivermectin. Okay, here is what it's good for and what it's not good for, okay? Ivermectin, obviously, it's a prescription drug that paralyzes worms by basically jamming the nerves and muscle channels they depend on, okay? So ivermectin basically starves and helps kill parasites. It's FDA-approved for two types of parasites currently, Strongly Oids and river blindness. It is effective against many types of parasites. Now, I do want to say this, it's not effective against single-celled parasites. So you have some multi-celled parasites, you have single-celled parasites. It's not effective against Giardia or Crypto, which was the one from the summer, or Blastocystis hominis, okay? But it is effective

• 25:32Josh Axe?

  against many types of parasites out there today. And this is why, again, getting a GI map and getting tested and knowing what type of parasite you have allows you to know if ivermectin will be effective or not. Now, obviously, I covered a lot of content on how to do a parasite cleanse, and this is why I wanted to put together a guide for you, which is absolutely free, by the way. So I created this 30-day parasite guide. It also goes more in-depth than I did in this podcast, where I really walk through when to take things, meal ideas, recipes, the whole thing, everything you need to do this parasite cleanse. And you can get that by going to the show notes, and you'll see there that the parasite cleanse plan, you can go download it there. It's a 30-day plan. You

• 26:15Josh Axe?

  can find that link in the show notes and download it now. We may charge for it in the future, but right now, it's absolutely free. And along with downloading that parasite cleanse I created for you, I also want to encourage you to subscribe to this podcast. It's the number one thing you could do to help support me, support the show, allow me to continue to put out free content just for you. And I also want to say, think about, do you know anybody who could benefit from this content? If you would do this as well, share this with them. Maybe if you know somebody with IBS, or somebody who thinks they might have a parasite or mold, or some sort of infection, this could add great value to their life. So again, I want to encourage you, go and download that parasite plan right now, subscribe to the podcast as well. And I just want to say, thank you so much for

• 26:59Josh Axe?

  tuning in here to the Dr. Axe Show. Also, I want to mention, if you feel like you need help figuring out if you have a parasite, or walking you through how to do a cleanse, I have two clinics. On my local clinic in Nashville, Tennessee, where anyone within a few hours typically drives in and sees my team locally, or you could see me virtually at the Health Institute, if you'd like to work with a practitioner that I've trained online. And finally, I want to say, if you have any questions, you could also go on my new site I just relaunched, draxe.com. That's D-R-A-X-E.com. We now have an AI tool on the site where you can ask me anything. And I challenge you, just if you're curious,

• 27:40Josh Axe?

  to go and check it out. Go on draxe.com, check out the AI tool, and think of any health question you have, like, how do I heal my thyroid? What is the number one herb or supplement to take for menopause? Whatever your question is, go on there and ask it, and it's an AI that I have trained that answers questions the way that I would. So I want to encourage you to check that out. I think you'll absolutely love that new tool on draxe.com. And if you want to keep your gut strong after a cleanse, hey, you can watch this next video on YouTube that I think you'll love as well. And finally, I want to say, thanks for tuning in here to the Dr. Axe Show. I can't wait to see you on the next episode.