86: Mold & Nutrition w/Ashley Iovinelli - What to eat, what to avoid, and what supports detoxifying

Hello again, everyone, and welcome to today's show. If you're one of the 130 million people that are dealing with Sirs Lyme disease, autoimmune disease, or other conditions that are impacted by mold on a daily basis, and you need to learn how to eliminate that exposure, then you're in the right place. My name is Brian Carr, and you're listening to Mold Finders Radio.

All right, everyone, what's going on? Got another episode coming at you today. I'm actually chatting with Ashley Ivanelli earlier. Was it this week or last week? Last week, we did a. We did an IG Live together, and I had such a good time that I asked if she wanted to be on the podcast. And it was. It was really cool because she talks about a whole other side of the world business that I don't talk about, which is the food that you're eating. And I thought that would be a really cool kind of change of pace for everybody. So Ashley, she's a certified integrative nutrition coach, and she owns the company Wheatgrass Warrior. You could also find her on Instagram. It's eatgrasswarrior. And, Ashley, what's up?

Hey, how's it going? Thanks so much for having me. I'm excited to talk again. I think last week, I learned a lot. You know, sometimes you don't even realize how much you can learn. You think you know a lot about a topic, and it just expands. So I thought it was great, and I'm happy to be back.

Yeah, I'm excited for it to, like, flip today. So now I get to sit back and learn about all the stuff I'm putting in my body, and hopefully it's not disastrous.

So. So you're on the hot seat today instead of me.

All right, so to jump into it, maybe just give, like, a quick little background just so people kind of know who you are, what you do, and why we should care what you have to say, I guess, like, why we should listen.

All right, yeah, sounds good. So I'm a certified integrative nutrition coach. I had a health journey. Well, I think we all have a health journey at some point that we go through. Um, so my health kind of came crashing down about five years ago. Um, I ended up being diagnosed with neurological Lyme disease, and everything in my life changed from there. And it was actually through that whole health crisis that I was diagnosed with mold toxicity, which was something that I had really never heard of. I obviously, I've heard of a mold allergy. I was always told growing up that I had mold allergies, couldn't take penicillin. There was some other things that would react. So I. I knew that I had issues with mold, but I didn't understand that there was this whole other aspect and that you could have, like, very serious health issues from mold exposure. So that was kind of the entryway into that, this whole side of things.

Once I found out that I have. That I had mold toxicity, I was like, well, what does this mean? How can I, you know, treat this? That was really, you know, my biggest thing was I need to figure out what we can do so that way I can get this mold out of my body. Because it really. I don't know, it kind of creeps me out to this day, day to think that we can have mold in our body. I just. I don't know. I. I have a hard time.

I've been learning. I've been learning a lot of things that could be in your body recently that are very creepy, even beyond the mold piece.

Oh, yeah. Parasites and all that. I know now it's like you don't even want to. You don't even want to think about it all.

I know, I know I'm in the middle of the parasite piece myself. It's like, ew. All right, here we go.

Um, yeah, so that's, you know, that's the short version of how I was kind of introduced to the whole concept of mold toxicity. Because what happened is I had been doing so much in my healing journey with Lyme disease, and being that I work in nutrition, that side of things, I was doing everything possible, nutrition wise, you know, to support my body, to make sure that I was protecting my gut health during my treatment. Because Lyme disease treatment can be really rigorous. It's hard on the body. There's a lot of detoxing involved. There's medications, even, you know, strong herbs that can really just kind of knock you down. So I was trying to do everything I could, you know, the knowledge that I had from nutrition, but something wasn't clicking, and we just weren't able to really get to where we wanted to be. And so that's when we started running more tests and kind of exploring other avenues as to, like, why I wasn't healing as quick as we would like. Now, I want to preface and say, if you're diagnosed with Lyme disease or if someone does have a chronic health journey they're going on, I would recommend looking into mold toxicity first. You know, I don't. I don't have regrets, obviously, I can't change the past, but from what I've learned looking into mold toxicity as soon as possible, I think it can really save people from going through even more devastation and suffering if they find this out early on. So that way they can properly start supporting their body and making sure that they're not being exposed to more mold and to kind of getting stuck in that cycle, you know, exposure and detox, and it's just. It can turn into like, an endless loop.

