Modern Toxins vs. Ancestral Health: How Mold and Lyme Disease Disrupt Wellness with Dr. Brandy Cummings

Welcome back to Everyday Ancestral. I'm your host, James Barry. This episode is for all of you, for all those people that have ever felt forgotten by conventional medicine. Sadly, sometimes the system is broken. And in the case of our guest, Dr. Brandy Cummings, well, she is not your typical nutritionist. Let's just put it that way. She is a former blackjack dealer who routinely chooses steak over quinoa, roasted veggies over kale chips, and most importantly, she understands her passion for root cause-focused nutrition stems from her own struggles with illness, infertility, and feeling forgotten by conventional medicine. After overcoming severe mold exposure that triggered the loss of her first pregnancy, Dr. Brandy explored every corner of improving cellular health. She researched overlooked causes of chronic illness, such as mold, parasites, reactivated viral infections, and a dysregulated nervous system, and was alarmed at the lack of continuous care offered by the conventional model. Please enjoy our next guest, Dr. Brandy Cummings.

Thank you. I'm so excited to be here.

First, let's just talk about everyone in the health field. There's a why. What was the driver or the linchpin that, you know, made you kind of go, this is my mission. I need to do this in life.

It started when I was a teenager and I was having really severe chest pain that was interfering with my ability to get a full breath. And this really freaked my mom out. Right. And she would take me to the ER and they would draw blood and they would do a chest X-ray and they would prescribe me a bottle of Vicodin. And even at age 15, I was like, are we sure that's the play? Like, that doesn't seem like the good, a good solution. And then my primary had no answers. And so that was just, that was our routine. Every time it would happen, that's exactly what I went through.

They never said anything. You'd get the chest X-ray and they'd be like, everything's fine. Then why did they give you the Vicodin?

Uh, just because I, I guess, cuz it hurt to take a breath. I have no idea. I never took them. I don't know why my mom filled the prescriptions, but she did.

Was she taking them on the side? No, I'm—

I don't think so, because I have this memory of like opening up the medicine cabinet in the bathroom and just seeing like all of these bottles of Vicodin. And I was like, this is not— and I never took them because I was just like, I don't know, I was kind of averse to those types of things. But I was just like, this is not the play. And I decided to go gluten-free because I had a family member that went gluten-free. And this was way before gluten-free was a thing. And the chest pain stopped. And so that was my very first connection to what we eat can impact how we feel. And then, you know, fast forward, I had this mold story. So then I pivoted my practice to focus on that. And then fast forward, I fell through a lot of cracks in conventional medicine when I was having my babies. So I pivoted my practice to focus on moms. So it's just like every experience that I had in life where I'm just like, I don't stand for this. We're not doing this. I'm just like, keep pivoting so that other people don't have to go through what I went through.

Yeah. Many ways your, your journey is like a story of someone who has been kind of like forgotten by conventional medicine or, or, or where conventional medicine just failed you.

That's so true because, you know, I went to, so when I was having the mold symptoms, I had no idea it was mold. And I was going to so many doctors and I went to the ENT and I got screened for Meniere's disease and I did all the things. And nobody had any answers.

What actually got you to go down that nutritional path? Like, was it that experience, or, you know, what, what made you go, oh, I wanna, I wanna, you know, be an expert in nutrition?

What made me try going gluten-free is that I had this family member who was pretty into health, and she was, she was doing it just because she, I don't know, heard on some podcast that it might be a good idea. Like, this was very much Before we had gluten-free menus, like it was before all that. And so I just decided to try it. And once I had that experience of how much it impacted my health, I was like, oh my gosh, this is amazing. I went to undergrad in business management and I was like, ugh, no, this ain't it. 'Cause I thought I was gonna get an MBA and I was just like, oh my God, corporate.

No. You prayed it. Like you thought you were gonna create like a gluten-free product, food product.

Yeah.

I don't know.

I don't know, but I'm—

No good gluten-free bread. I need to create a good gluten-free bread product.

Yeah, exactly. So I was just like, no, I don't like that. That's when I'm like, well, let me go back to focusing on nutrition. And I got a, just a certificate in nutrition at the time. And that just blew my whole world open once, because once you know, you can't unknow, right? And so it It just kept going from there. And then I just went back and got my master's and then I went back and got my doctorate. Like I just love learning and anything that I can do to just kind of uplevel the results of the people I work with, I just tend to gravitate towards that.

And so here you are, you're kind of absorbing the nutritional field, you know, getting your doctorate. When did symptoms of the mold come up?

