Health Starts at Home

Mold Is Everywhere—But Is It Making You Sick? | Ep. 41

• Holly Jean Mullen

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Mold toxicity is one of the most overlooked environmental health threats today. It goes far beyond visible black mold or common allergies—disrupting multiple body systems through harmful mycotoxins that impair detox pathways, immune function, and neurological health. Yet, most cases are misdiagnosed or dismissed by conventional medicine.

In this episode, we break down what mainstream media—including TIME Magazine—often gets wrong about mold and why surface-level awareness isn’t enough.

Here’s what we cover:

  • The difference between mold allergy vs. mold toxicity (and why it matters)
  • Common mold-related symptoms: migraines, brain fog, gut issues, fatigue, anxiety, hormone imbalances
  • How children often show signs through tics, rage, regression, and conditions like PANS/PANDAS
  • Why some people get sick and others don’t: genetics, detox capacity, and total toxic load
  • The limitations of standard medical testing for detecting mold illness
  • How underreporting and poor media coverage contribute to medical gaslighting
  • Why environmental illness awareness must include your home environment—not just your body

If you’ve been told you’re “fine” but feel anything but, your body may be responding to something in your environment. Mold could be the missing link.

Based in Tulsa and need a realtor who understands environmental health? I’ve got you covered. Outside of Tulsa? Reach out—I’ll connect you with someone in my nationwide wellness-aware network.

Trusted resources to begin exploring mold exposure and healing:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/toxicmoldanswers



Your home should help you heal—not hold you back.
If you’re ready to explore how your environment could be impacting your energy, mood, sleep, and overall wellness, you’re in the right place. The Health Starts at Home Podcast is here to help you rethink health from the inside out—starting with where you live.

Curious about your symptoms or feeling “off” at home?
My free Body Wisdom Journal is still available and now includes prompts to help you track not just food and mood—but also your environment. Because sometimes, it’s not you... it’s your house.
→ Download Your Free Body Wisdom Journal Here

Connect with me on Instagram @hollyjean.healthandhome for real life, red flags, and wellness real estate tips you won’t hear anywhere else.

New episodes drop regularly - subscribe, share, and leave a review if this show speaks to you.

Because health starts at home—and yes, that includes yours.


© 2024 Holly Jean Mullen

Speaker 1:

A mom walks into the ER for the third time in a month. Her son has rashes, meltdowns, night terrors no answers anywhere. Doctors offer allergy meds, maybe suggest parenting classes, but no one asks or thinks to ask has anything changed in your home environment? No one checks for mold. That's the kind of blind spot we're talking about in today's episode. Hi friends, welcome to the Health Starts at Home podcast. Thank you for being here. I'm your host, holly Jean Mullen, functional nutritional therapy practitioner turned realtor slash healthy home specialist.

Speaker 1:

And if you're here, you've probably heard about mold before. Maybe you've seen it growing on the shower wall or on an old, forgotten loaf of bread in the pantry. Maybe you've been told mold is everywhere, so it's not really a big deal. Or you've heard black mold and figured that was the only dangerous thing in extreme cases. For many people, mold is still that vague, creeping thing that lives in the walls. But surely it can't be the reason for the migraines, brain fog, bloating or even your child's mood swings, right? Or could it be? Let's talk about it.

Speaker 1:

That is what today's episode is about, and it's inspired by a recent article that Time Magazine just published. They did a piece on mold and it did hit a few surface level basics, which I will touch on. Surface level basics, which I will touch on. It did completely gloss over the deeper, more disruptive reality of how mold actually impacts the body. No real mention of detox capacity, lymphatic drainage, colonization, biofilms or the neurological and immune dysregulation that mold toxicity can cause. That is the problem. Now, I understand an article can only be so long, it can only go so deep, but articles like this from trusted, prominent sources these are the things that keep people gaslit. It stalls industry innovation and it allows outdated practices to keep lingering. They are what perpetuate the idea that mold is only a problem if you're visibly allergic or if your walls are black and fuzzy. However, if you are someone that has been dismissed for your symptoms or misdiagnosed or told that something is all in your head, then you already know that the mold conversation deserves more than a fluff piece or a footnote, and it's really time that we raise the standard here. In fact, it's past time. It is by far past time that we raise the standard here. And Time Magazine, or just Time, it's not a magazine anymore. Everything's online, but Time still holds major influence and rank among the top five trusted legacy news brands in the United States. So when they publish or put out a watered down overview of a topic as serious as mold, it does matter because it shapes public perception and it fuels medical gaslighting.

