Have you heard of helminthic therapy?

The latest trend in health may forever alter the way you look at the word “parasite.” Helminthic therapy refers to the the scientific name for larval-stage rat tapeworms, hymenolepis diminuta.

Companies are now selling vials of larval-stage tapeworms in some parts of the world. This new form of unproven therapy delivers an egg-like sac to your gut, where bile triggers the larvae to emerge. The larvae then eat microscopic bits of food and die in 10 days.

Reports claim that many thousands of people worldwide have consumed parasitic worms to treat certain health conditions, from inflammatory bowel disease to depression.

One company sells pig whipworms in Germany and has applied to get approval to use them as a food ingredient. Many believe that biome enrichment with benign helminths is not too different from taking another form of probiotic.

The end user is ingesting a sterilized egg-like sac that is extracted from dead beetles. Are you convinced to try it yet?

In some countries, regulations dictate that companies selling these products make no specific claims as to their efficacy or purpose of use. Still, the jury is out on this brave new health trend. While a range of trials in France and other research has shown that proper ingestion of live worms can alleviate some symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease, others point out the need for careful supervision when ingesting live worms.

Certainly, this is one new health trend that will leave you feeling a bit queasy in the gut, whether you’ve ingested egg-like sacs or not.