(Also known as Giardia intestinalis)

Giardia (pronounced jee-yard-eeya) is a very common parasite that gets into the intestine and causes all manner of problems.

Giardia was brought into the limelight in 2011, when British TV celebrity David Walliams became infected whilst doing a charity swim in the River Thames.

It’s one of the most common intestinal parasites in the world, causing huge problems in the developing world, where many people die from dehydration as a result of diarrhea cause by Giardia.

Giardia is unique because it has a little sucker that allows it to attach to the intestine of its host.

Main Giardia symptoms

Giardia is best known for causing explosive, watery diarrhea, accompanied by nausea, stomach cramps, and occasionally vomiting.

When these symptoms are present for more than a few days, doctors may suspect Giardia and run stool tests.

But here’s the problem:

Giardia doesn’t always cause explosive diarrhea and other obvious symptoms.

Instead, it can cause mild to moderate digestive symptoms such as bloating, excess gas, bad breath and loose or greasy stools.

In these cases, doctors rarely, of ever, test their patients.

Giardia might not even cause any digestive symptoms at all.

However, even when it causes no symptoms in the digestive system, it can still cause or worsen other symptoms:

• Fatigue
• Mood imbalances
• Skin problems
• Sleep issues
• Sex problems
• Aches and pains

A study group in Norway followed a group of patients who’d been infected by a Giardia outbreak.

They found that two years after the outbreak, people who’d had Giardia were far more likely to have chronic fatigue and feel low than those who had not been infected.

Giardia and allergies

It’s common for people with Giardia to become more sensitive to food and environmental chemicals.

Studies have shown that the immune system becomes “primed” for allergic responses in people infected with Giardia.

The triggers for these responses may be foods and/or environmental chemicals such as petrol fumes, detergents, dry-cleaning chemicals and perfumes.

In itself, this can cause a plethora of symptoms, ranging from headaches and memory problems, to skin conditions and perhaps even significant diseases such as arthritis.

Giardia definitely causes lactose intolerance, where the sugar in milk – lactose – can’t be digested properly, leading to further digestive woe.

Gluten intolerance is also closely associated with Giardia.

My book, The Giardia Solution, teaches folk how to eat if they know they have Giardia.

Giardia and nutrient deficiencies

It’s not surprising that Giardia can trigger a whole bunch of symptoms around the body.

Not only does it trigger an immune response in the gut, it can damage the gut to such a degree that the body can’t absorb nutrients properly.

Giardia prevents the absorption of dietary fat, and along with it, the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, K and co-enzyme Q10.

If you look at the number of roles played by these nutrients in the body, it’s easy to see how depletions might lead to symptoms outside the gut.

For example, vitamin A is needed for proper thyroid function, CoQ10 is needed for energy production, vitamin E is a primary antioxidant and vitamin D is needed for bone health, energy, immune function and gut health.

Is it any wonder Giardia can cause body-wide problems?

Giardia in children

I’m very concerned about the state of children’s health.

All the bad foods they’re eating are wreaking havoc on their digestive and immune systems, leaving them open to acquiring chronic infections.

Giardia can be passed around rapidly in daycare centers.

Like H. pylori and some of the other bad bugs we find when we run Digestive Health MOT’s, Giardia has the potential to cause stunted growth in kids and it may even compromise sexual development.

I urge all parents whose kids struggle with chronic symptoms to get their guts tested – the body only gets one chance to develop.

How is Giardia transmitted?

When you look at Giardia’s lifecycle, you see that it has two main phases.

First, cysts that are encased in a hard outer coating can survive in the environment for quite some time.

Animals and humans may swallow the cysts, and it only takes a small number to create infection.

Once in the intestine, Giardia breaks out of its chard case to become a free-swimming trophozoite.

The trophozoite is the infectious part of the Giardia lifecycle.

Both trophozoites and cysts are then passed in the stool, allowing the parasite to spead.

Thus anywhere an infected animal or human takes a crap can become a source of infection:

• Day care centers
• Swimming pools
• Streams, rivers and lakes (it’s called “beaver fever” in North America as humans can acquire Giardia from water contaminated with beaver droppings).
• Municipal water supplies (the cysts are resistant to chlorine)
• Pets cats and dogs

It’s also been shown that Giardia cysts can live under fingernails for several weeks.

Confusion over symptoms

As you’ve seen, Giardia can cause a lot of common, every day symptoms.

But so can other things, like the food you eat (e.g. gluten, soy, cow’s milk), and other bad bugs such as different parasites, bacteria and Candida.

Thus, you can’t possibly know what’s causing your individual symptoms unless you take action to change your diet and get a comprehensive digestive health work-up.

Of course, I’m biased, but I wouldn’t be here teaching you this information had I not gone through the Digestive MOT process myself way back in 2007 with my functional medicine doctor.

Order a Digestive Health MOT

If you’re struggling with your digestive health, take action today.

Your digestive system is the gateway to the rest of your body and it’s going to be very tough for you to sustain an acceptable level of health (and quality of life) if your digestive system isn’t working properly.

Let me hold your hand through a simple but powerful program to help you restore proper digestion and all the benefits it brings.

Click here for details of my Digestive Health MOT program.