Speaker 1:

It makes it harder for people suffering from real, measurable environmental illness to be taken seriously, and that's why I speak about it. That's why I do what I do in real estate, when I practice it holistically, with a wellness lens, just as I did in my health practice. Certainly not because it's easier, but it's because it's the right thing to do and it's what's needed. People deserve more than vague dismissals and recycled talking points when it comes to their health, their home environments, because the two can't be separated. You've probably heard someone say or maybe you've even said it yourself, because I know I've said it is well, mold is everywhere. At. It is well, mold is everywhere, we don't need to worry about it. Yes, mold is everywhere. You'll find mold in nature, in your home, in your kid's school, in the grocery store, your office place, your church.

Speaker 1:

But not all mold is created equal and not all body's ability and capacity to handle that exposure is the same either. Some mold is relatively harmless, others are allergenic, meaning they trigger classic symptoms that you would think of when you think of allergies Sneezing, itchy eyes, asthma type symptoms. And then there are toxigenic molds, and these are the ones that produce mycotoxins. Perhaps you've heard this word before. Mycotoxins are microscopic poisons that are released by certain types of mold as part of their metabolic process. Because mold is a live living thing, it has its own metabolic process. So when you inhale, swallow, absorb these toxins through your skin, they can build up in your body and disrupt multiple symptoms. This is what's called mycotoxosis or mold toxicity.

Speaker 1:

There is an important distinction here. Mold toxicity is not a mold allergy. It's not just itchy eyes or the occasional sneeze. Mold toxicity goes deeper into cellular disruption. It has immune dysfunction components to it. It involves mitochondrial breakdown. There is long-term inflammation that we are seeing with mold toxicity. It is a slow poisoning of the body and it can be incredibly hard to pin down what exactly is going on without having the right education or proper testing. And one of the reasons for that is because mold toxicity can have some of the same symptoms as a lot of other things too. So there's some overlap there.

Speaker 1:

But one of the biggest questions is why do some people get sick and others don't? I see this all the time with clients both from my health practice and now people living in the same house, but only one person is sick. So they're thinking it can't be mold, it can't be our environment, because that would affect all of us. Not necessarily. Not everyone who's exposed gets sick, and that's part of what makes this such a tricky conversation.

Speaker 1:

Genetics play a role. Variants in detox pathways play a role as well. Things like NTHFR, hla-dr, gst. These are genes that can impair your body's ability to recognize and eliminate toxins and mycotoxins in that. But even these variations in genetic factors, people can still get sick, and what it often comes down to is the level of exposure, the health of your detox organs. So we're looking at your liver, your kidneys, your lymph and your gut. These are things that people are already experiencing dysfunction in just from other things in life from our diet, lifestyle factors and other environmental toxicities. So these detox organs and these detox pathways are already compromised in a lot of the population, and so then we're adding in this mold layer too and so that plays a role here and also looking at whether or not your environments give you any time to recover if you are in a constant exposure and you don't have any time away. You don't have any time to give your body time to recover from the exposure that is going to play a role in why some people get sick and some don't.

