For a disease-proof body, take two parasites and call me in the morning

There’s a surprising way to halt the progression of a very serious autoimmune disease — and possibly even cancer.

But there’s a catch. The solution is one that will likely make your stomach turn…

Because it includes an infestation of parasitic worms that just may help make your body disease-proof.

For about 15 years, scientists have noticed that people who live in countries with a higher incidence of parasitic worms are less likely to develop autoimmune diseases. So over the years, scientists began studying this apparent connection.

And, as shocking as it seems, it appears that a lot of these studies support the notion that parasitic worms actually prevent autoimmunity — a condition that can lead to diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS).

Does that mean your doctor may start prescribing parasites? Hopefully not…

Scientists suspect that the reason parasitic worms reduce your risk of developing an autoimmune disease is because they emit a molecule that reduces inflammation in your body — if you’re their lucky host that is.

They emit this molecule for purely selfish reasons; they just want to protect your tissues from unnecessary damage so they can hang out and enjoy their ‘human condo’ as long as possible.

But, as unpleasant as all this sounds, it has the unintended benefit of preventing chronic disease.

So researchers are exploring the possibility of putting this information to use to cure autoimmune diseases like MS. People who suffer from MS experience progressive paralysis caused by their own immune cells attacking their nervous system.

Fortunately for us, the scientists are focusing on using the anti-inflammatory molecule the worms emit… and not the actual parasites.

If it proves successful, the impact could be far reaching…

That’s because autoimmune diseases aren’t the only diseases caused by inflammation. Not by a long shot. Inflammation plays a starring role in most serious diseases, including cancer. So there’s a lot of potential for this squiggly cure.

Now I’m not saying that you should go out and get yourself a parasite or two… that’s obviously a bad idea. But if you want to prevent autoimmune diseases like MS, you can create an action plan — including the 10 best ways to blast inflammation from your body — that doesn’t involve a creepy critter living in your body!

Here’s how to get started…

• Let it go: Research has demonstrated that chronic stress causes your immune cells to think that there is an illness or injury to fight in your body — even when there’s not. This leads to chronic inflammation. So if you can reduce stress in your life, you’re doing your body a big favor. Meditation is a great stress-reliever. So is massage. Research has actually shown that massage lowers the levels of two inflammation-producing hormones in your body.
• Exercise, exercise, exercise: If you want to reduce inflammation you should exercise — regularly. Research shows that exercise causes the body to produce certain proteins with anti-inflammatory properties. And clearly you want as much of these anti-inflammatory powerhouses moving through your body as possible. Now any exercise will do, but studies have shown that yoga is a particularly effective inflammation reducer, probably because yoga combines two important anti-inflammation techniques — exercise and stress reduction.
• Fight inflammation with food: Anti-inflammatory foods are probably the most important tool in your inflammation-fighting arsenal. If you want to reduce inflammation in your body, you should eat a lot of leafy greens and other antioxidant-rich foods. You also want to minimize your intake of bad fats like hydrogenated oils and maximize your intake of healthy fats like omega-3 fatty acids. Researchers recently identified the top five inflammation-fighting foods that should be part of your diet. So you definitely want to put those on your grocery list to keep inflammation and autoimmunity from running rampant in your body.

Sources:

1. “Parasites could hold the key to halting MS.” Medical Xpress. http://medicalxpress.com. Retrieved May 29, 2016.

2. D. Crane, D. I. Ogborn, C. Cupido, S. Melov, A. Hubbard, J. M. Bourgeois, M. A. Tarnopolsky. “Massage Therapy Attenuates Inflammatory Signaling After Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage.” Science Translational Medicine, 2012; 4 (119): 119ra13.

3. Pinto, D. Di Raimondo, A. Tuttolomondo, C. Buttà, G. Milio, G. Licata. “Effects of physical exercise on inflammatory markers of atherosclerosis.” Current Pharmaceutical Design. 2012;18(28):4326-49.

4. “Effects of Chronic Stress Can be Traced to Your Genes.” Ohio State University. http://researchnews.osu.edu.