Have you ever experienced a symptom or condition related to hormonal imbalance like mood swings, brain fog, PMS, PMDD, endometriosis, infertility, irregular periods, fibroids, night sweats, hot flashes, low libido, acne, PCOS, etc, only to be given “solutions” like Hormone Replacement Therapy or some sort of birth control without your practitioner ever truly identifying and addressing the deeper root causes at play?
I went through this for years. I dealt with amenorrhea, irregular periods, ovarian cysts. and estrogen dominance. OB-GYNs, nurses, and even functional MDs provided me with countless different options for contraceptives, as well as progesterone cream, without actually taking the time to get to the root causes problems at hand.
And I see this time and time again in my clinic. My clients come to me having had previous practitioners who got so dialed in on hormone replacement therapy, birth control, and even some natural hormone-supporting supplements or nutritional modifications that emphasized the macro and micronutrients that best support hormonal balance…but ultimately ignored the toxins that actually disrupt their hormones. So they are months, or typically years, into those treatments/protocols and they’re STILL not feeling better.
An important piece of the hormone health conversation pertains to the hormone-disrupting toxins that we are exposed to on a daily basis. And if we don’t start making them part of mainstream medical conversations, both women AND men are going to have a hard time finding any type of true hormonal balance.
Xenoestrogens, toxins that have estrogen-mimicking effects, are some of the biggest influencers in hormonal imbalance. They can be found in plastics, pesticides, insecticides, parabens in our personal care products, petrochemicals in our tap water, phthalates in our food packaging, and more. But one of the xenoestrogens I see talked about the least but influences my clients the most is MOLD with estrogenic properties!
Mold & Your Hormones
I remember a few years ago, I ran a Mycotoxin (mold toxin) Urinalysis Panel on my one client, Katie, as we were running several functional medicine labs to better identify the root causes of her chronic fatigue, brain fog, bloating, and mold swings. As we were reviewing her results that showed several elevated mycotoxins, she shared with me that her previous practitioner (who was also in the functional medicine space) told her that it would be “impossible” for her to have mycotoxins in her system. My client had been struggling for years with her chronic health challenges, suspecting that there may be mold in her condo that was contributing to her issues, but her previous practitioner gaslit her into thinking that there was NO WAY mold could be an issue.
Let’s take the mycotoxin, Zearalenone, for example.
Zearalenone (ZEA) is technically an estrogenic mycotoxin, meaning it mimics estrogen and can actually bind to the SAME receptors as estrogen can… that’s a problem! ZEA is a food-prone mold toxin found in maize and other cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, sorghum, rye, and wheat (note: whether a food is organic or not, it can still have mold).
ZEA exposure has been tied to infertility, bleeding problems, immune and endocrine system issues, and beyond.
In vivo studies have shown how ZEA can influence ovulation rates in animals.
ZEA has also been found to have the potential to cause cell proliferation in women with endometriosis who do not have sufficient estrogen levels. It can potentially exacerbate the condition by “stepping in” with its own estrogenic properties, binding to estrogen receptors, and worsening the condition.
And ZEA is just ONE type of mycotoxin. Mold exposure as a whole also impairs liver function, one of the primary organs responsible for healthy hormone metabolism.
Estrogen dominance, an incredibly common condition among women it today’s world, is also linked to mold, leading to symptoms like brain fog, fatigue, anxiety, depression, bloating, mood swings, hair loss, insomnia, low libido, and more. You likely have a congested liver with impaired function due to toxins like mold and other environmental toxins, and some sludgy bile affecting hormone metabolite excretion and detox as a whole!
So why are the majority of practitioners failing to even consider mold as a potential root cause?
We can thank our conventional medicine education system for that! Unfortunately, even though the studies are out there, it takes an average of 17 years from the time a study is done until its actually put into conventional medicine practice. And even then, many of these facts get bull-dozed or completely swept under the rug by the mainstream medical curriculums funded by Big Pharma. most aren’t trained to think outside of the standard education they have received. Don’t worry – that’s what we’re here for. Just like Katie did, if you are serious about getting to the root causes and finding solutions to the health problems that your doctors have dismissed, let’s chat.
Potential Next Steps for Addressing Mold Toxicity
Here are a few things you can do right now to start educating yourself a bit more on mold and supporting the detox process.
- Find more general education on mold, including tips for a low-mold diet, general ways to support your body’s ability to detox mold, etc via my “Mold” Highlight Bubble on Instagram.
- Focus on getting your drainage pathways open FIRST before pushing comprehensive detox of mold or any other toxin. You can get instant access to my 3 Day Drainage Clinic HERE to get you started.
- If you are ready to get the utmost clarity and take a fully bio-individualized approach to identifying and addressing all root cause variables at play with your hormone imbalances and other symptoms, including mold and beyond, scheduling your 1 on 1 comprehensive consultation is the next best step for you!
We’re here to help you heal!
Rooting for you, always.
Lyss
