Mold and mycotoxin illness is estimated to affect greater than 10 mil people worldwide. Mold illness is also likely to increase due to our building practices, increase in EMF exposure, and our lifestyle habits. How does mold affect our bodies?
In school, we are taught about each body system independently – location, function, symptoms related to each body system, symptom treatment – but the truth is that the body is intricately connected. Not only is each system connected but our entire bodies are connected to our outside world and our emotions. The delicate balance of our microbes, our emotions, our environment and our lifestyle is constantly at play.
As one body system becomes compromised each and every other body system becomes on high alert. Each foreign invader (bacteria, virus, toxin) that enters our bodies causes our immune system to take action. This action can be direct, quick, and effective as in the case of a healthy response or if there is an elevated total body toxin or infectious load this reaction can be over exaggerated, confused and not easily turned off or resolved as in the case of mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS). Mold is a potent driver of MCAS…
WHAT IS MOLD TOXICITY OR MOLD ILLNESS?
Just as it sounds, mold toxicity or illness is when a person becomes ill from the mycotoxins mold produces. This does not happen with all molds found in our natural world, but with toxic mold species exposure. This most often occurs from toxic mold exposure found in water damaged buildings. As we have come to build our homes more and more air tight we have essentially trapped in various mold species (as they are everywhere) allowing for the species to feed off of the building materials and release its toxin in our homes where we breathe in the spores and fragments.
This is not a problem for all people exposed to mycotoxins. Genetically, some of us are good at detoxing from mold, but others not so much. What else is at play with mold detox? Epigenetics – diet, exercise, sleep, stress- areas of our lives we somewhat control. If the mycotoxins are allowed to enter the body and we are not strong genetically at detoxing from mycotoxins or we have clogged detox capacity due to poor lifestyle choices the mold will make a home in our sinuses and our gut.
HOW DOES MOLD AFFECT OUR BODY SYSTEMS?
Mold and mycotoxins make for widespread damage in the body. The effects of mold illness are seen in every body system so the symptoms are vast. Mold and mycotoxins are1,5,6,8:
*Immunotoxic
*Neurotoxic
*Alimentary toxic
*Dermatoxic
*Nephrotoxic
*Hepatotoxic
*Hepatocarcinogenic
*Genotoxic
*Teratogenic
*Carcinogenic
Every body system can be affected. Mold and mycotoxins can even affect babies during pregnancy if the mother is mold toxic during the pregnancy.
COMMON DIAGNOSES RELATED TO MOLD TOXICITY2,3,4,7:
*Seasonal Allergies
*Chronic Sinusitis
*Interstitial Lung Disease
*Anxiety/Depression
*Tinnitus
*Sarcoidosis
*T-cell Abnormality
*Acquired Immunodeficiency
*Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
*Interstitial Cystitis
*Nephritis
*Insomnia/Sleep Apnea
*Dysautonomia/Neuropathies
*Mast Cell Activation Syndrome
*SIBO
*Cancer
HOW DOES MOLD IMPACT GUT HEALTH?
Mold has the ability to take up residence in our guts. It will literally make a home in our guts wreaking havoc! What are the effects of colonization of mold and the mycotoxins it produces on our gut health:
- Induce death of our intestinal epithelium or the single cell layer that makes up the lining of our gastrointestinal tract. This leads to leaky gut.
- Deplete our guts of “good” bacteria which allows for pathogenic overgrowth.
- Interfere with nutrient absorption in the gut.
- Stimulate an immune response in the gut.
As our bodies lose the fight to the mold and it takes over we see our immune system become depleted and our cells membranes become stiff and hardened allowing for more infections and toxins to enter the body. As our toxic cup fills up our immune system becomes confused, over-excited, and stimulated leading to an exaggerated release of inflammatory molecules produced by mast cells in the gut.
The gut houses A TON of mast cells! Mast cells are one of the first cells to come to the site of a foreign invader. What if that invader was living inside of you and not just passing through? This is when mast cells can become problematic…
MOLD’S ROLE IN MAST CELL ACTIVATION SYNDROME (MCAS):
Again, most mold species found in our natural world are not problematic to our health. It is the molds found in water damaged buildings that are problematic. Most of us are coming into contact with these molds nearly daily and not all of us are affected. Again, this depends on your genetics and your epigenetics.
