Parasites!

Alright, seriously guys, parasites? What's the dilly?

I've seen a bunch of pretty alarmist stuff from all sorts of alternative health sites saying that parasites are the next big medical paranoia scheme. I'm skeptical. I'm a sciencey guy. I like medical science. I know it has its flaws and its quacks and its corruption, but what doesn't? I'm used to hearing all that from "alternative" medicine, to the point that it's become the background noise in my thoughts concerning my health.

Sometimes it's nice to trust my doctor! Sometimes I just want a pill thrown at me.

So my reaction to seeing the "HOLY SHIT PARASITES ARE IN EVERYBODY IT'S KILLING US!" rhetoric is two-fold. The first fold is to roll my eyes, because that tactic is the ultimate way to sucker a buck out of some saps. "Holy shit, you're telling me that something's killing me but nobody wants me to know about it?! What can I pay you to make it go away?!" That "everyone should undergo a parasite detox at least once a year" is so transparent to me.

The second fold is to work the probabilities. After seeing Food Inc., I'm realizing that the meat industry is much more corrupt than I thought. And I already suspected it. That movie took it a step further to look at agriculture as well. Now I know that some 50% of calories that the average American consumes will come from corn, and that having such an undiverse diet isn't healthy, but the practices within corn and soybean production...creepy. It tells me that cutting out meat isn't the point; it's cutting out food that has changed so many hands, made by people who have a vested interest in more, faster, tastier instead of healthier.

It reminded me of the tobacco companies. What a fucked up strategy. You'd think they'd rather keep us around for an extra thirty years to buy their products instead of killing us off with diabetes, cholesterol, high blood pressure... But keep popping babies out!

In any case, the second fold is to think that maybe there's a reason that the reaction from the altmed community is so violent. It's not the same reaction about everything, really. Yes, most of them are paranoid and overblown, but it all becomes relative, so when the boy who cries wolf cries atom bomb, maybe we should still listen.