Doctor responds to Heidi Klum's worm cleanse with warning

A doctor has weighed in on a surprising cleanse that supermodel Heidi Klum embarked upon ahead of her annual Halloween party.

Heidi Klum has opened up about a surprising cleanse she embarked upon ahead of her annual Halloween party – and now a doctor has weighed in on the experiment.

The 52-year-old supermodel revealed that she was going to cleanse her body of worm and parasites with her husband Tom Kaulitz joining her in the health detox.

Parasites and worms feed on your body’s nutrients, causing issues such as weight loss, fatigue, diarrhoea, anaemia and abdominal pain.

She said it was all over her Instagram account and she discovered it was supposed to be done once a year — and she never had.

“So I feel like I’m really behind. I don’t know what the heck is going to come out,” Klum told The Wall Street Journal.

Heidi Klum revealed that she was going to cleanse her body of worm and parasites with her husband Tom Kaulitz joining her. Picture: Instagram

“Apparently, we all have parasites and worms. If you are someone who eats raw things every now and then, like, for example, sushi. 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. They also hate the seeds from a papaya. We have all this metal inside of us, and it’s also very important that you use this de-metalling stuff.”

Klum, who has four children, gave an update on how the cleanse was going for her. She added a lot of people had been curious about it.

“It just felt good … just if there are any [worms or parasites], then I hope that they were leaving the body, because I hear so many people talk about this all the time,” she told People.

She admitted she didn’t inspect the results of the cleanse. Currently, there is no medical evidence that herbal supplements — like what Klum took — can help with parasite infections.

She spoke to People about it ahead of her annual Halloween party. Picture: Noam Galai/Getty Images for Heidi Klum Halloween

Dr Zac Turner, who has four health and medical degrees under his belt and specialises in preventive health and wellness, told news.com.au that parasites are a real issue.

“When you travel overseas, you need to be careful about what you put in your mouth – whether it’s food or just your hands after touching animals. That’s how you can easily pick up worms and parasites,” he said.

However he stressed that people should always get tested if they are worried something is wrong.

“The problem with many herbal remedies is that people take them without actually knowing if they have parasites. Some of these treatments can even be toxic, and you might think you’re cleaning out your system when you’re really just wasting your time,” he said.

Dr Zac added that people often come in with unexplained symptoms and jump to conclusions.

“Just because you’ve had a quick check doesn’t mean you’ve ruled out parasites. Sometimes they can be hiding in different parts of your gut, causing issues you can’t immediately detect,” he said.

Originally published as Doctor responds to Heidi Klum's worm cleanse with warning