If a person is genetically and/or epigenetically susceptible to mold and mycotoxin exposure (from buildings and even from foods contaminated with toxic mold mycotoxins) their toxic cup fills up leading to TOXIC OVERLOAD and inherently clogged detox pathways. Every time the mold that has taken up residence (we call this colonization) feels threatened it will release its mycotoxin which will in turn activate an immune response. The body will send more and more mast cells (along with other immune cells) to the area of invasion increasing levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, prostaglandins and histamine levels. The chronic stimulation of our mast cells from the mycotoxin release can send the mast cells into a tail spin causing them to be chronically stuck or turned on in overproduction mode – this is known as MCAS.
WHAT DOES MAST CELL ACTIVATION DO TO OUR GUTS?
Excessive stimulation of mast cells in the gut alters the homeostasis in the gut by:
*Poking at the lining of our guts contributing to leaky gut
*Constant immune activation = inflammation
*Dysregulated gut motility = diarrhea or constipation
*Dysbiosis = promotes an imbalance of our microbes in the gut
*Abdominal pain and inflammation
*Systemic inflammation from a leaky gut barrier = a leaky gut equals a leaky brain!
TREATING MAST CELL ACTIVATION IN THE GUT:
So, how is MCAS in the gut treated? Mold, MCAS, and gut health are interconnected. All factors needed to be considered for an effective treatment plan.
- First step, REDUCE EXPOSURE! The first step in mold and MCAS treatment is to avoid the trigger whether it be your home, your car, your workspace or the food you are eating.
- Second step – Calm down the mast cells! This can be tricky as some patients with MCAS are extremely sensitive to supplements, medications, foods, and herbs. Some of my favorite supplements and herbs for MCAS are:
*quercetin and luteolin
*nettles
*vitamin C (non-fermented)
*Palmitylethanolamide
*DAO enzymes
*Perilla seed extract
*spore based probiotics
There are also pharmaceutical options like antihistamines, cromolyn and ketotifen.
2. Third step, Treat the trigger – MOLD! This is where it gets more complicated. To effectively treat the mold the other body systems need to be addressed as well (remember it is all connected!). Liver, kidney and gut support needs to be brought in at this stage. As mycotoxins are detoxed they affect all the organs of detoxification – liver, kidneys and the gut. A gut protocol should be specific to each client individually. Some common things that are brought on to support the gut are:
*lining support – immunoglobulins, colostrum, glutamine
*probiotics – spore based, stool derived post-biotics, or strains that do not contribute to further histamine issues
*bile flow support – bitters, TUDCA, milk thistle
*motility support
*digestive enzymes
*short chain fatty acids – stool derived post-biotics, butyrate
*detox binders that act like static cling to the mycotoxins as they are being released
*Pharmaceutical and / or herbal antifungal and anti-yeast treatment
Through all of this it is important to address an nutrient deficiencies as well such zinc, copper, b-vitamins, and other minerals. Mold opens the door to other toxic and infectious insult such as heavy metals, EBV, Lyme and long COVID. This may require dual treatment if tolerable.
WHAT ABOUT LIFESTYLE?
Lifestyle is very important to this entire process. Finding food triggers, reducing stress, enhancing sleep, getting in tolerable daily movement, and reducing exposures. All of these need to be addressed as well for the treatment plan to work.
*Food triggers – finding food triggers and implementing a low histamine, mold friendly diet
*Stress – promoting a healthy circadian rhythm and activating the vagus nerve multiple times daily
*Sleep – getting good quality sleep through setting a healthy circadian rhythm, vagus nerve exercises, meditation, and using herbs that help to calm down the immune or microglial activation in the brain.
*Movement – promoting good lymphatic flow through daily movement, dry brushing, lymphatic drainage.
NEXT STEPS:
Our exploration into mold and mycotoxins and how they affect each human body is a growing research topic. There is much more to learn. Our world is becoming more and more toxic with the continued development of toxic chemicals and their widespread use, the increasing use and exposure to EMF’s, fast paced lifestyles causing more psychological and physical stress, and our ever changing climate. There is a dire need for practitioners to be unafraid to dive into the complicated illnesses to better serve these patients who are dealing with vast complexities of conditions like mold illness and mast cell activation syndrome. I am honored to be one of those practitioners traversing this complex interconnected web that determines our health. Click here to schedule a FREE consult.
“A person whose basic emotional and physical tendencies are in balance,
whose digestive power is balanced,
whose bodily tissues,
elimination functions and activities are in balance,
and whose mind,
senses and soul are filled with vitality,
that person is said to be healthy.”
−Sushruta Samhita
Read more about mold here, here, here and here.
References:
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- Maresca M, Mahfoud R, Garmy N, Fantini J. The mycotoxin deoxynivalenol affects nutrient absorption in human intestinal epithelial cells. J Nutr. 2002 Sep;132(9):2723-31. doi: 10.1093/jn/132.9.2723. PMID: 12221236.
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