After spending a week on holiday in Fiji and eating lots of yummy foods and drinks to celebrate my Mum's 80th birthday and my parents' 60th wedding anniversary, I needed to do a gut cleanse. With the seasons changing, this is the perfect time of the year to do a cleanse to finish the year strong.
As a remedy, I started taking the herbs from our Rejuv Gut Healing Pack as soon as I arrived back in the UAE. It has been a few days, and I feel much better. There is not even any jet lag, thank goodness! I'm following my wellness protocol, included in the pack, and I've changed my diet accordingly.
The best combination is to take the herbs, like in our Gut Healing Pack, and combine these with anti-fungal and anti-parasite foods because food is medicine.
I've just written a book on the Gut-Brain Axis that will come out next year, based on my current PhD research. I will also share my latest gut-brain research on TV in Dubai tonight.
Reset Your Gut Health
If you have any of the following symptoms, you need a cleanse to reset and support your gut healing.
- Wind, gas and bloating
- IBS symptoms
- Diarrhoea
- Constipation
- Mood imbalances
- Struggling to reduce body fat
- Feeling tired & sluggish
Parasites & The Full Moon
The thing with parasites is that they reproduce and hatch over a full moon due to the drop in melatonin and surge in serotonin. Parasites can also be why it is hard to sleep when the man on the moon shines down on us, bursting through our curtains.
We all have a degree of parasites, fungi, and Candida; it's only an issue when they overgrow, shifting the microbiome and the good-to-bad bacteria ratio out of balance.
The Effects of Candida & Parasite Colonies
Candida is a form of fungus – a human parasite that feeds off vital nutrients at your expense. You might have had a white coat on your tongue, oral or genital thrush or an itchy groin – this is all candida overgrowth.
Parasites and Candida mainly deplete your storage of iron, B vitamins, magnesium, zinc, and amino acids. They both form colonies and continually produce toxins and mycotoxins as metabolic by-products, causing increased inflammation, disease and mental issues such as depression and anxiety.
Here is a brilliantly published paper about Mould, Mycotoxins, Gut Health, and Dysregulation of the Immune System. After all, your gut holds 80% of your immune cells, so it is vital that you also have a healthy gut if you want to have a robust immune system.
My Top 10 Gut Healing Foods
These Foods Are Anti-Parasite & Anti-Fungal Gut Healers
Completing a gut reset will transform your mental, emotional and physical wellbeing.
I've collated my favourite anti-parasite and anti-fungal foods below, followed by a list of foods to avoid if you want to reset your gut.
1. Coconut Oil
Coconut oil contains lauric acid, vital in delivering most of the health benefits of coconut oil, such as the germ-killing and disinfectant agents against parasites, yeasts, viruses, and pathogenic bacteria in the gut.
2. Apple Cider Vinegar
Always choose the cloudy version when you buy Apple Cider Vinegar with the 'mother'. It is high in probiotics and great for boosting stomach acids to kill parasites and larvae you inadvertently ingest with your meals.
You can also get the benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar in our Apple Cider Burn Complex. This supplement will protect the enamel on your teeth (drinking Apple Cider Vinegar is not great for your teeth) and support digestion and fat burning.
3. Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin seeds contain many nutrients, but cucurbitacin (a thin green shell covering the seeds) is a powerful ingredient that kills parasites.
Cucurbitacin is effective due to its anti-inflammatory effect, which is toxic to parasites but safe for humans (and dogs). The prebiotic fibre in pumpkin seeds helps cleanse the intestines from parasites. It increases intestinal peristalsis and a thorough colon cleanse.
4. Bitter Melon
I first encountered Bitter Melon when moving to Dubai. It looks like a lumpy cucumber but is a powerhouse at killing parasites and clearing fungi and Candida.
Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine have used Bitter Melon for centuries. They believe bitter foods help treat 'damp' conditions such as parasites and candida overgrowth. It's very bitter, so I take it as a 60ml shot before my daily Rejuv Super Greens Juice.
5. Sauerkraut & Kimchi
Sauerkraut and Kimchi are wonderful to reinoculate good bacteria in the gut microbiome. You can add them to any meal as a garnish. They work well with psyllium husks as an excellent prebiotic combination to feed and boost good bacteria.
If you struggle to eat psyllium husks and don't like the cabbage taste, take our Digestive Complex Powder. It contains pre- and probiotics and many gut-healing herbs in one product to heal and reinoculate your microbiome.
6. Cinnamon
Most people associate aromatic spices with sweet food, but cinnamon is also a potent anti-fungal and antimicrobial. It is also great for balancing blood sugar levels, especially since Candida and parasites can increase one's desire for sweets and junk foods, so cinnamon is their preferred food source.
If you struggle with sugar cravings, you can also try our Blood Sugar Support Capsules that I initially formulated to help heal my eating disorders and stop binge eating that led to poor gut health.
7. Cloves & Oregano Oil
Cloves and oregano are great for killing parasites, larvae, and eggs, but they are not easy to use at high enough levels in your diet, so it's best to combine them with our Candida Gone Capsules.
8. Seaweed
Seaweed is a nutrient-dense 'superfood' known for its powerful healing properties. It is excellent for clearing Candida, flushing out heavy metals in the body, and supporting healthy bowel function. I use seaweed in our Sea & Soil Super Greens Capsules if you dislike the taste or struggle to eat seaweed three times a week.
9. Turmeric
Turmeric is a powerful natural remedy for intestinal worms, fungi, and parasites. It acts as an internal antiseptic and has antimicrobial properties.
Turmeric can also help relieve bloating, excessive gas, nausea, and abdominal pain, which are some common symptoms of Candida and parasites. Always consume it with black pepper to get the best absorption effects.
If you don't like the taste or find it hard to drink 3 tbsp per day, use our Rejuv Organic Turmeric Capsules. These capsules contain curcumin and piperine, the active ingredients of turmeric and black pepper, so only two capsules are the same as 3 tbsp of turmeric daily.
10. Gut Healing Garlic & Ginger
Garlic and ginger are amazing antiviral, anti-parasitic, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial superfoods. They are superhero gut healers! As a family, we grate them raw over our evening meals to support good gut healing and to keep our immune systems strong.
7 Foods to Avoid When Infected with Parasites
Here are seven supervillain foods to avoid when you are infected with parasites and or have candida overgrowth:
- Sugar (fruits and Manuka Honey are an exception)
- Dairy products
- Ultra-processed foods
- Gluten-containing foods
- Meat
- Raw Fish
- Watercress (strange one I know for wild watercress can be contaminated with liver flukes (parasites) if grown in sheep-raising areas).
However, some ingredients are very bitter. We have a few Rejuv Wellness plant-based vegan capsules to support your journey if you find them a struggle. In particular, our Para Cleanse Capsules is a synergistic, powerful blend, including most of my top 10 gut healing ingredients and a hero product as part of our Gut Healing Pack (which I am currently taking).
However, some ingredients are very bitter, so if you find them a struggle, we have a few Rejuv Wellness plant-based vegan capsules, like the Rejuv Para Cleanse Capsules (which includes all ten of the foods above) or the full to support your journey.
If you're not sure where to start on your Wellness Journey, complete your Free Wellness Profile Quiz and see my blog post on how to do a parasite cleanse.