So I was already practicing, but it was very general. Like, I was doing a lot of grocery store tours and kitchen audits and like basic gut health. It was very what I would call like application-based, not so much clinical. Then I was working at a bank, actually, thanks to my, my degree in business management. I was like, I hate this. So I started teaching nutrition in elementary schools. And the office that we were in, once I started working there, I got real sick real fast. Like, I'm the type of person where I never went to the doctor. I have this memory of starting that job and, you know, you have to choose your insurance benefits when you start. And I literally said to them, like, I don't need this. I don't use— I don't go to the doctor. Like, this isn't, this isn't even on my radar. I was super healthy and strong and robust. And I got real sick real fast.

How did the sickness show up?

I gained so much weight so quickly, just out of the blue. I had vertigo, was probably my most debilitating symptom. I felt very out of my body, kind of this like omnipresent kind of experience. Like I just wasn't present in my body. It felt like I was just a host. I was alive, but I wasn't living. And then I had what's called erythema nodosum on my shins. Which is like these hot, red, hard nodules that are very painful on your shins. And it wasn't the first time I had that symptom. I had that as a reaction much earlier to birth control before. So I knew something was up with my hormones because I'm like, uh-oh, I have this again, but I'm not on birth control, so what's up? So I knew something was up with my hormones, and I was having vision issues and just high anxiety. And I had to miss so much work and it just progressively got worse. I got to a point where I couldn't shower myself and I was missing so much work and I was just anxious all the time. I mean, it got to a point where I came to a crossroads and I was like, okay, I either have to get better or I need to like transition off of this earth because I cannot do this for one more second. And I also suffered a miscarriage.

During that time, did you make any connections at this point to what could have been the catalyst for these symptoms? I'm not even talking about connections of what, you know, what is the underlying issue behind all these symptoms. I'm just saying like, oh, this started happening when I started working here. Had you made that connection yet?

I did. And I didn't know what it was. The only thing I thought was, you know, working at the bank was stressful. So maybe now that I'm not doing that, maybe my body is just like finally releasing and like revolting from what I just put it through from working at that awful job. But I didn't make an environmental connection until I found the right practitioner to help me identify what was going on.

Can you walk us through kind of the peeling of the onion around, around how you working with this practitioner, how you figured it out that it was mold? Because I think that the actual step-by-step play of this is really important because most people right now might have mold toxicity. They're going to a practitioner, maybe they've gone to many, and they still haven't figured out, oh, they should have been tested for this and it would've shown up on the test, right? They're still not going down that path. So that's why I'm hoping the more granular we can be, Yeah. It might, you know, educate someone on that. They don't have to follow in your footsteps that they can go straight to the mold toxicity test.

Yeah, man. If I could shortcut anybody, like, let's do that. So up until this point, you know, of course I went to my regular doctor. I got the referral to ENT. I was screened for Meniere's disease. Sometimes I had to go to urgent care because I was just so dizzy and they would prescribe me meclizine, which is like Dramamine. I did the Epley maneuvers because sometimes, like, like if the crystals in your neck are off, it can cause vertigo. So they prescribed me these Epley maneuvers that I could do to kind of like readjust the— it's essentially like a level, right, in your brain, making— keeping you— your equilibrium straight. That wasn't working. So then I went to a naturopath, and I did see some progress with the naturopath, but Not, not enough. I was still so dizzy and I was just getting more and more, my mental health was just declining more and more rapidly because I was just, I couldn't stand it.

What did they do, the naturopath do that you saw a slight in, you know, increase like of feeling better? Was it more like maybe they were supporting nutritional deficiencies or what exactly did they do that helped a little bit? Because clearly they still hadn't diagnosed it as mold.

Right. So I think for— from her, I got a lot of kind of repletion-based supplements, you know, just to give me kind of some good nutritional support and, you know, good omega-3s and just kind of like these baseline filling the gaps for any kind of insufficiencies that might have been there. And that does help for sure. And she really tried. Like, I mean, I remember being in her office and we did like brain exercises and, and And just she was really trying, but we just weren't landing there. So I ended up, I actually ended up going to this conference. It was actually Paleo FX back when Paleo FX existed, and I wasn't feeling well enough to be there. And in fact, I'm sitting there waiting for the keynote speaker, which was Dr. Perlmutter. I'm very excited to see him, you know, and he comes out and I was just like, I was feeling so dizzy. I was like, I can't do this. I had to go outside. I had to go find a tree. I had to go take a nap under a tree. Like, I just couldn't be present in my body. Like, I just can't do it. But at that conference, I met this practitioner that was just the biggest breath of fresh air because he, he really saved me. He really pulled me out of a dark spot. And his angle of expertise is really around genomics. So we did a lot of genetic testing and identified where You know, I needed more support in detoxification and in methylation. So he was like, okay, this makes sense. This is why you're feeling so much sicker than everybody else in your office. He's the one that told me about mold. He made those connections.

And did, at that point, did you actually get tested?

Yeah.

And it was a myotoxin test, correct?

Mycotoxins.

Yep.