Yeah, that's always the thing that I've heard from all the functional docs that I know as well. It's. And I've worked with people with Lyme autoimmune, even people that have cancer that has been attributed to mold exposure. And it's. It's always. The first thing is, is you got to stop, like, for some reason, that's the foundational piece. And I don't know the health side of it enough to, like, know exactly why, but. But it's like, if that is there, then everything else can never really get where it needs to be because that piece is there. It's almost like you have to start at that point as ground zero and then kind of move on. Is kind of what I've. What I've gathered from folks, too.

Yeah, absolutely. And I. From my understanding, it's. Mold is really. Can be. Right. I want to also preface, like, not everybody who comes into contact with mold is going to have severe issues, but to those who are susceptible or who are going through something like Lyme or another chronic illness, it can be really hard on the immune system. And that's what we found out through my journey as well, because I, after all is said and done, was left with immune deficiencies. So something called subclass immune deficiency, where my immune system doesn't have enough. We have these igg markers in our immune system, and we have different subclasses of them, and that all. It's all the building blocks that make up our defense. And my levels of two of those subclasses are very low. So that's something that can really.

The rest of your life. It's something that I have to constantly be aware of and to support my immune system. There's more. There's some people do IVIG for it that was brought up before. And there's. There's obviously ways that you can work around it, but mold is serious, and I think it's what it does to the immune system, and that inflammatory response is what really gets people down.

Yeah, I had. I had Brennan Vermeer on last week or two weeks ago. I don't remember, a few episodes ago. And he. He gave this awesome example, like, visual example of what is happening with that chronic inflammation. And he basically said. He's like, you have to think of it like this cleansing fire that your body just spreads throughout your. You know, to try to get rid of everything. But the problem is, is that the fire doesn't only target the bad stuff. It's literally like you're just setting something on fire, and it's just burning all of it. It's like. And when that happens, then, like, it messes with your gut lining and messes with your brain barriers and, like, all the other things, but. And kind of opens all that stuff up to get hit. So I thought that was a really good analogy that it gave, because I hadn't really heard that before.

Yeah, no, actually, that's awesome that. I mean, that is a good visual for what it does. And I can say my inflammation levels. So they do this one test, and I'm not a doctor, so I don't want to sound like. I know. I'm not trying to overstep my practice or anything, but I know from my own experience. Experience as a patient when I had one of my tests done for what's called a C4Amarker, which is a specific. Yeah. Inflammatory marker. When my. When my doctor called, she's like, Your result was 12,800, which is just like, very, very high. You're looking for. You want people to be. I think, like, some people will get a response and the lower hundreds. And so she was like, how are you even, like, functioning at, you know, the level that I was. Because, like you said, it was like my body was almost on fire just with this. With this systemic inflammation, so. You're absolutely right about that analogy.

Yeah. So you said a couple of things. Like, before we get into the fun mold stuff, maybe we'll wait at the end so people have a reason to sit around and listen. Although there's gonna be lots of good stuff.

Keep them hooked. Yeah.

Yeah. Here's. Here's the. Here's the teaser for segment C. Is we're gonna talk about molds that have mycotoxins in them and what you might not want to eat coming next. Okay, so you said something about you were trying to eat to support your gut health before you knew that there was a mole problem. I'm, like, super curious. Just. Let's take mold out of the equation. Right? You're just trying to, like, support a healthy gut because we all know, kind of, you know, the gut is.

Maybe the most important thing that's happening in your body from like your immune system perspective, how it's connected to the brain and all these other places. So what just mold aside, you were trying to kind of, you know, deal with the line piece and you're trying to do some things to support gut health through, through nutrition and diet. What are some of like, like three of the top things or something that, that somebody could take out of this that would be helpful for someone? Just generally.

