Last year I had the most thorough brain, blood and body examination of my life to understand what was really going on beneath the surface.
And when I say thorough, that’s an understatement – as a 62-year-old tweakments expert who’s had hundreds of procedures over 25 years, I’m used to being poked and prodded.
After analysing my results, Dr Sabine Donnai gently told me my nervous system was on the edge of burnout, which sent me into a tailspin, as I wrote in this paper recently.
So after that bombshell, when she said there were also high levels of mycotoxins in my blood, I barely registered it. Sure, mycotoxins, also known as mould toxins, sounded revolting but they seemed small beer compared to my fried nervous system.
I was also slightly sceptical. Having written about health and beauty for 30 years, I had never even heard of mycotoxins.
They are produced by types of moulds (or fungi). These grow on food such as cereals, dried fruits, nuts and spices.
They’re tough little things, with most surviving food processing. Cooking or freezing doesn’t reliably get rid of them, so it’s easy for them to enter the food chain.
The World Health Organisation says mycotoxins can cause serious health threats ranging from acute poisoning to long-term effects such as immune deficiency and cancer. Yikes! Do my high levels put me in the danger zone?
Mycotoxins are produced by types of moulds (or fungi). These grow on food such as cereals, dried fruits, nuts and spices.
I decided to go back to Dr Donnai. ‘High’, it turns out, is a relative term. Mine are not at emergency levels but they’re ‘above what we would want to see in someone aiming for optimal health’.
For Dr Donnai, a super-smart former GP who runs the Viavi health-management clinic in central London, toxins are no minor issue.
Managing the body’s burden of toxicity is one of her four pillars of health, along with nutrition, activity/exercise and sleep/relaxation.
At my levels, Dr Donnai says it’s possible mould toxins could cause brain fog and fatigue. Though I can’t say I suffer brain fog, I get tired.
Aren’t we all going to accumulate fair numbers of toxins over the years, I ask? And isn’t this sort of daily detoxification what our liver and kidneys are there for?
‘Our liver and kidneys are designed to clear these substances’ she says, ‘but the overload of mycotoxins and environmental toxins from modern life can make this process less efficient.’
‘Are you aware of toxicity?’ asks Dr Donnai. ‘Er, as in…’ I falter. ‘Do you eat organic?’ she asks. No. My explanation, that I haven’t been convinced it’s vital and worth the cost, trails off when I see her widening her eyes.
‘Do you use SLS-free shampoos [meaning products free from the common foaming agent sodium lauryl sulfate]?’ I shake my head.
‘So you use normal cleaning products, normal toothpaste, normal lipstick?’ I admit I’m chemicals all the way and I have cycled around London for 40 years and dread to think what that has done in terms of polluting my body.
Ochratoxin A can be found in contaminated oats, rye, barley, coffee beans and pork
She explains that everybody has some level of toxicity because we live in an environment with toxic overload. Fire retardants, ‘forever chemicals’, microplastics, and mould in foodstuffs.
I showed high levels of three kinds of mycotoxins: Ochratoxin A, Patulin and Sterigmatocystin. The first one can be found in contaminated oats, rye, barley, coffee beans and pork. Oats and coffee are my breakfast regulars.
Taking activated charcoal tablets can help to absorb and remove Ochratoxin A.
Patulin can be found in apples (and derived products). I’m not a big consumer but exposure is, apparently, cumulative and intermittent. Sterigmatocystin lurks in corn, grains, green coffee beans, nuts, spices and contaminated dairy. I eat nuts, spices and cheese but not large amounts.
Dr Donnai tells me that taking a glutathione supplement will help get rid of Patulin and Sterigmatocystin.
A re supplements the only way to keep my levels down? Or should I be more focused on reducing my exposure to these toxins?
There’s no way to spot contaminated products, Dr Donnai says, but choosing high-quality and organic foods reduces exposure.
‘We shouldn’t become paranoid about eating and living in the real world,’ reassures Dr Donnai. ‘We know about the importance of fitness, diet and sleep; now it’s time to add reducing toxicity.’
How big a problem are mycotoxins? ‘Depends on whether, genetically, your detoxification pathways are working well,’ she says.
‘If you’re experiencing unusual fatigue or brain fog, the levels of toxins in the body could be contributing to this.’
So how dangerous is this for me? Is it a mild inefficiency? Something that demands immediate attention? The answer sits in between.
‘You want to wake up every day feeling, “Watch out world, here I come”,’ says Dr Donnai. Please, who really feels that? I ask Dr Donnai if she does. ‘Every day,’ she says. I’ve got some work to do. Pass those charcoal tablets!