Am continuing the mold saga by candlelight since we have a power oiutage. Believe it or not, the last post generated dozens of e-mails, either commiserating with me or telling stories of similar experiences, but only one person placed an order . . . which tells me that putting a toe in the water is far more difficult than we imagine.
Let's start with the Maori herb, Pseudowinthera colorata, also known as horopito. The word implies that the plant looks like evergreens and is colorful. The leaves are a variety of colors, like autumn. It is believed that over thousands of years, the plant developed chemicals to protect itself in a hostile environment, and its use for candidiasis has a long history with Maoris.
In the U.S. and Europe, horopito is marketed in a very concentrated CO2 dilution in olive oil under the name of Kolorex. Anyone who ever had any internal exposure to yeast or mold should consider taking at least one bottle of this miraculous herb.
Those who are currently exposed to fungi and have allergic reactions and/or fatigue can start with jatoba, an herb that can be found in several places in South America, but most of it comes from Brazil, so the "j" is hard, not like a Spanish "j" that sounds more like an "h" to us. Some of you know this as Brazilian cherry wood, a beautiful wood that is becoming quite popular as a flooring material. However, it is the bark we use medicinally, and it has a strange taste that one may actually grow to like. Once I began to appreciate how it restored my energy, I decided I just had to learn to like the taste. Now, I make a tea with it, but I add some spices so it is more like a masala chai but with jatoba instead of black tea.
According to the studies I have seen, only 25% of people in the world are allergic to mold. The problem is that this is not grounds for complacency since mold is dangerous whether your body sets off alarms or not. Though I know I am repeating myself, the reason mold is dangerous is that it is alive. In its "vegetative" state, it produces hyphae and colonizes. All it needs to be successful is some moisture and the body provides an ample supply of blood and water. Looking at mold-infected blood under the microscope, I have observed that mold very much prefers blood to water. While this can be fascinating to watch, it is a bit like watching a horror movie except without the sound effects and costumes. I have seen the erythrocytes rolling inside a hypha and liquefy when hitting the acid. Then, the discrete cells get whirled into a gruesome smoothie so it is eerie. At minimum, people with this condition are anemic. It's no wonder!
In any event, this is what happens in that vegetative state, but any tissue could be affected. When mold colonizes, it forms a mass called a mycelium. This is frequently misdiagnosed as cancer. This can, as mentioned, occur in any tissue, but the lungs and brain are some favorite sites. Dr. Tullio Simoncini has become quite a phenomenon. He states that cancer is a fungus, but he is usually referring to Candida albicans, not mold. There was an Australian researcher named Geraldine Kaminski with the University of Adelaide who some decades ago revealed a collection of images that can sometimes be found online in a gallery called "Fungal Jungle"; these images all refer to mold, not yeast.
So, this is the second issue: colonization. It can occur regardless of whether or not one is allergic, and it's very scary. I know several people who literally lost their brains to mold. One was an infant who hardly had any life outside of the hospital. Another lost one eye and would have lost the other unless her parents had presented her for live blood analysis. Her mother went on to become a holistic practitioner. Another lost almost all her vocabulary, down to about two percent of what she once knew. So, you see, I can go on and on and on, but if one has been exposed, one really does need to do something, sooner rather than later.
The third issue is mycotoxicity. What I have observed is that fungi can secrete something that causes instant death to surrounding tissue. Unpopular as my views are, I have seen this with mushrooms as well as mold. This may be a little fanciful, but imagine your stomach with hydrochloric acid and various digestive enzymes and juices. Mold does not have a stomach so it liquefies its lunch with a spray that makes a soup of tenderized tissue that is easy to consume. If your mobility were limited, you would devise a method to receive nourishment without having to move. Many insects and reptiles have venoms that paralyze their victims. This way, the dinner does not walk away. Sometimes, only the lungs and circulatory system remain more or less normal, but the victim remains close to the predator. Mold is even sneakier because it goes inside its victim and makes itself at home. Worse, unlike snakes, mold does not seem have a vested interest in keeping its victims alive. It is part of the kingdom that decomposes and, as such, civilizations vanish without a trace. This is easy enough to demonstrate if you compost.
If mold were not doing its job, we would be much more than knee deep in rotting stuff! Bacteria and mold make sure that dust returns to dust, and they are capable of metabolizing everything from fruit to nuclear waste. Here's the rub: the nastier their menu, the more toxic the mycotoxins are . . . so when one terrorizes mold with chemicals, the mold becomes more toxic. This is why I prefer to use the term inhibition. Essential oils can inhibit mold growth. Depending on the area, the inhibition may be quite long, a few years, but it there is a lot of rain and cold, the inhibition could be affected, meaning the frequency of using inhibiting oils has to be adjusted accordingly. Mold likes moisture, darkness, and warmth. The body is therefore quite hospitable looking to mold. It's much more tempting than something on the snow. Researchers I know claim that the metabolism of mold increases with heat, doubling more or less with every ten degree increase in temperature (that's Fahrenheit). Since there are many variables, I would not go to the bank with those numbers, but the point is clear: mold is more active in sweltering swamps than Nordic ice. However, there are molds that are adapted to just about everything, including outer space. In short, there is no room at all for complacency.
Now, some of you are probably angry with me for painting such a terrifying picture, but the point is that you can do something about mold once you understand your risks and its agenda. Denial and procrastination are enjoyed by mold. It probably secretes chemicals that make people indecisive or reluctant to take action. It would be in their interest to do so and some specialists I met on my journey said that reluctance to bite the bullet is a sure sign that one has a mold problem. I am not sure this is true in every case, but people make observations and try to find language to explain their newfound understanding.
I am pretty sure that that mold is completely manageable. Some of you wrote sympathetically about my experiences, but the point is I am not there any more. I managed to escape the consequences and got a new lease on life. If you missed that point, you are not enjoying the hope I am also trying to share. You somehow got stuck in the drama and not the solutions.
So, to repeat and repeat.
Step One: Terminate Exposure (move or remediate)
Step Two: Make Your Environment Safe (use mold inhibitors and keep everything dry)
Step Three: Rebuild Yourself (stamina and tissues)
Step Four: Address the Residual Mycotoxins
Step Five: Fine Tune Your Life Style (and promote your longevity)
My battery is almost used up! No power yet to recharge. I promise to lay off the mold for a while as an essay on frankincense has been gestating for many years . . . and it is time to write it.
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