Yeah. So there's obviously an array of things you can do to help support your gut, but some of the main things and some of the things that I utilize and still utilize even into today, the one thing that I think is important is making sure that you're eating real food. Now, obviously you're not. I'm, you know, we can't just like have everything come from our own garden. Right. Like that's comprehensive. So eating real food means when I say that, I mean trying to eat like plant based foods. And if you're going to eat meat and seafood, make sure it's high quality stuff. Make sure you know the source of where your meat's coming from. And so then that includes the high quality meats and seafoods and then lots of fruits and vegetables and also focusing on different categories of food that can support your gut. So eating prebiotic foods, which just to kind of give a little explanation on what prebiotics are. So I think most people have heard of probiotics, right? That's like the supplements that a lot of people take a supplement for probiotics, because that helps. That is the good bacteria in your gut. And you want to make sure that you have a good balance of that. So people will take probiotics to help support that. Well, prebiotics help to feed the probiotics. So some examples of foods with prebiotics, bananas are one. There's things like garlic, onion. I'm trying to think off the top of my head. I mean there's, there's a whole, you can like get a whole list of foods that have prebiotics in them and those will help to support and feed the good bacteria in your gut. So not only do you need those probiotics, but you need the prebiotics as well. And. Let's see. And then, you know, going off of that. Another important element that I think a lot of people kind of downplay because it's just, it seems so simple, is fiber. I can't, you know, talk enough about the benefits of fiber, especially when you're going through a chronic illness or some type of treatment, because that is going to help keep your digestion healthy and moving so that you can get these toxins and, you know, mold parasites. Right. Like whatever, whatever you're trying to get out of your body so that you can make sure your digestion is properly doing its job to move those out of your body.

Yeah. So that's like something that I've heard a lot when I've talked to the various smart health people that I get to talk to, luckily, is that if you're starting to detox and you're going through this process, if you're not, if you're not pooping every day, then there's nowhere for it to go.

Very true.

All this stuff and then it just stays in there and it kind of spreads around again. So that piece is really, really important too, from everything I've heard. So that's cool. You know that there's so much gut stuff that, that we see. Like mold is pretty hot right now, I feel like. But I also feel like the gut stuff is getting a lot of, you know, a lot of play as well. And a lot of times like, you know, posts and things that we're seeing, a lot of stuff is like super top line. You know, it's like, hey, this is a problem. And then it's. That's it. Like, so it's, it's nice to kind of hear some things that you could actually do to solve that problem. You know what I mean? So that was, that was cool. When I heard you say that, I wanted to jump on that. So one other thing I heard you say that I wrote down was.

You'Re talking about supporting the immune system. Is there, are there foods? Is there something you could do diet wise or is it really kind of tied to gut or not that. That are like more immune system type, you know, supporting types of things that you could be putting in your body.

For. Just in general.

Yeah, I think just. Yeah, just in general.

Yeah. So I have, I guess I have to be careful how I word this because you get in trouble if you say that like a certain food will, you know, help your immunity, especially nowadays like on social media and stuff. So I just want to kind of, you know, skate around the wording on that. But yes, I think. And it's not so much like eat this food and your immune system will be stronger. It's more so like there's certain way, certain types of food groups you can eat. Right. That will bring in the vitamins, the antioxidants. So for example, like I would call it supportive foods for healing or for supporting your immune system. So things like leafy greens, kale, those have vitamin K, which is really important. Selenium, that's an antioxidant that I think is not talked about enough. It's so important for your immune system for detoxing. And that's found in garlic and onions. That's two of the big foods it's found in. Let's see, what else? Essential fatty acids, so important for your immune health, also helps support your liver function, which all ties in, right? Because if your liver is not functioning at an optimal level, then your immune system is going to be impacted by that most likely. And so you can find those fatty acids in things like avocado, fish, you know, good quality fish, spinach flax seeds, green beans. So, and there's, you know, many others, but that's kind of some of the main ones. What else? Another important one I would say is the cruciferous vegetables because those help to regulate that anti inflammatory pathway and they can also help your body to. With the antioxidant glutathione, which I'm sure most people have heard of. It's so important not only for when you're dealing with mold issues, but for your immune system and your detox in general. Glutathione is something that I can't stress enough. Let's see what else we talked about. Fiber. So I would also say fiber is crucial, you know, for helping to bind and release those toxins. And then I mean, yeah, it's just about. And then eating, like I said, that wide array of fruits and vegetables because when you eat color. So I always tell people like eat the rainbow. That used to be kind of this tagline. It's kind of cheesy but you know, like makes me think of lucky charms or something like that. But, but yeah, so it's true though because each, I don't know, this is, it's a very simple fact, but not a lot of people realize that each color of a fruit or vegetable, the different colors contain different antioxidants or vitamins. So that's why it's important to eat, you know, eat have color on your plate because the purple or the bluish color in blueberries, you know, those antocyanins, anthocyanins, I'm probably pronouncing that wrong, but it's the antioxidants in there that are important. And then when you eat, for example, carrots that beta carotene in that orange color has its own sets of anti, that's an antioxidant. And then the different vitamins you get from carrots. Right. So really it is very like basic. But eating the rainbow can definitely help to support your immune system and your overall health.

