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Mold, Inflammation & Iron Mold, Inflammation & Iron: Understanding the Hepcidin–Ferroportin Connection Inflammation has a direct effect on how the body transports and uses iron, and one of the central players in this process is a hormone called hepcidin. Hepcidin is produced primarily by the liver and acts as a major regulator of iron availability. One of its main targets is ferroportin, a protein that allows iron to leave cells and enter the bloodstream. Ferroportin is found

Mold vs. Mycotoxin Mold Exposure Isn’t the Same Thing as Mycotoxin Exposure When we talk about mold in a building, we're not talking about one single substance. Mold is a type of fungus. When it grows indoors, it can release or contribute to exposure to several different things, including spores, fungal fragments, allergens, cell-wall components, and microbial compounds. What Are Mold Spores? Spores are microscopic reproductive structures that molds release into the air. They

Heavy Metals and Cardiovascular Health WHAT IF HEART HEALTH ISN’T JUST ABOUT CHOLESTEROL? We spend a LOT of time talking about cholesterol, blood pressure, diet, and exercise when it comes to cardiovascular health. But there’s another piece of the environmental picture that deserves attention: TOXIC METAL EXPOSURE Lead, cadmium, arsenic, and mercury have been investigated as cardiovascular risk factors. Research has found associations between exposure to these metals and card

Gut Health & Parasites OK, someone needs to come out and say it. And mind you, this is coming from someone who healed from “IBS” (something I was told was incurable) and passed LOADS of parasite, mucus and biofilm. Some of it IS parasite! But we need to talk about the other factors too. Digestive symptoms can also be connected to: MOLD / FUNGAL ISSUES Certain environmental exposures and fungal overgrowths can affect the gut and overall immune response. DYSBIOSIS An imbalance

Toxins Everyday Sources of Toxic Exposure: Heavy Metals, Mold, PFAS, Phthalates & VOCs Understanding where exposures come from and what they can do in the body is so important. Toxins are part of our reality. We've been exposed since we were in the womb and have been exposed every day after that. So let's take a closer look at some of these toxins, where they can be found, and what effects they can have on the human body. Heavy Metals Lead Sources: Old paint and household dus

Parasite Testing WHY PARASITE TESTING CAN MISS AN INFECTION Testing for parasites isn't always as simple as providing one sample and receiving a definitive answer. Different parasites have different life cycles, and they don't all shed eggs, larvae, cysts, or other detectable material in the same way or at the same time. This can make detection more complicated than many people realize. WHY TIMING AND SAMPLE TYPE MATTER Detection can depend on several factors, including what

Heavy Metals & Blood Tests WHY SOME HEAVY METALS ARE HARDER TO DETECT A negative blood test doesn’t necessarily mean there has never been significant exposure to a heavy metal. That’s because different metals behave differently in the body. Some remain in the bloodstream for a relatively short period before being distributed into tissues or eliminated. This means timing matters. The specific metal, its chemical form, the route of exposure, and the type of biological sample be

Intestinal Barrier Your Gut Is More Than a Digestive System When we talk about the gut, we often focus on digestion: breaking down food, absorbing nutrients, and eliminating waste. But your intestinal tract is also one of the body's biggest points of contact with the outside world. Everything you eat and drink passes through it, along with countless microorganisms and other compounds. Your intestinal barrier is constantly interacting with this environment and helping regulate

MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) MSM: MORE THAN JUST A JOINT SUPPLEMENT Most people know MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) for joint and connective tissue support, but sulfur does a lot more in the body. Sulfur is involved in the structure of proteins, enzymes, and other important compounds your body relies on every day. MSM is an organic sulfur compound that provides a bioavailable source of sulfur. Sometimes the simplest nutrients are involved in some of the most important processes h

IBS & PARASITES YOUR GUT SYMPTOMS AREN’T ALWAYS “JUST IBS.” I was diagnosed with IBS years ago. Today, I no longer have IBS. During my own gut work, I passed tons of parasites, biofilm, candida, mucoid plaque and old impacted fecal matter, and that experience completely changed the way I looked at digestive symptoms. I passed most of this material during my first year of protocols. Then, during the second year, the parasites came pouring out. By then, my symptoms had already

