What is the tapeworm diet?

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Transcript

00:00Hi, I'm health reporter Sarah McCann. Today I'm going to be talking about a fad diet that

00:04initially originated in the Victorian era but has been making a comeback. Here's everything

00:10you need to know about the tapeworm diet and why you shouldn't give it a go.

00:17The tapeworm diet involves solving a pill with a tapeworm egg inside. The theory behind it is that

00:25when the egg hatches the tapeworm will eat whatever you eat and you will lose weight.

00:32However, this is a tapeworm infection which can be incredibly dangerous to your health.

00:40The tapeworm diet seems to be having a resurgence. A nationwide survey by ASDA online doctor found

00:46that just over 1 in 20 men and 1 in 33 women had tried the tapeworm diet. The tapeworm diet

00:54is effectively just a tapeworm infection. Tapeworm infections are generally caused by

00:59drinking or eating food that has come into contact with contaminated faeces of an infected animal or

01:05person or if you're eating undercooked pork, beef or fish. Once inside your body a tapeworm will

01:14attach itself to your intestine and feed off your body's nutrients. Symptoms can include diarrhea,

01:20abdominal pain, fever and nausea. It can also lead to serious complications including appendicitis.

01:27To get rid of a tapeworm infection you have to take anti-parasitic medications but treatment

01:33will depend on whether your tapeworm has become invasive which means that it has started to spread

01:38outside of your intestines. The main takeaway is is that the tapeworm diet should have stayed in

01:44the Victoria area and can have dangerous consequences for your health. If you have

01:50been affected by any of the content of this video you can reach out for help and support at beat.co.uk