Yeah, that's awesome. There's things in there that I didn't know, so that's cool.

You mentioned something about vitamin K and it got me thinking as a nutritionist, do people. Because you work one on one with people in some capacity?

Yeah, yeah. Not as much as I used to. A lot has changed with 2020 and I'm kind of shifting more towards more group stuff and more programs that people can access on their own time. But yes, I do still have that, you know, one on one opportunity.

Yeah. The reason I ask is I imagine, like, if people are coming to you, you know, you're obviously kind of like working with them on their nutrition and kind of figuring stuff out. Does, does the topic of like vitamin deficiencies or mineral deficiencies come up? And if it does, like, what do you see that people are most often deficient in?

Oh, gosh. So I would say, well, so first of all too, I just want to make sure I clarify for people so I don't do like testing for that kind of thing. So, you know, typically that's something that they would figure out with their practitioner, their doctor or their nurse practitioner, or whatever type of medical, you know, professional that they're working with is they can run different blood tests. And I would say, like, I don't know, and this is just me throwing out like, my opinion, but I would say probably like 95% of people who have, you know, mold toxicity or Lyme disease or one of those chronic illnesses have some type of, you know, deficiencies in terms of the vitamin and minerals. So I think that that's one of the first things that I think people should address because here's the thing. When you find out, okay, you're deficient in. And I would say the top ones are probably D.B12 is one that sneaks up on people. And so the B, B12, B6 and the B vitamins would be another group. And those are the two vitamins that you usually see deficiencies in. And the thing is, okay, you find out you're deficient in vitamin B, well, you can't just like take a vitamin B supplement and then like the next day your levels are like, you know, where they should be. So the sooner you find out on that, you know, Then you can start altering your diet or, you know, adding in those high quality supplements. So, so that way you can get started sooner on replenishing those levels because the sooner you do that, like, the sooner you're gonna, you know, your immune system will be supported so you can heal quicker.

Yeah, that's cool. I've been thinking myself of. I want to get like a vitamin and mineral sort of look at what's happening with me too. So that was, that was a question for me. Took one for myself there.

No, I mean, I'm glad, I'm glad you did because I think people downplay the seriousness of vitamin deficiencies and I'll just share like a quick little tidbit from my own experience.

So I, when I was back going through Lyme disease treatment, I started to have some more severe like nerve and neurological issues. And a lot of stuff was going on with like, my legs, like a lot of numbness and tingling, loss of feeling to the point where it was getting to be quite scary because, you know, there's, you can get numb and then there's like loss of feeling. And it's, it's two different things. And it's very scary when that happens. And I was having like a lot of weakness in my legs and my muscles. And I actually ended up, I was going to the grocery store and. And I just completely fell in the parking lot. Like, my legs just like gave out. Like, it was the most bizarre and also scary at the time. It's just like I didn't trip over anything. My legs just completely, like, it was like jello. They just, literally just gave out. And so it was that week that we found out I had a pretty severe B12 deficiency, that my body just wasn't.

Wasn'T, you know, producing what it should or wasn't getting it from food. And I'll tell you something interesting on that. That was around the time that I also was recommended by someone to go vegan. Now I'm not dissing vegan. I think there's, you know, I think bio, individuality. We all have our. I think all. Everybody is different and the needs vary. So some people can thrive on that way of eating. For me, it didn't work out. And that's when they were like, you have like, no B12. I mean, my level was so low, it was like ridiculous. I had to go on injections for I think like six months. And then still intermittently, they have me do them from time to time. So, yeah, I mean, it's vitamins, we think, like oh, I'll just take a vitamin. It'll be fine. But if we. Artificial things can get scary, and it can really impact, like, the different processes, especially neurological, like, in your body.

