Cyclospora Outbreak Wreaks Havoc Across the United States

[00:00:00][music] >> Hello and welcome to this episode of Kennedy Saves the World. If you are pooping your brains out, you're not alone. 6,000 people in Michigan alone have been diagnosed with Cyclospora, the parasite that is allegedly coming from bagged lettuce. And how do you get parasites on bagged lettuce that give you the squirts? Well, there has to be human feces in it. And you know, there are a lot of rumors, there's a lot of investigation. We're not exactly quite sure what the source is. Many folks think that run for the border may have them running for the toilets. Taco Bell, apparently a big culprit in a lot of these Cyclospora cases. That is the common denominator for many parasite sufferers, but it's not the only place you can get it. So, it turns out if there is a big lettuce farm in I don't know, Mexico maybe, which grows a lot of lettuce cheaply, and there's a leaky toilets, well, guess what? That human dung flows right into the lettuce fields, right into the irrigation system. So, the sprinkler is going to have you sprinting for the tinklers when human turds are spraying your beloved lettuce. And you know, I've been buying a lot of bagged lettuce over the last year because it's easy. When I make a Whole Foods order, I just add a few salads, and when I'm making dinner and I'm in a rush, which is 70% of the time, even though it says triple washed, I still always wash it. However, washing does not get rid of the eggs that are in the parasites that cling to your small intestine that make you very very sick.

[00:02:01]You have to heat whatever greens you're eating to over 158 degrees. That's the only thing that actually kills the parasites. So, water doesn't work, unfortunately. May make you feel better.

[00:02:13]Um and if you want something green, rinse your avocados before you slice them. I always do that. I always rinse my avocados in hot water because you don't know where they've been. And when the knife slides through, if there's something on the skin, it will get into the flesh of the avocado. Avocados without the flesh uh very unlikely to transmit cyclospora. So, they are safe.

[00:02:35]And if you also need something uh Andrew Gruel, the chef who's oftentimes on Gutfeld, he has a a wonderful restaurant in Huntington Beach, California. He knows everything about cooking and food prep and how it's grown and how to make it. And he says, "Whatever you do, stay away from bagged lettuce." which I will do uh from this point forward. And he says, "Stick with a whole head of lettuce. That is a a single-source item and you and your family will be much safer with that. And if you don't feel good eating lettuce right now, don't eat lettuce right now.

[00:03:06]There are plenty of other options. Uh and if you are going to have something, like I said, avocados are great and sautéed spinach. You know, that sauté your spinach. You can braise it in chicken bone broth and it is delicious.

[00:03:21]You can you can grate a little bit of garlic in there and you'll feel good about everything and it, you know, cooked spinach is better for you than raw spinach, which allegedly leaches calcium and minerals from your bones.

[00:03:33]So, the sautéed variety is even better.

[00:03:36]So, go ahead and do that. I like to steam broccoli in the microwave and that'll get it above 158 degrees and then you should be fine. And then stick with your your protein and your fiber maxing. And there are antibiotics. You have to have a combination of two antibiotics, usually a 7 to 10 day 10 day cycle that will knock the parasites out of your small bowel. Unfortunately, you do have to poop in a cup if you want to find out whether or not you have it.

[00:04:08]And I've talked to a lot of people lately who aren't feeling so good. They got a rumble in their tummy and they don't want to go that extra step for the undignified testing, but if you are really really sick and you've been pooping for days, then talk to your doctor cuz it might be it might be worth it to throw a little Hershey syrup in that Quest Diagnostics cup and just find out once and for all if you are in fact suffering from that parasite. So, 6,000 people in one state is a lot. That is a phenomenal number. In fact, the largest Cyclospora outbreak that we have had in this country was 6 years ago, 2020. Only 700 people uh contacted Cyclospora, contracted I should say, back then during the George Floyd riots. So, and and the CDC thought that was a pretty big number. So, can you imagine being locked in your house, locked down, you can't get the police to respond to anything, you're terrified you're going to die from COVID, you can't go to church, you can only go to the liquor store, and you have to wear a mask wherever you go, and you've you've got the runs? That must have been a horrible summer for Imagine getting double COVID and Cyclospora. I mean, you really would feel like the Matrix is playing a horrible joke on you and the world really is ending. Um it's not ending.

