Welcome to my blog on 5 Things To Do When Living In Mould.
The first thing to actually know is to do something! Sometimes people take the saying “you can’t get well in the environment that made you sick” too literally. You might not be able to get 100% well but you might be able to get a little better, and you can certainly help your chances of getting better once out the property, by starting some level of treatment when in the property!
But assuming you already knew you had to do something, let’s take a look at what that is!
1. Look After Your Gut
The second thing is to look after your gut. Mycotoxins have been shown to affect every elect of gut health, causing imbalance in the microbiome, leaky gut, issues with motility (and thus SIBO), as well as issues with digestive enzyme production.
The objective here is that you need to be having at least one poo per day. Research suggests anywhere between one and three poos is normal. But just as important is the quality of the poo. It should be easy to pass, well formed, smooth, and like a sausage.
Anecdotally people recover quicker, once out the mouldy property, if they have looked after their gut health.
How do you look after your gut?
It will vary to some extent person to person depending on what’s going on in the gut (it’s common in my experience for people to have SIBO, and large intestine imbalances, when they have been exposed to mould for example) but some general things to consider include:
- Eating sufficient amounts of dietary fibre – these can help bind toxins and aid their elimination from the body/gut.
- Eating sufficient amount go polyphenols from plants – think about eating a very colourful diet with plenty of fresh vegetables, berries, green tea, olive oil etc.
- Supplement probiotics. Dr. Crista recommends sport based probiotics and I have been following her advice on this for the last couple of years. A good option is Probiospore.
- Get plenty of time outside in natural environments – yes these two things (being outside and in nature) have been shown to diversify the microbiome.
If struggling with constipation there are lots of things that can be helpful – dietary fibre seems to go one of two ways. For some it can be very helpful, for others it actually exacerbates their constipation. I experienced this in the early days of my gut issues. Options include:
- Psyllium husk powder.
- Vitamin C.
- Magnesium.
- Triphala.
- Butyrate.
- Specific strains of probiotic such as Biogaia.
Stool or/and SIBO testing can be very helpful here, as we can gain a deeper understanding about what imbalances are be present, and thus what the best approach might be to optimise health.
2. Improve Air Quality
The second of the 5 Things To Know When Living In Mould is to do everything you can to improve air quality.
When possible, open the windows and allow ventilation to help clear the air.
Get a good quality air purifier. I recommend Amazing Air.
A dehumidifier is also very important as humidity is one of the key drivers of mould growth. This is my recommended product, which we personally use too.
I also recommend the below cleaning products from Conscious Spaces:
3. Avoid Mould and Mycotoxins In The Diet
There is a huge amount of research on mycotoxins in our diet. It would be wise to limit your intake of some of the more common offenders such as:
- Coffee unless the company test their coffee beans. I recommend Exhale Coffee.
- Dried fruits.
- Mushrooms.
- Aged cheeses.
- Refined sugar/processed foods.
- Yeast.
- Cured meats.
- Peanuts and peanut butter.
- Some may benefit from removing grains for a short time period too – but this isn’t needed by everyone and we need to be mindful that grains can be a source of fibre.
Focus on eating organic fresh produce as much as possible (I appreciate we might not be able to buy organic – just do the best you can and consider researching the dirty dozen to understand what foods might be best to buy organic, when possible) including:
- Colourful fruit and vegetables (eat a rainbow a day!)
- Healthy fats – ghee, eggs, oily fish like salmon and mackerel, grass fed butter.
- Meat and organ meats – if possible.
- Herbs and spices such as ginger, turmeric, rosemary, cinnamon, oregano, thyme. These all of have fantastic medicinal properties to them!
In fact steamed kale has been shown to function as a binder (source)!
Products
4. Reduce The Risk Of Colonisation When Living In Mould
In my training Dr. Crista heavily emphasised the role of nasal sprays in successfully treating mould. Options include:
- Xclear nasal spray.
- A neti pot.
I’d also recommend considering a spore based probiotic, and natural full body anti-fungals also. Monolaurin can also be considered.
Dr. Crista recommends to try to get up to 4 tablespoons daily for dried leafy herbs, and for powdered spices, she recommends trying to get up to 2 tablespoons daily. These might include: Clove, Cinnamon, Cumin, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme, Oregano, Basil, Bay leaf, Tarragon
5. Move To Move Your Lymph
Optimal detoxification requires healthy lymph which can only be achieved by adequate physical movement, and, healthy breathing patterns. Watch my interview with Dr. Perry Nickelston to learn more about this important topic:
This is the very tip of the iceberg but hopefully it gives you some things to consider, as well as hope that there is A LOT that can be done to support you when living in mould. I am increasingly doing genetic testing to evaluate peoples detoxification, among other processes, to understand what level of support, and what specific support, might be most helpful.
I hope you found this blog helpful. Do check out my other blogs covering mould illness and mycotoxins.
References
Alex is a certified Functional Medicine Practitioner (IFMCP) and has a MSc in Personalised Nutrition. He is also a breathwork facilitator with a background in personal training and massage therapy. He also runs The Resiliency Program - a 24 week program aimed at building physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual resilience.
