Parasite Cleanse FAQ:
Take a Human being and put this person in a completely sterile environment. Next, give him a drug that will destroy every single virus, bacteria, and parasite on the inside and outside of his body.
Take a Human being and put this person in a completely sterile environment. Next, give him a drug that will destroy every single virus, bacteria, and parasite on the inside and outside of his body.
I assert this person will be extremely ill or die. We need helpful microorganisms in order to survive.
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“Germ” is what we call a microorganism that causes disease. “Parasite” is what we call an organism that lives off its host, and gives nothing back. The beneficial (a.k.a., symbiotic) organisms that live in our bodies have other names.
Of course humans do need certain strains of bacteria. We don’t need parasites, viruses, or harmful bacteria, though.
In an entirely sterile environment, no. The human would survive fine. However, in a normal environment, the absence of those “normal” bacteria would allow for the growth of much more harmful bacteria that would cause the human to get quite sick.
The major role that bacteria play in our body is in the digestive tract, where they help break down foods that we can’t deal with normally. In fact, every human starts out life with a clean digestive tract (the womb is a fairly sterile environment), and over the first year of living slowly acquires a complex biota in their gut.
This stuff gets wiped out all the time, though, as you know if you’ve ever taken a serious course of antibiotics. Often the result is diarrhea, because all the helpful bacteria in the gut get killed off. No one dies, though… they just get the runs. In a few days the bacteria come back, and they’re fine.
> I assert this person will be extremely ill or die.
You appear to be correct.
Without regular challenges, the immune system appears to malfunction. This appears to be why people living in “clean” homes are more prone to allergies than people who play in the dirt.