Speaker 1:

Now that is a very simplified answer. We could easily spend hours just unpacking the biochemistry and the genetic pathways and the bio-individual variability when it comes to why someone gets sick and why someone doesn't. But for now and just for this episode's purpose, just know that your body's ability to handle mold is about capacity and not just sensitivity. And if you think about that analogy of the bucket and how full is your health bucket I've talked about this on this show before it's that it's your bucket. It's about capacity and not necessarily about the particular and not necessarily about the particular excuse me the particular exposure or about your particular sensitivity. It's about the overall picture of what's going on in your body and your environment and your body's toxic load, your bucket, your ability to handle it all. We can kind of think of it like a rainstorm too, where, okay, one drop isn't a problem. But if we have a leaky roof and it's raining for weeks now, we've got some damage building up.

Speaker 1:

Same sort of visual analogy what mold toxicity actually looks like. It varies from person to person, and the short answer is it can look like just about anything. That's part of what makes it so tricky. The long answer is that it often masquerades as other chronic illnesses. Mold doesn't just show up and wave a flag and be like hey yo, I'm mold, I'm here.

Speaker 1:

This is why you're having all these symptoms and all these issues. I wish it were that simple, but a lot of times it just shows up as something vague, maybe just a little bit annoying or frustrating, as a symptom that doesn't go away. It could also just be things that we consider so common, or so so common that it's normal. We're looking at headaches and migraines, but particularly ones that don't respond to treatment Brain fog, memory issues, difficulty concentrating, vision changes, head pressure, light sensitivity these are things that could also be connected to adrenals or hormones, and so that's why it gets tricky here.

Speaker 1:

Gut issues, bloating, constipation I mean, who doesn't have that right? That's probably 99% of every client I ever saw Fatigue, body pain, strange nerve sensations that's a big one. One common thing that I'd see a lot of time with mold toxicity is static shock Kind of one of those funny things, but that was a big clue Anxiety, depression, rage, panic attacks, hormone issues, irregular periods, estrogen dominance. I've already mentioned adrenal fatigue, but that is one where, yes, you could have adrenal fatigue or those adrenal symptoms. But is it the adrenals or is it toxicity? Skin rashes, hives, eczema that was my telltale sign growing up that I didn't realize until later. New or worsening food sensitivities that could be a sign of mold.

Speaker 1:

In children, mold toxicity can look even more extreme. And if you go back to how we're getting exposure through our skin when we're touching things, children interact with their environments differently than we do as adults. So, one, their toxic load is higher because they're smaller. Two, they can be taking in more because of just the way they interact with their environments. So in children, mold toxicity can look pretty extreme. We're looking at sensory processing issues sudden anxiety, ocd, bedwetting tics, rage, behavioral regression.

Speaker 1:

One of the most misunderstood presentation of mold exposure is PANS or PANDAS, which is an autoimmune brain inflammation that can be triggered by environmental exposures like mold or other infections, viruses and illnesses, sometimes a combination of those things. This was what we saw in my son. I lived it the uncontrollable outburst, sudden personality shifts, terrifying moments where I legit thought he was demon possessed, and it wasn't just tantrums or having a fit, it wasn't just a strong-willed phase. Something was hijacking his brain and his body and no one was asking the right questions. We had no idea. I had no idea. I did not know then what I know now. It wasn't until we moved, his body is healed and like. We were so far past that now, and then I learned and I was able to look back and put the pieces together. Where the light bulb went off for me.

Speaker 1:

But the point is is that these symptoms are not necessarily random. They can be red flags I mean, they are red flags and those red flags can potentially be pointing to mold toxicity. Can it be something else? Yes, I'm not just saying all roads point to mold, but that is an option that people are missing and skipping. And even though we hear mold, mold, mold, people don't really understand the degree to which it could be affecting them. No one really thinks it's affecting them, and it's something that we need to start talking about more.

Speaker 1:

When the body is overwhelmed by chronic toxic exposure, it gets louder, and that's because it doesn't have another choice. Our symptoms are the body's way of talking to us, and when we ignore the language of the body. It gets louder, starts as a whisper and it progresses into screaming if we don't do something or change something. So mold doesn't always just hit the lungs first or burning eyes. Sometimes it hits the brain, sometimes it hits the gut. From what I've seen, what I've heard, what I've researched, a lot of the time it is both.