[00:05:34]It's it's miserable. It's uncomfortable.

[00:05:37]And they do have to find the source of this. And we absolutely have to lock up the the poop lettuce. We have to. I know it's a it's a big ask for humanity, but at some point we have to stop spraying our crops with human feces.

[00:05:56]It's it's the least we can do for ourselves, but I believe in you. And if you're worried about contracting Cyclospora from frozen yogurt, you really don't have to worry unless you are putting raspberries on it. So raspberries and cilantro two very effective vectors for transmitting Cyclospora cuz raspberries have little hairs on them and they have these eggs the parasite has these eggs called oocysts and those are the things that latch on to your small bowel and that's what makes you really sick and miserable. It's also what latches on to the little hairs on raspberries. So apparently raspberries also not your friend. But again, heat them up make jam. Who doesn't love jam? Little bit of homemade raspberry compote for your your peanut butter and jelly sandwich. That sounds like a delight. You can still have all the healthy things you need and let's be honest, you know, if you haven't experimented with the GLP-1 yet, maybe getting the poop parasite is the thing that will actually get you into bikini shape before the end of the summer.

[00:07:08]It's everything's coming up Milhouse here. There are so many silver linings to these dark brown clouds.

[00:07:17]You know, I'm constantly your personal optimist. It's called Kennedy saves the world not uh Kennedy makes you absolutely miserable and depressed with a bunch of bad news that makes you feel completely defeated because that title is just too long for a podcast. I've seen other people do it.

[00:07:35]I'm not going to die on that hill. I'm going to save the world. Another thing that has been saving people's summer frozen yogurt. I love frozen yogurt. I'm a fan and leave it to Gen Z'ers to come up with something completely bougie and to reinvent something that was already there, but to make it better. I do have to give credit to Gen Z'ers even though they think that they came up with really good stuff. Frozen yogurt it it cycles through. It's like wide leg pants. Like it'll it'll be back around before you know it and here we are again, but the cool thing about it is the frozen yogurt is actually healthier yogurt this go around with some of the high on chops and the toppings are cooler. It's not just like the Pinkberry globs of tapioca which you know, it's always unsettling, but I get it like you're just trying to change the texture and have something sweet and creamy in your face that feels like ice cream. So the yogurts are higher in protein. They are prebiotic. Some of them are probiotic and they basically have good bugs that will do wonders for your gut biome. And if you don't have raspberries on them or anything green, then frozen yogurt is a pretty safe bet against Cyclospora. And you always want to put your your gut in the best shape possible because as we know, 70% of your neurons are in your tummy and if your tummy is balanced, that means your mood will be as well. So I high five the frozen yogurt trend. The Dubai chocolate. I I know there's a place there's one downtown. It's called Myka MYKA. It is a Spanish chain. They've got three locations in Manhattan. True real Manhattan. Come see us if you didn't for the World Cup, now's a great time. Lines are around the block when it's 90 plus degrees, but hey, it's raining today.

[00:09:38]So, I may go over and investigate. My friend Alexis McAdams did the other day and it looked pretty incredible cuz they've got all sorts of bougie toppings like Dubai chocolate and honeycomb and diced figs and Maldon sea salt you can sprinkle on top and it's it sounds like it's a healthier form of sugar, higher protein, good for your tummy. I think this this go round on the frozen yogurt carousel is a pretty good one and I think that if there is all sorts of dire nutritional news, you have to find the good news where you can get it and this is one trend that might take your mind off of being strapped to a toilet or a pair of Depends for the rest of the summer. So, go ahead and you can live off of froyo for all of August and of course 16 Handles is always reinventing itself. I love that place, too. That's amazing. This has been Kennedy Saves the World saving you from poop one parasite [music] at a time. I'm Kennedy.

[00:10:50]Listen ad-free with a Fox News Podcast Plus subscription on Apple Podcast and Amazon Prime members can listen to this show ad-free on the Amazon Music app.

[00:11:00]Oh, go ahead and leave me a review while you're there. I'd love to hear what you have to say. [music] You've been listening to Kennedy Saves the World on the Fox News Podcast Network.