Urinary mycotoxins. Yep.

And so. Now you have that diagnosis. Now you're like, okay. So the repair work though is daunting around mold. I mean, extremely daunting, right? Can you walk us through even the first steps? So obviously, well, you already mentioned like detoxification pathways, making sure that those are working properly. What is that other than taking specific supplements? What does that look like? Are you like doing saunas? Are you doing you know, light therapies? What, what does that look like to kind of make sure that your, your elimination pathways are open?

Yeah. So first I had to quit my job, right? I mean, thankfully it was at my job and not in my home, so I still had a safe space at home. And so I had to quit my job. At the time, we were not in a financial situation for me to do that, but I had no choice. Like, I mean, remember I felt like this was literally life or death, and that was the first step in just reducing exposure.

I'm sorry to interrupt you, but how did you actually at that point know, oh, it's definitely coming from work?

So, once I figured out that I had a mycotoxin issue, the building that we were in was actually registered as a historic building because it was over 100 years old. So, it was very old and we had a lot of our supplies that we used to take to the elementary schools to teach nutrition stored in our basement. So, I went down there one day to get the bin that I needed for that day's classes, And now I'm just like more aware, right? Before I just whatever, walked right, right by things. And I just see like all of this black mold down in the basement. And I was like, oh my gosh, that's it. That's why I got so sick when I started working here. It's right there in front of me. And I talked to them about it and I showed them my test results. They did nothing about it, so I had to leave.

Were they like, we're not interested, or did they just still not believe it?

They didn't believe it. They're like, the whole building would be sick.

Yeah. And so now, okay, so now there's that, that, oh, why is it me? Why isn't everyone else showing, you know, showing symptoms? And they're then mirroring that back to you of like, well, you're crazy, right? Because that is part of this. You, you're already feeling high anxiety from the toxicity and now you're being mirrored back like, well, it's you, it's not us. Right. So I think that's a really important part of this process of when you get assessed or diagnosed with this, that you can't expect everyone just to fall in line.

Right.

But you had the wherewithal and obviously the confidence in the— and were at a place where you could just leave, quit the job basically. Or was that actually a scary thing to do at that point?

Oh, it was so scary. We couldn't afford for me to do that. We had no backup plan. But we couldn't afford for me not to do that. I couldn't shower myself, like, you know, so we just got to a point where our backs were against the wall and we were just, we just went all in. Yeah.

That's intense.

Yeah. And, and also right around the time I left is also when I have my miscarriage. And so just talk about intense, right? Just like adding another layer of intensity onto that. It was a super dark time for many different Yeah.

I mean, talk about the ground being pulled from under you, right? Physically, emotionally from the miscarriage. And then, and then just financially, what were your next steps? I mean, it sounds like though your, your partner, your husband was really like supportive and, and, and maybe that, that union helped a lot.

He is relentlessly supportive of me. Then and now and always. Like, I am always in awe of him just being in my corner, no questions asked, always. And thank goodness, because not just this situation but just other things, you know, just life things. And to have that person in your corner is such a gift that I don't take for granted.

Yeah, I have to imagine that this is an important piece for people to be aware of, is that a lot of times when we get diagnosed with anything, there is a moment of feeling very alone with it, right? Like, this is my problem. It's not anyone else's. There's probably this whole stage of grief around it. And I imagine it's not only feeling alone, but then also feeling like, well, I have to do this. I have to muscle through this and make it work. And that sometimes that's not even physically or emotionally possible because you're so sick. But then 2, that, that's not actually the best path forward. That, that if anything, the more ancestral way, you know, sticking with the everyday ancestral theme is to actually lean into community, lean into your tribe. Because that is more human than going alone. The people that went alone ancestrally died.

That's right.

So, so please, please continue sharing though. Like then how did you guys kind of find your way out of this dark spot?

