Greetings, Eric Bakker, naturopath, author of Candida Crusher.
Today, I’d like to do a video about parasites. Particularly about Blastocystis hominis and Dientamoeba fragilis. Now those names maybe sound a bit funny to you, and some people may even think that I’m reading a few lines out of Harry Potter or a book like that. But I can tell you now; I’m not really talking about witchcraft or giving you any false leads here.
Blastocystis hominis is a very common parasite found in third-world countries. But not just third world, we find it also in many western countries. In fact, it’s estimated that 25 to 30 percent of people with irritable bowel syndrome have a Blasto infection, so they’re relatively common. These are tiny little parasites and just like Candida albicans, Blasto lives in the digestive system of many, many different people, many healthy people, but it lives in balance and it’s kept in check by the beneficial bacteria. But when out of balance, Blasto can create a lot of problems for people.
Many times I pick up Blastocystis hominis on a stool test. It’s relatively common. This is why I’m a big fan of CDSA times three or Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis times three stool samples. Stool is collected on three concurrent days and checked. So you can see on the screen the link now. You want to take note of that link. If you’re interested in doing a stool test, you can work with that link and get a stool test performed much cheaper than you will through your doctor. Let’s have a little bit more of a look at Blasto, what it is, what it does, how we can eradicate it, and take it from there.
How do you know you’ve got a Blasto infection or a Dientamoeba infection? How would you know? You don’t really know because the symptoms are quite similar to a chronic yeast infection. They can be bloating, gas, irritability, you can have lots of mushy stools, you can even have explosive diarrhea. Constipation can alternate with diarrhea. So you may think that you, in fact, have got a Candida infection, but you could well have a Blastocystis infection. The only real way you’re going to find out is by doing a stool test. And oftentimes, you’ll find that if you have got Blasto in all three stool samples, you’ve probably got Candida as well and other kinds of bacteria and parasites.
We haven’t got enough time in this video to explain stool testing in detail. When we do a stool test, we can check for the beneficial bacteria, the commensals, and the pathogenic, the bad bacteria. The commensals can go either way. I call them the “politicians” of the gut. They can go good if there’s good people around. They can go bad if there’s bad people around, so they’re influenced by what’s occurring around them to a degree. But Blasto in great numbers is very bad, and they create a lot of problems with people, lots of headaches and tiredness, and an increasing amount of food allergies.
Many people I see with chronic Blasto infections, in fact, they’ve got their diet down to five or six foods. They think they’ve got really big problems with food allergies. They can even have bits of blood coming out in their stool or mucus. They can feel completely stoned or spaced out and feel very sick. These are very sick patients when they’ve got severe Blasto infections. And I’ve had many people contact me from around the world thinking they have Candida when, in fact, they have a Blasto infection.
How do we treat Blasto? How do we eradicate this thing? Doctors will tell you, in fact, that Blasto infections don’t really cause anything apart from diarrhea. Some doctors I’ve spoken to say, “Well, it’s a bit of a nuisance infection, but it doesn’t cause any problem.” The problem is it causes a real problem with people because the recurrence rates are high. We can nail this thing. Seventy-five to 90 percent we can eradicate, but the recurrence rate is quite grave on it. That’s why I usually say retest after several months with effective treatment.
There’s medical treatment, pharmaceutical; we’ll often use what I call triple therapy, three drugs, a bit like Helicobacter infection; and there’s natural treatment. Natural treatment, of course, is what I’m going to promote. Grapefruit seed extract is one of my favorites for Blasto infections, so you may want to look at another video I’ve completed on grapefruit seed extract to hear me talk more about that one. Suffice it to say, this is a serious problem. You may not have Candida. You may have Blasto.
Dientamoeba fragilis is another bug which you often find with Blasto – quite similar – it creates the same problems. You can get on top of it. The recurrence rate is high, but don’t give up. It will often need two or three treatments to successfully eradicate it.
So I hope that was some good information there for you today. Thanks for tuning in.