Yeah, yeah. It's. It's something that's definitely been on my radar. I've, like, I have this whole list. I should just, like, screenshot it and send it out of everything. I want to get tested on myself. Like, I want. It's like this big, long list of stuff, and that was one of the things on there, because I just kind of want to know where everything is, you know? So. Yeah, that's cool. I'm glad that we're able to touch on that one. For me, I wasn't planning on asking you this, but you just said something that made me think of it. I was in a clubhouse room the other day, and the group was talking about different diets based on blood type. So it was like a medical group that was, like, talking about that, and they were saying that I forget what. I don't know what blood type it was with it. Like, they're more set up, like, physiologically to be eating more meat versus, like, a different blood type is more set up to be. Is there anything to that? Like, I don't know. I just thought I'd ask because you brought it. You brought up, like, how vegan might not be good for everyone.

Yeah. So, you know, there will always be. Some people will say, oh, well, you know, that's not right. There's two sides of it. Some people swear by it. Then I've heard some people say, like, oh, you know, that's not true. But I'll tell you in my own experience. Experience and through my education, we learned a little bit about it as well. But I did this nutrition DNA test, and they went through and they give you, like, a list of, like, based on your blood type and what they found in the test. Like, what foods best work for your body and your unique DNA. And I will say, like, in that test, too, a lot of the things that came back, like, were very in line with what it says, because I'm type O, I'm O negative. So, you know, meat is a big one. Like, you know, red meat. And it's interesting because I. So after I did this test with my doctor, you know, I was like, well, I don't eat a lot of red meat. And they're like, well, maybe you should just try to add it in and, like, you know, see what happens. And I started eating a little bit more red meat. I mean, I'm not, like, you know, having red meat every day or anything like that. Not trying to get gout? No. So I did start to kind of. I, like, rarely ever ate red meat, and I would be, like, eating chicken and turkey and things like that. And so I started to incorporate it, and I don't know. It's just kind of stuck with me, and I feel like my body just. I don't know. It. It. It, you know, goes with my body, and it works. So I don't know. Again, I just think we do. Based on genetics, based on health history. Right. Like, what other, you know, health issues have you been through? I think there is something to it. I'm not saying I don't think it works for everybody, but I think some components of it, like, are true. Are definitely true for some people.

Oh, that's cool. I. I thought it was interesting, too. And then I realized I don't know if this is bad or not. I don't even know what blood type I am. So I'm listening to this thing they're talking about, like, the different foods, see, And I was like, wait, what's my blood? Oh, my God. I don't even know.

Do you know now or.

No, no, not yet. I just. On. In fairness, I just listened to this, like, a week and a half ago, so I. You know, it hasn't been forever, right? But I'm sure I have it somewhere.

I'm sure somewhere that might be. That might be your. One of your first blood tests to do.

Yeah. Hey, what type. What is your blood here? Blood test. Go step number one.

All right, so let's get into the main event here. So you're. You're working on this mold nutrition guide, right?

Yes.

So. So maybe talk about, like, what this is, because I think it's pretty cool, and so maybe just kind of want to go into, like. Like, what's in there and what to look for.

Sure. Yeah. So I'm working on releasing what's called a low. Well, the low Mold nutrition support guide. And basically, it is an accumulation of information regarding mycotoxins in food and dozens of recipes and ways that you can apply. Apply those principles to your actual lifestyle and eating. So instead of just, like, giving people the information, it helps to go into the specifics, including a grocery list. So it's like 21 days, like, three weeks worth of done for you, you know, entire day with meals and snacks, everything. So if you wanted to just, you know, eat everything in there, the grocery list is there. So you just take it to the store, get everything on there and you would be set to cook, you know, all your meals for that week. And I think there's one. So I give Sundays as like a floater day because I know, you know, being practical, sometimes people go out to eat or things change. So people can kind of have some flexibility and you know, bring their own touch to that. But yeah, I really wanted to make a resource that is tangible and, you know, usable because I think there's so much information out there. You know, you can go and read books and websites and things like that about mold and about mycotoxins and how it relates to food. But I didn't really find anything that was hands on that people can take and apply it to their lifestyle. And I think that's where there's a disconnect for a lot of people is like they really want to make a change or they really want to take action in these areas. But it's really difficult to make that happen. I mean, let's be honest, especially like in today's society, right? Like we're pulled in a hundred different directions and we all have so much going on. When you have a chronic illness, I mean, that illness is like your full time job, you know, at some points during it. So I understand all that and I just wanted to make a resource that makes, you know, is an easy way for people to kind of combat this area and to learn about mycotoxins and then actually cater their eating, you know, towards that for a little bit and then see if, you know, see if it is something they want to continue with or maybe it's something some people just do for, you know, a shorter period of time. But like I said, you know, everybody is different. And so it also takes that into consideration.

