‘Worm Queen’ Follower Heidi Klum Hammered for Following Dubious Trend
Several doctors have spoken out against the “deworming” routine that has swept across the internet and recently made its way into Klum’s daily routine.
In an interview this week with the Wall Street Journal, the 52-year-old Klum said that she was going to “deworm and de-parasite for the first time” after seeing posts about the controversial wellness trend on her Instagram feed.
“Apparently, we all have parasites and worms… there are pills [to get rid of them], they have all of these herbs. There’s a lot of clove in there. The parasite hates clove,” Klum said.
“I don’t know what the heck is going to come out,” she added.
Professor James Dooley, a microbiologist at Ulster University, told the Daily Mail that “there is absolutely no robust scientific evidence” to support the deworming trend, which he called “pseudoscience gibberish.”
He went on to say that “there are really no supplements that have been shown to do anything useful in this context—eliminating certain groups of organisms from the gut.”
Klum hopped on the trend months after a group of products pitched by self-described “Worm Queen” Kim Rogers went viral on TikTok on Instagram.
Rogers describes herself on her company’s website, RogersHood Apothecary, as a “seasoned wellness professional” who overcame endometriosis, parasites, Lyme disease and mold poisoning by abandoning modern pharmaceutical therapies and pursuing a “natural approach.”
Her company’s main product, ParaFy, claims to support the body’s “natural cleansing and detoxification processes “using a mix of grain alcohol, raw honey, wormwood, clove, and garlic.
In addition to the scientific evidence that questions whether these products are effective, there are also legitimate reasons to worry about the products being actively harmful to consumers.
The gut contains bacteria which are essential for health, and Dr. Jeffrey Dvorin of Boston Children’s Hospital told USA Today that cleanses risk washing away the “good microbiome.”
Dvorin, an infectious disease specialist, also said that cleanses can cause dehydration and nausea.
His cautionary message has been echoed by other physicians on social media.
Even worse, two of the primary ingredients in ParaFy—wormwood oil and clove oil—can trigger seizures and loss of consciousness, respectively, when taken at high doses.
The German-born model and Emmy-winner returned to the screen last month with the Project Runway Season 17 premiere, a project that she’s referred to as her “television baby.”
The Daily Beast has contacted Klum’s representatives for comment.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