So once I found that practitioner, him and I had a 3-hour initial consult and I was just like, for the first time really in my whole life, that was the first experience I had with a practitioner who was listening, who was really listening. And caring about what I said and who believed me. You know, not only was I constantly brushed off about all the mold symptoms, but also when I, I'll just share this story. When I was experiencing the miscarriage, I went to the urgent care because I didn't know what was going on. Right. And I, to this day, the nurse is taking my vitals. And to this day, I can hear the sound of the palm of the doctor bursting. Through the door and is like, no, no, no, no, no. What are you doing here? There's nothing we can do to help you. You have to leave. And I just sat in shock. Like, I was, I was just like, I'm so confused. All of these emotions, like, I don't know what's happening in my body. Not a single question. Not like digging deeper. Not a, hey, my name is Dr. So-and-so. You might be experiencing this. Here's what you can expect. Or nothing. Literally nothing. Just kicked me out. I left, I got in my car, I'm bawling, right? Because in my head at the time, I was, yes, I was so sick, but I felt like there was a part of me that felt like this baby was going to pull me out of this. Like I, like it was a higher purpose, you know? And now I lost that. And now I have like medical system just literally kicked me out. It was so much. So when I had this initial appointment with this practitioner for 3 hours, I left so emotional because I was just like, felt heard for the first time in my life. That was amazing. We did the proper testing, we did the genomic testing, we did the mycotoxin testing, and then from there it was very specific nutrition plan based on my genetics and based on what was going on. And then very specific light optimization plan, you know, like without fail I did not miss my, my morning sun. I literally walked In like my bra and underwear, cuz I was trying to have as much as like skin showing, like around my block. I didn't care. I was at such a low point in my life. I'm like, I got nothing to lose. I don't care. You want me to have as much skin showing? You got it. So very specific light optimization. Yeah, I was in the sauna every day and I just went all in. I mean, I wasn't working cuz I quit my job, so that was my full-time job. And it was just, I just trusted the process. I just did. What he said. I just followed his lead, and it was like a light switch. It was like all of a sudden— it wasn't all of a sudden my symptoms went away, but it was like all of a sudden I could feel myself coming back alive. And I was like, oh my gosh. It's like I could literally feel my soul reentering into my body. And I was like, oh my gosh, this is gonna work. This is gonna work. And so then, you know, that just gave me what I needed, and I was off to the races just doing whatever he told me.

Wow. Have you been tested and are you mold-free at this point?

It's so funny you say that, 'cause I just did a test and I'm not. I still have one mycotoxin that is problematic. So what happened was I was feeling so much better. Weight was falling off, energy was coming back. I was like, oh my gosh, I am so back. And then I got pregnant. And so once I got pregnant, you know, the heavy-duty detoxification work had to stop. And I had that baby, I nursed that baby for almost 3 years, and then I think there was like a 7-month period where off, then I got pregnant again, then I had that baby, then I nursed that baby. So it ended up being like a 7-year time period where honestly I'm just now coming out of where I can like go back to working on that. So I had to take a big hiatus from that work.

That's such an important distinction. Because yeah, you, you can't be creating life and then detoxifying. It's like they don't go hand in hand. That's incredible. Kudos to you. You know, prior to being pregnant, you were putting yourself first. You were like, I got to leave this job. The focus is like, I'm not going to worry about people seeing my body. I'm going to just, you know, you were already making all these choices that were very pro-Brandy, you know, very like. Brandy needs to get healthy. Clearly though, Brandy's body had gotten healthy enough where it was like, oh no, we can now be pregnant. Then you just had to honor that, right? Because when the body's ready to be pregnant and it is pregnant, you wanna honor that, particularly after you've come from having a miscarriage.

Yeah.

Which is, I'm sure could be its own topic of podcast. We also experienced a miscarriage as well. You know what's fascinating about the miscarriage we had? You used to live in Portland, right? In Oregon.

I lived in Vancouver, which is right next to Portland.

Oh, okay. Right near. Okay. So I knew you were in the Northwest. Yeah. But basically there was this intuitive that we had been in our lives for a long time, way before kids and everything. Like when, when we had first met, I got introduced to her because Margaret knew her. So every year we would get these conversations, like birthday conversation gifts for each other. Like, oh, well, you get a call with this intuitive. And she was so dialed in. Like she would say stuff that was really, to this day, I'm like, I don't know how she knew all that stuff, but she did. And I mean, I'm not even going to go into it in this episode, but like truly, like when I tell people the story around how my daughter, how she told us how my daughter would get named. People get chills, you know, it's crazy. But point being though, that after the miscarriage, we had a conversation with her many months later and she was very clear, like very clear. She said, this child was not ready to come in, but when you get pregnant, you will get pregnant again and it will be the same spirit. It was really fascinating.

Oh my gosh.

Yeah, right? Like when I hear these kinds of things, I don't hold tightly of whether it's true or not, but what I, What I really take in is how does that make me feel? And does that help me take the next step? And it was really powerful for us to have that shared with us.

That's amazing. That's incredible. I do have chills.

You're going through this health process yourself, but you're also, you're helping other people during this time as well. Right? So how did this journey with mold, with childbirth yourself, with multiple kids, like how did that then start to shape your own practice and how you work with people? Yeah.

So when I got pregnant that second time with my first daughter, I was in my master's program going through that process of being pregnant with her. The gaps in support in the standard of care were so obvious to me. I was just like, oh my gosh, I can't believe that we have all these gaps in support. Like, for example, like when I got pregnant, I called my doctor to make my first appointment, right? And they're like, okay, great. Like, we'll see you at week 11. And I was like, no, no, no, no, no, you don't understand. Like, I had a miscarriage. All the neurodevelopment happens in this time. Like, I don't know how to grow a brain. Like, I, you have to teach me. Like, I just felt so like I didn't know anything, you know? And they're like, you're fine. We'll see you at week 11. But it was just like examples like that the entire pregnancy where I just felt like I was slipping through the cracks and like not being heard. And just because of the education I was also getting in school at the time, I was like, man, we're really missing the boat. Like, this is a big disconnect here. And I had a lot of negative experiences during her birth that, you know, looking back, it was really unacceptable.

