Could mold be your culprit? Learn the secrets of healing from mold exposure and why the low mold diet might be your answer!
I’m no stranger to mold-illness, unfortunately. As you learned in this post, mold illness is the primary trigger in so many diseases, conditions, and symptoms. Experts have taken mold-illness to a new level, classifying it precisely as chronic inflammatory response syndrome. It is a trigger that sets off a cascade of inflammation without a purpose, creating endless symptoms, aches, pains, and, eventually, disease.
Now the question is, could mold be affecting you, and if so, how do you know? On today’s podcast, we dive into testing for mold {although I dig more in-depth into this below} and how to heal from mold exposure. The good news, even if you can’t quite figure out where to begin testing, you can start to take action regardless to heal and revitalize your body back to health, starting with a detox.
Make sure you listen to today’s podcast below. I’ve created a free handout on what to eat and what to leave on the mold diet, helping you get started right away. If you don’t want to waste time and you’re ready to take the next step in getting rid of your aches, pains, excess weight, headaches, or whatever else ails you, check out The Simple Cleanse. It is an easy way to get your health back by providing the right environment for your body to detoxify naturally.
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do you have mold-illness?
Mold is the silent and yet powerful trigger that can sneak in at any moment and wipe your health away right before your eyes. It’s a scary organism and one that we need to be aware of. As my story continues {learn how I figured out it was mold here}, we learned our washing machine was the culprit of spreading the mold to nearly every fabric surface of our home. The mold was triggering the constant inflammatory response that was crushing my lymphatic system.
I was working on overdrive, or at least my body was, and I was living the consequences of that through severe bloating, back pain, headaches, brain fog, moodiness, fatigue, and even weight gain. That was the mold taking over. But the good news is we were able to determine the culprit, eliminate it, and continuously work to cleanse my body of it.
However, getting to this point has been a learning experience, so I want to share some recommendations on how you can test for mold in your home and your body.
testing your home
My best recommendation when it comes to testing your home for mold is to hire a certified home inspector. This was one of our best investments in the process, even though he didn’t physically see anything with his eye, he taught us about mold and the silent and unseen impact it can have. He also showed us potential problem areas and inspected areas we would never have thought mold could grow.
The second thing I would recommend is air quality samples. Our home inspector collected these for us and sent them to the lab for testing. I prefer this method as opposed to mold tests you can purchase at nearly any home improvement store. The reason is those tests generally test exclusively for black mold {which is the most toxic and dangerous of all molds}. Of course, that is extremely important, but we can’t forget the other molds that are not necessarily toxic but allergenic.
Side note: Black mold will eventually affect everyone living in the environment. It is extremely dangerous and toxic to the body and not a safe place to live. If you notice that many of your family members are stricken with several different illnesses and symptoms that don’t seem to find relief, I would suggest testing for black mold as soon as possible.
If a home inspector just isn’t in the budget or you’d rather test and see if mold is potentially an issue before you hire a home inspector, try one of these tests.
testing your body
I often get asked how my practitioner knew I had mold-illness. My testing started as applied kinesiology, which is muscle response testing. We used this to find strengths and weaknesses in my body and within my environment. However, I did have a smell, or at least my clothes carried a particular odor that always came back as mold. But the applied kinesiology helped to narrow things down in a non-invasive way. Outside of that, my doctor also ran blood work that further proved mold as an illness.
One test you can test right on your computer is called a visual contrast sensitivity test {VCS test}. This test measures your ability to see details at low contrast levels and is used as a nonspecific test of neurological function. While it’s not a diagnostic test, it can most certainly alarm you of the possible existence of a health condition, including those caused by mold or neurotoxin exposure. I have used VCS testing numerous times, especially to chart the healing process.
You can test yourself for free here. Again, this is not a diagnostic tool but one to simply showcase if there could be a potential issue.
Some other specific lab tests include:
- C4a
- AGA {Antigliadin Antibodies}
- Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide
- Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone
- Cortisol
- Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor
- Leptin
Of course, there are others, but this is an excellent start to recognize mold as an illness.
healing from mold
The heart of the subject comes down to this; what is the best treatment for mold exposure? The truth is something I lived for well over a year. You really can’t fully heal until you eliminate the source of the mold in your environment. When you feel awful most days, you’ll do just about anything to get better. Once we found the source, removed it, and then remediated the problem, my health completely changed. Until then, we were working diligently just to maintain mediocre health.
But here are a few tips in healing from mold illness.
tip 1: remove the source
A home inspector can help you find the source and remove it. You may have to hire other companies to help with the cleaning process – but the first and most crucial component – find the cause.
tip 2: create a safe environment for living
Our bedroom become my ‘safe’ environment. A place for my body to rest and sleep, considering this is when my body undergoes the most healing. Did you know that your mattress is one of the most substantial breeding grounds for mold? Yes, that sweat that leaves your body while you sleep is soaking into your mattress, creating a breeding ground for mold to form. This is especially true with memory foam, which is one of the worst materials for your health. I’m doing an entire post on mattresses soon, so stay tuned!
