Parasites

Hello!!!

Today’s post is about an issue that terrifies me since I was little and continues to worry me today: parasites inside the human body. I suppose everyone has been told as children that if you eat a lot of sweets you get “worms”. I never had it, I guess it really helped that I didn’t eat a lot of sweets as a child.

Now that I am an adult and I know more about life (hehehe) I already know that there are different types of parasites, and that they are usually acquired by eating raw-poorly cooked food, poorly disinfected vegetables or fruits, water in poor condition …

Another story that has always terrified me is that of the tapeworm. The idea that you can have a “worm” of a few meters inside your body, without knowing it, for years … bufff. I have heard many stories about this, sometimes from close people (I’m not sure if I believe them). From models who acquired the tapeworm “on purpose” to be able to eat a lot and be thin, to the grandmother whose tapeworm peeked through one nostril and got into the other nostril … Also the story of people who were put face down, with their mouth open and a bowl of water or milk, so that the tapeworm would come out to…The story of a woman who had a tapeworm inside her for 10 years and whose tapeworm came out one day while she was taking a shower…Or the story that says that if you open your mouth after eating cod, which is very salty, the tapewrom comes out to drink from the glass of water. Hahahaha they seem like camp horror (or laughter) stories!!

But the fact is that it does exist, and if you have it, it is not that serious: you take a pill, it dies, and you will shi it tup. Among the tapeworm, amoebas, worms and others, I have been living in distress every time I went to the bathroom, in case they appeared, hahaha.

Another important fact is that in countries that are not as temperate as Europe, the United States or Japan (those that have seasons), that is, those countries that are rather tropical, the incidence of parasites (also transmitted by mosquitoes, although this is another issue ) is quite bigger. Not only because of the hotter climate (apparently the “bugs” die in cold weather) but because of their habit of eating in the street, in places with hygienic-sanitary measures that leave much to be desired.

When you are going to travel to one of these countries, at the vaccination center they recommend you to drink only bottled water (some exaggerated one that I know went to Ecuador and even washed her teeth with bottled water), not to eat on the street, and better not to eat fruits and vegetables (unless you eat disinfected and peeled fruit). I very much agree with these measures, and not only in tropical countries. In fact, when I eat out in Spain and Europe (although not in street stalls) I don’t usually order salads or fruits. Why? First, I don’t eat out every day, so since I am paying a plus I prefer something more substantial than a salad (I already eat vegetables every day at home). Later, because I don’t know how they disinfect raw foods, if they wash their hands before handling them, if they wear gloves… Since I heard the story of a “funny” man who worked at McDonalds and spit on hamburgers, well… That’s why I love places where they cook pizza or whatever in front of you.

And well, in tropical countries, if you live there or are there for a long time, you surely will end up eating somewhere where hygienic-sanitary measures are not what we are used to in Europe. You just have to go around the municipal markets, they have made me want to vomit seeing how they have raw meat lying there, without cold or any protection measure. But … it would be a shame to miss the local gastronomy for that. So, I sometimes eat in street stalls in these places, but trying to make sure it a trustworthy place, that both the product and the person cooking look good, and I do it very rarely. Another fact to take into account is that in these countries people are “dewormed” like dogs. Every six months or year they take a deworming pill, because they assume that they have caught something, or as a precaution. WTFFFF !!!

Until next month!!