Glutathione Glutathione: One of Your Body’s Important Defense Systems Glutathione is one of the body's major endogenous antioxidants, found throughout the body and especially important inside cells. It helps protect cells from oxidative stress and participates in several processes involved in the metabolism and elimination of certain compounds. This becomes especially interesting when we're talking about environmental exposures like heavy metals, pesticides, and other chemica

Barriers Against Toxins Your Body Has Multiple Barriers Against Toxins Your body has several different systems that help protect you from unwanted substances. They work at different stages, from the moment something enters the body to the point where it is metabolized and eliminated. The gut is one of those first barriers. The intestinal lining, mucus layer, digestive enzymes, and immune cells all play a role in controlling what gets through the digestive tract and into circ

First-Pass Effect The First-Pass Effect: How Your Gut Connects to Your Liver When you absorb something through your digestive tract, it doesn't simply circulate throughout your entire body first. Many substances absorbed from the gut travel through the portal circulation directly to the liver, where metabolism can begin before they reach the rest of the body. This is called the first-pass effect. It’s one reason the gut and liver are so closely connected when we talk about ho

Teeth & Heavy Metals Your Teeth Can Tell a Story About Heavy Metal Exposure Here's something I find absolutely fascinating: Researchers can actually analyze baby teeth to reconstruct a history of exposure to certain metals. As teeth develop, elements circulating in the body can become incorporated into the developing enamel and dentin. This includes metals such as lead, manganese, barium, cadmium, and mercury. And it gets even more interesting… Different parts of a tooth for

Parasites & the Gut Barrier Parasites & the Gut Barrier: Why the Gut Environment Matters Your gut lining isn't simply a wall between you and the outside world. It's an active barrier made up of mucus, intestinal cells, immune cells, and trillions of microorganisms all working together. Certain parasites can interact directly with the intestinal environment, influencing intestinal barrier function, mucus production, and immune signaling. That means the conversation around par

Mycotoxins & Cooking Mycotoxins Don't All Disappear When You Cook Your Food We often assume that if a food is cooked, whatever was in it beforehand is basically taken care of. With mycotoxins, it isn't that simple. Different mycotoxins have different levels of chemical stability, meaning heat can affect them very differently. Some may be reduced by certain processing methods, while others can remain relatively stable. So cooking, baking, roasting, or processing a contaminate

4 Tools for Muscle & Tissue Recovery 4 Tools for Muscle & Tissue Recovery With the move comes a LOT of muscle soreness. I live in a basement (stairs) and am moving into a second story (AGAIN, STAIRS). So these are things I've upped during this transition to make things a little easier. And I've been recovering SUPER fast. By the next day, the muscle soreness from the evening before is almost completely gone. These things have also been helping me recover from my ruptured ova

Masked Mycotoxins The Mycotoxins You May Not Be Testing For Mycotoxins are not simply toxins produced by molds growing on crops. Plants can actually chemically modify certain mycotoxins after they absorb them. These are sometimes called “masked” or modified mycotoxins. Some conventional testing methods are designed to detect the original toxin, meaning certain modified forms may not be detected in the same way. So a contaminated crop can potentially contain more than what a

Parasites & Your Gut Microbiome Your Parasites Aren’t Acting Alone: The Hidden Relationship Between Parasites and Your Gut Microbiome We tend to think of parasites as one isolated problem: Parasite → enters the body → causes symptoms. But your gut is an ecosystem. Parasites interact with the bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms living around them, and those microbes can influence the parasites too. Research suggests that these interactions can affect parasite survival,

Toxins What Happens After a Toxin Enters Your Body? | Mercury & Lead Two substances can enter the body and behave completely differently. Take mercury and lead, for example. Mercury exists in different chemical forms, and those forms behave differently in the body. Methylmercury, for example, is readily absorbed through the digestive tract and can cross the blood-brain barrier. The body eventually eliminates it primarily through feces, but elimination can be relatively slow.