Wait, you mean negative experiences like with the practitioners or the doctors you were That were delivering? Is that what you're talking about?

Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. I had to, I tried to give birth at a birth center. I got too tired. I had to transfer to the hospital. I was able to have a vaginal birth there, but the things that the nurses were saying to me, I was told that breastfeeding was gonna be very difficult. On day 2, I was told that breastfeeding had failed and it was time to switch to formula, even though your milk doesn't even come in till like, you know, day 2 or 3. I had fractured my tailbone during childbirth and I had like a henna tattoo on my belly. You know how some women get those henna tattoos? And because I had fractured my tailbone, I couldn't get up and take myself to the bathroom. So the nurse is taking me to the bathroom and she looks at my arm and she's like, oh, you must have had a henna tattoo on your arm too. And I was like, no, that's blood. I've been sitting in blood and afterbirth for 2 days because nobody will help me take a shower. You know, it's just like such a— it's just an experience like that where it was just like constantly felt like I was just being dismissed and not well cared for.

And this is at a birthing center. This is not—

This is at the hospital because I had to transfer to the hospital.

You didn't have a midwife or doula that then went with you? Did the people at the birthing center not bridge the gap or anything like that?

They went with me to check me in and then they left. My doula stayed with me. But the midwife left. It was a bit rough. I had the doctor that was like looking after me. My baby had to have an eye mask on because she had jaundice, so they had to put her on the billy blanket on the bright light, so they had to have an eye mask. And I remember trying to nurse her and just looking down at this baby with the eye mask on, and I just started crying. It just made me so sad that I couldn't look into her eyes. And the doctor came in and she said to me, If you're this emotional already, you might as well just get on antidepressants now.

Whoa. What is going on?

Yeah, it was, it was just like that, like hit after hit after hit the whole time, the whole like 48 hours I was there.

Please tell me your second birth was more supportive and loving. I mean, this sounds like really disappointing and actually aggressive, you know, like unemotional, like just disconnected.

That's exactly what it was. It was terrible. And I had My second baby I had at home. It was a home birth. It went perfect, just went off without a hitch. And it was so interesting because the babies are 4 years apart, and I spent those 4 years thinking and speaking really bad about myself, like I was weak, like I had failed, like if I had just stayed at the birth center longer, you know, I wouldn't have had to go through that experience. Like, if I was just a little bit stronger, I could have done it. And I was very hard on myself. And then when baby number 2 came, it was so interesting because at first I thought, oh, I did it. Like, look how strong I am. Like, this is my redemption. Like, I did it. But then as I was reflecting, it was like, no, no, no, no, no, no. That birth that we just had, that was a piece of cake. I mean, it was still birth, but piece of cake. Look how strong you were 4 years ago. Look at what you did then. Look at what you were able to accomplish then. And I was finally able to Forgive myself and be proud of myself and close that loop. So that was a very beautiful, unexpected thing that came out of baby number 2's birth.

That is something that I don't feel like is talked about enough. The, I guess for lack of a better word, the birth trauma, like the trauma that we have post, I mean, in a sense you could say it's postpartum, but I think they're different when you say like, cause postpartum can be chemical. It can be hormonal. I mean, there's so many things. But what I'm referring to and what I heard you saying is it's more of like our mindset and our emotions around not only what we expected the birth to be, but also how we judged ourselves during that process. We were similar. We weren't in a birthing center for our first, but we, we tried to do it at home. And it got to a situation where we had to go to to the hospital. And I just remember sitting out as Margaret was getting the epidural. And I just remember going outside the room and just crying because I was so saddened that our birthing plan wasn't, wasn't happening the way we thought. Our girls are 4 years apart. And I know she also carried within those 4 years, the trauma of feeling like she did something wrong. I don't think I put that on her. I'm saying that she had her own sense of feeling like she had failed.

It's so true. You know, I had a family member, I was really struggling with some postpartum anxiety after, after that first baby. And I had a family member say, you know, this isn't any harder for you than it is for anybody else and just totally brushed me off. And so it was just like that whole first experience of like becoming a mother. Really took a sharp turn from how I thought it was going to. And so because I was in my master's program and I had all that experience with baby number 1, once I kind of came out of that, that is when I totally shifted my practice because I was like, I don't stand for this. I don't stand for women being treated like this. I don't stand for women being gaslit. I don't stand for women not being heard. I can't just stay idle here. And that's when I totally shifted my practice to help identify and fill these gaps for women, because it's not okay to me.

