Is your home silently making you sick?
Living in Colorado and its arid climate, most of my patients never consider that their home may be harboring a deadly healthy disruptor, mold, and mold’s health-disrupting toxins. Despite some very reasonable arguments from my patients that there is no way that they could have mold, I persist in ruling this out because mold toxins are notorious immune system disruptors and lead to everything from multiple sclerosis to cancer if they are present, including more common things like chronic fatigue and persistent depression. Even here in Colorado, it is rampant, as I have found it over and over in my chronically ill patients, and by addressing the source of mold, those same patients have started to heal.
Keep a very open mind to this as a hidden health disruptor. Testing is vital, and many mold companies use air testing, and those tests notoriously miss mold toxins. Hence, an excellent place to start is an ERMI (Environmental Relative Mold Index) test to perform in your home, which you can order online, or get a blood test at mymycolab.com, where they will mail the kit to you to see if you are currently being exposed. If you are being exposed to mold, having the right company discover where that mold is vital by using moisture sensors to find the areas in the home with mold and remediate is critical.
What to do if you know you have mold is essential. Your home’s typical air filter will not address the toxins that make you sick, as mold toxins are tiny. Start with an air filter like IQ Air and put it in your bedroom. Eat many cruciferous vegetables for improved detox, and drink a lot of water. Phosphatidylcholine helps your liver make bile which binds toxins and lets you get rid of them through your stool. There are also binders that can help, taken away from meals and other supplements, which will keep the toxins in the GI tract to be excreted.
Keep a very open mind when it comes to mold and the insidious role it plays in health. The more humid the climate you live in, the more of an issue it is likely to be. Knowing the answer to the air quality you’re breathing and whether it is full of mold toxins is essential to staying healthy.