Yeah, I think this is super cool because I've heard a lot of just all the different conferences and stuff I go to and this and that of like you kind of hear one offs of like, yeah, well everybody knows a corn has mycotoxins in it. Don't eat that. And then it's like, well, everybody knows that like wine is like all the crappy moldy grapes, so don't drink that. And you like hear these random things. But it's never been put in a way where it's like, okay, these are the things I should not be having. Like, these are the things, right? So like, I guess my first question on all of it is, is how did, how did you even go about figuring out like what are like the high mycotoxin Probability foods versus not. Like was that information out there or we just didn't know how to find it.

So I knew a little bit about it based on my own journey because when I. So when I did my testing for mycotoxins a couple years ago, when it told, told me the type of mycotoxins that I have, that's what actually first started getting me interested in this because it came back that I had high levels of ochratoxin A, which can be from, you know, water damaged buildings, things like that, but also it can be in food. And so that's what got me. You know, with my nutrition background, I obviously, you know, I knew like food could be moldy, but honestly it wasn't an area that I. I don't know, I just, it was right in front of me, but I never really thought about it. So that's when I kind of started doing some research. And I mean, I guess there's not. Let's just say there's not like one direct resource you can go to to find that information.

Some of the government websites do have some information about it, surprisingly, because like, again, it's a nutrition topic. So I'm surprised that it's, you know, it is talked about a little bit. But yeah, I've read, you know, a lot of different books and things like that over the years. So it was really kind of an accumulation of, you know, knowledge from different areas.

Yeah, that's super cool. That's why you put something like this together. Because it's not there and people want it. This is something that would be super interesting. You know, it's so funny what you said. Just like random side topic is that there, there is stuff on mycotoxins in food on governmental websites. Yet the idea that mycotoxins are a problem in, in the house, just in the indoor environment is like blasphemous. Yeah. That they're actually like doing things and showing that it's in food. It's kind of silly.

Yeah. Isn't that wild? No. And I actually have, I have this. You would be. Okay. So I actually have a direct. There was like a direct quote from the World Health Organization that even said mycotoxins in food could pose a serious health threat to humans and livestock. And I was just like, what? You know, like that acknowledgement. So they have a whole page on like the WHO website about this topic and I was just like. Yeah, I was really surprised too because a lot of the doctors, you know, don't really know about it in terms of the seriousness and the impact it can have on health. So it was surprising to me. I agree with you.

That's so crazy. I know. It's just. It's just so funny, like, how the system is just kind of, like, slow.

Yes.

I'll go.

Yeah. Like 20 years behind.

Yeah, yeah.

If we're lucky, it's hopefully our lifetime.

I know, I know. Okay, cool. So. So there's this kind of. This thing that you're putting together with. With, like, people could follow step by step or it kind of breaks down, I would imagine, like, the foods that are more problematic. Maybe some foods that are not problematic. Something like that. Is it kind of set up like that, too?

Yes. So it has a list of foods that are supportive. Supportive if you're trying to heal again. Now, this is like a general list because everybody has their own unique health history they bring to the table, so you may have to cater it more, even, you know, narrow it down more. But I have a list of supportive foods if you're healing from mold toxicity and. And I call them, like, low mold. It's like my low mold nutrition list because it's foods that are going to be supportive for the immune system and supportive for, you know, if you're dealing with inflammation, but then also making sure you're not eating foods that have, like, really high levels of mycotoxins, which could be basically, like, hindering, you know, what you're trying to heal.