Just to articulate, your practice now does focus a lot on postpartum acknowledgement and health, right? And I imagine you do focus a lot on listening to people through the process and hitting those touchpoints where the, you know, conventional health industry kind of overlooks. You're, you're, if anything, giving even more attention and detail. Is that correct?

100%. And as I, you know, as I went through the experience of having baby number 2, and that's when I was doing my doctorate degree, I don't know, there's something weird about like grad school and babies with me. I don't know. That's when I was working with these moms and the sentence that I kept hearing was, Things have never been the same since I gave birth. I've never been the same since. Like, it was that sentence. I could just heard it over and over and over again, and I couldn't ignore it, right? And so now in my practice, what I really focus on is like, yes, a lot of like immediate postpartum things, but also when kids are older and these moms are having chronic, just unexplained symptoms and told that their labs are fine and everything looks good, and it's just— part of being motherhood, or it's just in your head. And nobody's like zooming out and connecting those dots for them or looking back at the timeline to see like, oh yeah, birth was kind of the catalyst for all of these things to happen downstream. And so I'm really helping to connect those dots for them and find those answers so that they don't have to just plan their days around how they feel and not be able to just be fully present with their kids while they're still kids. 'Cause my gosh, it flies by so fast.

You said you were hearing from women in your practice similar comments over and over. And so what is the— while I'm sure it's different for each one, there must be an overlying kind of common ground. And I'm just curious, what, what is it?

It's multifactorial for sure. Part of it is because we don't have a village. And so we don't have the support that we're meant to. A lot of us are suffering in silence. We're not being heard. We don't have that sense of community, and we're wearing a lot of hats. We have— we're expected to have the same responsibilities that we did before baby came as after, and it's just a mismatch, you know, kind of ancestrally. And so that's a big part of it. And then another part of it is, you know, a big shift in hormones, obviously, that are, that are affecting that happens after childbirth. And, you know, something that I think that a lot of women aren't aware of— so postpartum autoimmunity is pretty common. It's, uh, very common for women to have an autoimmune condition happen after giving birth. One of the reasons for that, or one of the contributors to that, I should say, is because of something called microchimerism, which is like this mixing of blood between mom and baby. That happens more profoundly in a C-section birth. Sometimes that can launch an immune response in mom and can contribute to this. Are moms who have a C-section birth, are they being told this? Are somebody looking out for this? Are they being given an autoimmune screening panel? No, no, this is not even a conversation ever. And so there's just things falling through the cracks. All the time, you know? And so it's a combination of immune changes, hormone changes, lack of support and village. Your sleep schedule literally changes overnight. So that's a part of it too. All of these come together and cause problems. And going back to like the mold and the Lyme issue that you brought up earlier, you know, we have bugs inside of us. The bugs are already inside of us, right? The problem Is when we have a trigger, which could be childbirth, right? It could be a really stressful event. It could be an infection. It could be something. When we have a big trigger, those bugs can undergo something called pleomorphism, where they're literally changing shape. And now they are like causing problems because they're trying to degrade poison or deal with whatever we're being exposed to. And so that's why a lot of women, maybe they're still living in the same moldy house that they were before they had kids. But now they had kids and now they have these mold symptoms because of all of these changes that happened around that time.

What are some ways for those listening or watching that without even them going and getting diagnosed? Okay. So let's pretend that's not even an option. What are like 3 things that people can do to support their elimination pathways to really just make sure that their body is as optimized as it can prior to any diagnosis, you know, through lifestyle and food choices. What would you say are the top 3 out of 5?

The number one thing is light exposure. This is the number one thing that helped me. And this is the number one thing that moves the needle the most in my clients. Our body always wants to know what time it is. We have clock genes. We always want to know what time it is. We have photo Biomodulation happening. And so, when we are not outside, when we're not getting the message about what time it is, when we're exposed to constant blue light, then our body gets confused about what time it is. And every cell responds based on what time it is. So, our body has to know what time it is. We have to get that message from the sun and have proper lighting. You know, even simple things like If the sun is not overhead outside, your lights inside should not be on overhead. We want to match that positioning of the sun. So turn the overhead lights off and switch to lamps, right? Keep that positioning the same. The more you can do around this lighting, just being outside as much as you can, just in general. So you're constantly getting the message about what time it is, but protecting your eyes from blue light. Also thinking about digestion. I see a lot of digestion issues, constipation issues. Getting your sun, your belly exposed to the sun activates that migrating motor complex and gets things moving. Thinking about things like mold and Lyme and parasites and viruses and these things, when we're getting that lighting message, when we're syncing up that message, then we are increasing the amount of cellular water that our cells are actually making. And that water that our cells make is very special. It's It's a gel-like substance and it builds resilience. And you know me, I'm all about building resilience. And so it helps the bad guys stay out, right? Because of that gel-like structure, it keeps them out and it increases resilience. That's why some people— genetics are a part of it, but also it's also why some people are more sensitive to chemicals, to mold, to things like that. They're cellularly dehydrated. Their cells, their mitochondria are not making enough water. We make more water when we sync up our light exposure. Thinking about food.

