What you need to know
Heidi Klum sent fans into a frenzy when she revealed she was planning on getting rid of bugs over the summer.
More specifically, cleansing of worms and parasites.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on August 4, she said that she and her husband, Tom Kaulitz, planned the cleanse as a kind of reset for their bodies and health.
“I’m going to be dewormed and dewormed for the first time,” she told the outlet at the time. “All I see on my Instagram feed right now is about bugs and parasites, so my husband and I do a bug and parasite cleanse. I’ve heard that you should do this once a year, but I’ve never done it. So I feel like I’m really behind the curve. I don’t know what the hell I’m going to get.”
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Fast forward a few months, and Klum’s results are in.
She told PEOPLE ahead of her annual Halloween party that she and her husband actually did a cleanse, but joked that they “didn’t test anything” about what came out.
“So many people asked me too, ‘What happened?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t even know what happened!'” Klum, 52, exclusively tells PEOPLE. “It felt so good…If I had[bugs or parasites]I hope they were out of my body because I hear so many people talking about this all the time.”
Thanks to Kaulitz being by his side the whole time, Krumm was able to endure the purification a little more.
“It’s easier to do it with your partner in the morning because you have to drink this weird stuff,” she explains. “It’s all herbal, but it’s still disgusting and apparently you have to do this every day to kill the plants inside all the eggs. You have to do it for two rounds instead of two weeks. I did two rounds to hopefully kill the eggs and stuff. But yeah, I felt great after it was over.”
Speaking to PEOPLE while opening up about her new campaign with L’Oréal Paris, Klum initially told the Wall Street Journal that while she didn’t necessarily have parasites or evidence of parasites, she was willing to try the cleanse anyway.
“For people who occasionally eat raw foods, for example sushi, there are medications (to get rid of them),” she explained. “They have all these herbs. There’s a lot of cloves in there. Parasites don’t like cloves. They don’t like papaya seeds either. We have all the metals in our bodies, and it’s also very important to use this demetalizing agent.”
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Parasitic infections are real and can cause serious health problems, but they can only be diagnosed by a doctor with proper testing.
There is currently no medical evidence to support that herbal supplements or other ingredients are effective in eliminating parasitic infections. Experts also emphasize that not all gastrointestinal problems are related to parasites.
“I really hope these cleanses never catch on,” Beth Chewony, R.D., told the Cleveland Clinic. “There is no reliable evidence that they are effective and they may pose significant health risks.”