And then. So then I also have the list of, like, what I would call high mold or high mycotoxin foods. You know, categories of foods that tend to have the highest levels of mycotoxins found. Because any food can get mold in it. Right. I mean, that's like, same with, like, any home. Right. So this is just kind of the higher and lower, you know, of the. Of the lists out there.

Yeah. So do you want. Do you want to give us, like, three of each?

Yeah, sure. So let's see if. I'm just trying to think here. Okay. So for what I would call, like, the low mold nutrition list. So supportive foods that can be nourishing. Lower levels of mycotoxins. Oh, and the other key one is lower in sugar. And I'm glad that I just remembered that, because sugar feeds mold and mycotoxins and a lot of other stuff. So that's another one. So, for example, some things on that list would be.

Kale, bell peppers, cucumber, and then for like, nuts and seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, chia seeds, healthy fats and oils. Would be like avocado, coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, lower sugar fruits, berries, apples.

Let's see what else like pears, peaches and then your proteins. And again, everybody has a different way of eating. So I will just say that this particular nutrition guide and these lists do include animal products obviously like that. You know, if somebody is vegetarian or vegan they could alter things. But on this list of supportive foods I do have like organic and pasture raised protein, chicken, beef, eggs, poultry, bison and like wild caught seafood. So those are some examples of like the animal based protein proteins. Again, high quality, organic, pasture raised. Those details are important when you're dealing with the mycotoxin aspect of food.

Awesome. You gave me way more.

Sorry. I know a little long winded.

Don't be sorry. I think people are going to be happy they got more. I was trying to save some, I was trying to make people go get it.

Okay. Okay, so let's do a few of the high one now.

Yeah. So the high, you know, food groups that tend to have the highest mold content are cheeses and dairy and milk products, which I honestly like before I got sick I ate a lot of cheese. So that one's disappointing. And then edible, you know, mushrooms, things like that. Those are, that's a pretty obvious one.

Yeast. So like breads and products with gluten.

Typically aren't very supportive when you're healing from this type of illness. So that group, you know, yeast breads, gluten, that whole kind of category. Right, like breads, pastas, things like that. And then you mentioned like the wine, grape juice, wine and then like fermented, you know, beverages and then just another interesting one. So in terms of like the nuts category, cashews and peanuts, that's another big one that is in so many products, especially people who eat dairy free cashews are in a lot of like, can be in some dairy free products and recipes.

Yeah, I, we played around with dairy free because my, my wife was breastfeeding the first time around. We, we, our daughter was having like a dairy sensitivity so we had to cut it out. So we played around with that and like the cashew cheese, it could be better. Yeah, I know it's not the real.

Thing, but you know what, there's some good almond ones. There is like some amazing almond cheese products that our family like we swear by. So it's not all bad.

What about, what about somebody's eating like gluten free pasta or like gluten free bread things? Does that, is that okay or no?

Well again so different, you know, doctors or nutritionists or experts are probably gonna have different differing opinions. So my take on it is that those types of starches, right, like starch, sugar, I mean, that it's still a form of sugar, right. But there's certain types of those starches that I think is okay for people to enjoy in what I would call moderation. So, you know, your brown rice, pastas, quinoa, things like that. I think that having that in moderation is okay if, if somebody's like eating that all day long. While that might pose a problem, because I think also people kind of tend to think that gluten free foods mean that they're health foods, which is definitely. That's false, unfortunately. You know, gluten free foods can have high, you know, sugar content, and so it can actually do more harm than good if people are overeating in those categories.

So many things. Well, and that. And, and I mean, that's the thing. I don't want this to be overwhelming either. So it's kind of like, take what resonates, right? And because I learned from my own journey, right, from working with people and from me being on the patient side of things, like, you have to make this be a lifestyle that works for you. And if you're going to be like, worried about what you can and can't eat and you're stressed, like, it's not going to work. So if something doesn't resonate and you tolerate it and you don't think it's an issue, then you know, by all means, like, enjoy it. Right? Because everybody is. Everyone's got their own, you know, their own gut health history. And we all, we're all different. So.

Yeah, yeah, for sure. I'm. I'm doing the gluten free thing right now as I'm dealing with some gut stuff. So again, another. I took a question for myself there.

There you go again.

Listen, that's the benefit of it being here to ask whatever you want. Sure.