Going back to the light before you go to the food. So for the light specifically getting in on your belly. So you're thinking this is primarily during hotter days and you want to have exposure because obviously it's not going to go through your clothes, right? So this is where you're trying to expose as much of your body to the sun. Is that kind of the best practice?

Yeah. Maybe don't do like me and like strut around your neighborhood in like your bra and underwear, but if you can, yeah, 100%. Or like not wearing sunglasses. Right. And so your eyes are getting that even if it's cold outside. Right. We get light messages from the snow. We get light messages from the leaves that are on the ground. So taking those sunglasses off can be really helpful as well.

Now, a little side help I'm sure you can give people is cuz sometimes people put on the glasses cuz their eyes hurt when the sun hits them. And that we know that that's a sign of what? Usually it's adrenal fatigue, right?

Yeah, it can be adrenal issues. It can also just be because you're not outside enough. Your eyes aren't used to it, right? Like, our eyes adjust, just like when you flip on the light, you know, when it's pitch black in your room and your eyes are like, ah, same thing happens in our— in the sun. It's just a good signal that you just need more of it and just build up slowly. Your eyes will adjust.

Nice. Okay, so food, you were going to talk about food next.

Okay, so the food part actually ties into the lighting part, and really around anything that you can do to eat seasonally and locally. So I've always been told this, right? Like, eat seasonally, eat locally. And in my head, I thought, well, that's because we want to lower emissions. It's because we want to support our local economy, right? And that's true, but what I didn't understand is that the Food that's grown in our own backyard has the same light imprint that we do. And so when we eat those foods, it helps to sync up that light imprint and that light exposure and that circadian rhythm. Same thing with eating seasonally, just like we have a daily circadian rhythm, we have a seasonal circadian rhythm. When we're eating foods that are grown in the same season that we are living in currently, It syncs up that lighting message. So all of this lighting thing, that is the number one tip I can give. And there's lots and lots of components to it, but the more you can sync up that, the faster your results will go because you'll increase your resilience, you'll open up your drainage pathways, you'll be pooping more, right? Like lymph flows. Lymph doesn't have a pump. So how do we move lymph? Either manually, Like dry brushing, lymph massage, vibration, things like that, or with voltage. We get voltage from the sun. All of my top 3 tips, probably top 20 tips, all point to optimizing light.

It's always interesting to talk about local food and stuff. And, I particularly think about this because I used to live on the West Coast. I grew up, most of my life was on the West Coast, and now I'm on the East Coast for a very much shorter amount of time, but I'm now here. And the reality is, is that most of the produce that we have on the East Coast is coming from either the West Coast or from somewhere outside the US. So when we talk about what's in season, you don't have an urban garden, you're not growing. It's like, well, what's in season? You mean literally or like truly locally? Because what's in season locally here is different than what's in season locally Yeah, what's in season, like truly and locally, is the best.

Now, obviously, perfection is a myth, right? Like, that's impossible. So just let that go. I think the first step is just like having an awareness about this. Like, I remember when I first learned this, I was like, oh my gosh, right? And then you notice that you are going to the farmer's market and you're like, really, you're a lot more interested in what they have because now you have this information. It's just like, These baby steps just start to trickle and snowball in your life. And the more you can do around that, it just accelerates healing, especially when we're talking about chronic illness, environmental-based illnesses.

Now, before we go, I want to go back to something that you talked about. You talked about how you didn't feel heard when you were, you know, in that conventional medicine building, you know, whether it was a hospital or somewhere working within conventional medicine, you didn't feel heard. And I think that that's huge. I mean, I think that's a huge issue in general in life. I'm even always talking to people when I talk about customer service, because I've had a lot of experience in my careers supporting customer service. And I'm always kind of educating people. I'm like, ultimately, when you're dealing with any customer service issue. It's that they want to be seen. They want to be heard. That is the true crux of what most people want and need in this lifetime. How are you seeing and hearing people in your practice or in general? Like, what kind of practices are you kind of exhibiting and/or instilling in people in ways that you think are different than how you were treated? Like, what does it mean to be seen and heard?