Another way you can create a safe environment is a home purification system. While a little on the expensive side, I can tell you it saved me countless thousands of dollars in medical bills and the potential for us to lose our home. Worth every penny. We installed this Lennox Pure Air system, which has a charcoal filter and UV light to trap contaminants in the air as well as this Lennox Heat Recovery Ventilator, which cycles fresh air from outside the house inside and sends stale inside air back out.
Of course, you’ll want to do your homework and talk with your local HVAC contractor.
More budget-friendly ways to enhance your living space {and even work space} is essential oil diffusion. While I’m opposed to ingesting essential oils for healing, I am in favor of diffusing them into the air. Some studies show that essential oils could be our most potent agent in fighting mold spores in the air. So if you’re questioning if mold is an issue, get a diffusor {maybe one for every room in your house} and start diffusing oils. Here are some oils to get started:
tip 3: reduce stress
Avoiding other potential triggers that could lead to further development of symptoms is a priority. Get rid of as many external, emotional, and mental stressors as possible. It’s impossible to avoid them, but make sure you focus on reducing what you can and resting in what you can’t. You may need to cut back on your intense workouts and opt for walks instead. Get more rest, not pushing your body and staying in when your body says to stay in.
tip 4: the mold-free diet
Did you know that some foods are naturally moldy? Of course, things like mushrooms, but we’re not talking about living fungus. Instead, we’re emphasizing foods that have living mold spores on them. Take, for instance, peanuts. They are one of several crops that are vulnerable to aflatoxins, or toxins that are produced by fungi that grow in or on certain foods. When tested, they have found that about 60-70% of collected peanut samples were infected with various molds.
Other high mold foods are listed in my free mold-free diet handout here. Inside this guide, you will find what foods are high in molds and should be avoided and what to eat more of for healing.
The basis of the mold-free diet is to avoid those foods that are high in aflatoxins and replace them with real high-quality foods that not only fill the gap satiety wise but load your body up on nutrients. The more we can starve the mold out of the body, the easier it is for your body to absorb the nutrients it needs without the mold stealing it. Learn more about how mold is stealing your health in the podcast.
tip 5: detox, detox, detox
Detoxing was the pinnacle of healing for me. Once mold is inside of our body, it has to get rid of it. The one pathways for our body to eliminate mold is detoxification. Unfortunately, many of our detox pathways are sluggish, leading to our body’s inability to get rid of mycotoxins like mold and other viruses, bacteria, and toxins.
Regardless of whether you have mold-illness or not, our detoxification pathways are something we should pay attention to. I recommend everyone do a deep clean of their body at least once a year. I created a real-foods cleanse out of my own need for a cleansing protocol that didn’t require endless and disgusting shakes and supplements but just a natural way to heal. The Simple Cleanse was created in the heart of my health crisis and completely changed not only how I felt but how I saw healing inside my body.
Not only did I complete The Simple Cleanse protocol that looked explicitly at my diet, mentality, and exercise habits, but I hit the vibration plate and sauna hard. It was a series of continuous work to cleanse my detox pathways that created such dramatic change in my health. That is why I’m a firm believer that the only way to lasting health is through a clean detox pathway. And I’m not talking about cleaning the pipes through a colon cleanse but an internal cleansing of your entire system.
You can also download my free Low Mold Diet Guide to get started today!
additional resources
Of course, supplements have considerably changed my health for the better. I couldn’t have gotten to this point without them. While I’m going to list a few that have been crucial in my healing, I will note that I think it is most beneficial to get a plan that is specific to your health and your needs. I would highly recommend finding a holistic health provider or integrative physician who can help you do this. Here is a list to consider:
- Takeshi {Black Magic Water}
- Hawaiian Spirulina
- Probiotic
- Vitamin D
- Zinc
- Vitamin B12
- Selenium
- Magnesium
final thoughts
Mold is a tricky and yet highly devastating illness that often goes under the radar. If nothing else, I hope this series {check out part one} has brought some light to the fact that our environment and how our body is detoxifying is critical in the prevention and healing of disease. If you think mold could be a culprit in your home and health, I would recommend getting your home inspected and start a mold protocol immediately.
In the months to come, we’re going to be digging into a few more ways I’ve found healing. We’ll be taking a deeper dive into how a sauna heals and even how a vibration plate could help you. But as always, this isn’t just about what we do but how we live and the mindset we have. There is a lot of power in a healthy mind!
Don’t forget to share this with your friends and family!