All right. Well, I think that's kind of. That kind of went through a lot of what I wanted to talk about. Is there any kind of last thoughts or anything that you want to throw out there for folks on the mold nutrition front?

Let me think. You know, the other main topic that I would just say is important in terms of like a low mold nutrition lifestyle would be oxalates. So not. And I just want to preface on this one, not everybody who has mold toxicity has issues with oxalates. So this would be something that's very unique to Your situation and if you have issues. So oxalates are basically these crystalline molecules that we can absorb from our diet or can be produced by infection. And this includes like yeast and fungal overgrowth. So if you have too many oxalates that accumulate in your body, then it can possibly cause more inflammation for some people. Not all people, though. So again, this is like very dependent on your situation, your inflammation levels, all of that. So they can also in some people, the other side of it is oxalates, like too many in your body. Certain people are more prone to kidney stones. So you might have heard of that before. Like, if somebody had kidney stones, then they might be told to avoid foods higher in oxalates. So one of those is like spinach.

Another one is raspberries. Certain and raspberries is on the lower end of the high spectrum, but like soy products, Cashews is another one, beets, dates. So those are some foods with higher oxalates that I'm also keeping out of the recipes in this guide because I'm just trying to kind of take that into consideration for people who might be more sensitive to those.

That's awesome. I actually had never heard about that until you reminded me. I forgot to even ask you about that. We talked earlier about it.

That's amazing. I think there's a lot of awesome stuff here. Listen, this is just like the tip of the iceberg from everything you're putting together.

Let everybody know where to find you and where to keep an eye out for this thing.

Yeah. So I'm hoping that this nutrition guide will be out in the coming, I would say in the next two weeks here. And the best way to keep in touch so you'll know when the release date is, is my website wheatgrass warrior.com or on Instagram. My handle is Wheatgrass Underscore Warrior. And I will update you guys and I'll let you know exactly how you can get the guide when it's going to be coming out. And like I said, it's going to include this, you know, important information about, you know, about mycotoxins in food, these lists, like high oxalate foods, low mold or supportive foods, and then the high mold foods. So it'll have all those lists, but then it's also going to have three weeks worth of a meal plan, grocery list, dozens of recipes, and the recipes have the nutrition breakdown in there and tips. So this thing is like, definitely packed with a lot of great info and very like, usable info. So I hope that it is able to help people and kind of cut down on some of the research and you know, all of that extra time that, you know, I know people have to spend spend to get this info and have it be applicable.

Yeah. When you think about the amount of time that you spend researching all of these things that we have to research, I mean, I don't know what you're going to price is that. You don't have to tell me but. Because if you don't know yet. But the thing is, is that like when you look at like how much time you're spending and if you just thought of your time as like, this is what, this is my, like my cost per hour of my time is like value to yourself. And then you look at something that has all the information that you need put together, it's easy for you, right? You're like, oh, wow, this, this saves me 10 hours of research. What is that worth to me? Like what is my hour per time worth? You know, and he kind of put it that way. That's how I look at everything. I'm like, I'm like, okay, if this saves me this amount of time, this is what I value my time at. It's worth me paying for it. And that's literally how I think of almost every decision I make. I'm buying stuff.

I mean, it's true though. But I will say this is gonna be something that I consider to be affordable. I want it to be a way to kind of work with a nutrition professional without having to have like an actual one on one program. So, you know, it's packed with lots of great info, dozens of recipes that can be used over and over. But it's a price point that is going to be very affordable. So that way, you know, it's just more accessible for people because I know these costs add up. I was there. So I know, you know, healing from these types of illnesses, it can, it can be, you know, equivalent to somebody's salary, you know, for the year. So I want to make sure it's something that people can afford and have access to.

Well, that's amazing. It's going to be an awesome resource for people. So go follow Ashley. She's going to give you the heads up when this stuff is ready to go and you can check it out. And Ashley, thank you so much for taking time. You are the first kind of nutrition focused mold topic thing that I've done.

So glad to be here and thank you so much for having me.

Of course. Awesome.

Sounds good, thanks.

So that's it, it for today's show, everyone. Thanks so much for tuning in. If you enjoyed the show, please take a moment and subscribe and give a rating wherever you get your podcast. It'll help spread the word to those who really need it the most.