So the very first thing I do when I first start working with somebody is I say, I say this exact thing. And if any of my past or current clients are listening, you can corroborate that I say this. I say, this is your life and your body and your health. You are the pilot and you are in charge and you're calling the shots. I am just the copilot. I am here to help you navigate and to make sure that you don't fly us into the side of a mountain, but you are the pilot. And so by doing that and setting that up right from the beginning, That might be the first time they've ever felt like the pilot in their life, right? Where they ever felt like they're calling the shots. And it's just such an important mindset shift that this is your life and you are in charge of your life and you are responsible for your life. And any practitioners, doctors, anybody that you invite into your team, you're still the pilot, right? Like they're working for you. They are there to support you. And so for some people, they're like, oh my gosh, I don't know how to be— I don't know how to be the pilot. That's okay. That's because you have a copilot. That's why I'm here. I'm here to help you. But by the time, you know, we land this plane, you're going to feel really comfortable about it. And then when you go fly your next plane, it's just going to get easier and easier the more you do it. So that's first, is just to have this mindset shift that this is a collaboration. This is a dialogue. I'm not here to talk at you. I'm not here to cut you off because we only have 7 minutes together. Right? Like, I'm here to hear you. Secondly, I believe my clients. There's no gaslighting here. I believe you. You say something's off in your body, I believe you, right? Like, let's dig deeper. Let's talk more about it. You know, lastly, my appointments are, are longer. I think the average for a medical appointment is 7 minutes of like actual doctor, one-on-one doctor time. My first appointments are 90 minutes. We're working together for a long time. You have access to me. You can ask me questions. My team is there to support you. Like, we don't ever want you to feel like you're flying without a copilot. Like, we are here to help you navigate that. And it's just such a biggest game changer.

Yeah. That's really wonderful. I have to wonder, do you, do you ever think like this, that, you know, you kind of went through hell as we talked about in this episode, you, you went through Health crisis. You went through career crisis, maybe not career, but financial crisis. You went through emotional crisis with miscarriage. Do you ever look back at this journey and go like, oh, that all had to happen for me to be here, for me to be showing up in this way, for me to have the practice I have today? Do you kind of look back at it with that kind of Mindset change and maybe even that healing?

100%. I look back at it with extreme gratitude. It was all happening for me and not to me. That's how I continue to view life. And, you know, it's all happening for me. And I'm just very clear on why I'm here, what my purpose is, the legacy that I want to leave, lessons I want to teach my girls. It's just such a gift to have that clarity. Because I know a lot of people don't. And the only reason I have that clarity is because of all those things I went through.

That's wonderful. And so moving forward, you, you said that you do still have some of the mold. So what does the next step now look like? What are you digging back into? Because you're not breastfeeding anymore, right? I don't know the age of your youngest.

Nope. I am done. She's 2 now. She decided she was done earlier than her sister, which is fine. Now it's so nice being on this end of it. Because now I have all this knowledge and experience and it's like, okay, next step, here we go. You know, focusing on detoxification and eating in the way that my genetics need and all of that light stuff we talked about, all of those pieces are just coming in in a much more targeted, meaningful way.

Do you feel like you have more facilities to, to do it and to follow it or less? Last time you did it, you didn't have kids. And let's be honest, when you have kids, it's like things are a little bit more challenging, particularly when they're younger kids, cuz you're divided. Right. So how are you feeling in terms of the confidence and just the time and, you know, the energy to dig back in? Cuz it does take a lot of energy to deal with mold, right?

Yeah. That is such a good point. Also, I don't feel, I feel really good right now. Right. So I don't have that motivation of like, oh, I'm so sick. Like I have to do this. You know, and so it's such a good point. But the motivating thing is like leading by example for my clients, going through this journey. So walking through this kind of like peer-to-peer, like we're on this journey together, mother to mother, parent to parent, like we're gonna do this together. How can I be over here just brushing all of this off when I have the tests, I have this knowledge, and also like ask my clients to prioritize this? And so— It's just a matter of holding myself to those same standards that I hold my clients to.

Yeah, I think that's really important. Like we're models to those around us, but the importance of integrity, putting value on that integrity is, is sometimes one of the best things we can do to take that next step. How can people kind of learn more about you and maybe they're inspired to even work with you? Do you see people virtually or do you have to be in person? Can you talk about that?

I do see people virtually. My website is resilientmotherhood.health, and that is also my Instagram handle, resilientmotherhood.health. And that's the platform I'm most active on, so I recommend finding me there.

Wonderful. Well, thank you again for taking time out of your busy schedule for this. I thank you, and I thank everyone here that's listening or watching this. Thank you for joining us. Please spread the word. We hope you're Enjoying the content that we're putting out there. And most of all, just continue to stay curious. That will lead us to our next step. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Have a great day.

Thank you so much for joining me on Everyday Ancestral. If you enjoyed this episode, hit subscribe so you don't miss the next one. You can find the show notes, links, and resources at eatpluck.com. That's eatpluck.com. And hey, if you know someone who'd get something out of this, share it with them too. Stay curious, live well, and keep it ancestral.