Speaker 1:

So here's what happens far too often is you go to the doctor with your symptoms. They run a basic blood panel, which more often comes back as everything's fine. Maybe you are offered an antidepressant if it's affecting brain symptoms. Maybe you're referred to a GI specialist or a neurologist. You mention mold. Maybe your doctor will say you might have an allergy. We can test for that, but mold toxicity isn't picked up on an allergy test. Mold allergy tests are looking for the IgE response that would go with the typical allergies. Basically, whether your body reacts with histamines, mold toxicity is different. It's an accumulation of toxic compounds that are disrupting your cells in your immune system. It requires a different lens, a different set of tools, different sets of tests and unfortunately it also requires a different kind of tools, different sets of tests and unfortunately it also requires a different kind of practitioner, because traditional Western medicine does not understand this, and that's just the truth right there.

Speaker 1:

And that is exactly why media coverage matters. Yes, awareness is important. Media coverage matters. Yes, awareness is important. I'm not going to deny that. I'm all for it.

Speaker 1:

But awareness without education, prevention or steps to recovery, it's just noise. It's the same problem I have with Pink October, and if you guys know me, you know October is my personal rage month. The ribbons, the pink drives me insane. We do these things, we host wine mixers, we do all this stuff for the cause, but no one is talking about the root causes. No one's talking about actual prevention. It's the feel-good fluff that leaves people no better than before. Talking about mold awareness in a water-damaged building is the same thing. It's performance, it's theater. It does not help anyone. What good is the awareness? Okay, we're starting a conversation, great. Let's make that conversation matter. Let's take it to the next level. Let's talk about prevention. Let's talk about actual testing. Let's talk about actual healing.

Speaker 1:

So when Time Magazine publishes a piece that barely scratches the surface, it matters because people read it, they trust it and they walk away thinking mold is just a mild nuance. It's not the thing that is wrecking my health or my child's health, or my husband's health, or someone I know and love's health health, or someone I know and love health. They keep dismissing their own intuition because they're second-guessing themselves. They stay in toxic homes, they stay sick, all because the conversation never went deep enough. Mold illness is real. Mold toxicity is real and it deserves more than a few paragraphs in an article. Now I understand the reality of every piece not being able to be that, but every piece has the ability to say this is just starting the conversation and point to more resources, resources.

Speaker 1:

Mold toxicity is not a fringe diagnosis or some woo-woo theory. It's backed by real science. It has real lab data, real-life case studies from people who were told they were fine while their health was falling apart. My theory behind why this all keeps getting brushed off and not addressed head-on is because it is that big Mold isn't just a nuisance. It is at the root of so much chronic illness, especially when it is combined with other environmental stressors, and it's an astronomical problem in our built environments, our schools, our offices, rental homes, hospitals, big corporate. To go deep on mold would mean confronting some really uncomfortable truths and it would really mean accountability holding people accountable, holding industry accountable. It would mean consequences, it would mean change and for the systems that profit off Band-Aid solutions, that's a lot easier to avoid. So the mold conversation stays surface, it stays safe, it stays sanitized and people stay sick and people keep getting sick.

Speaker 1:

So if you've been told you're fine, but deep down you know you're not. If you've tried every protocol, you've cleaned up your diet, you've taken the supplements, you still feel stuck. Perhaps you've started to question your own sanity or your own intuition and your ability to heal. I want this to be an invitation to your confirmation that you're not crazy. You're not broken. Your body's never broken. Your body is responding appropriately to the environment that is working against you. Now that may or may not be mold, it could be something else going on with you, but your body is responding appropriately and you need to investigate it. It might not be you, it might be your home, it might be mold and now that you know, you can start investigating, you can start doing something about it.

Speaker 1:

I'm going to link some of my favorite resources in the show notes here If you just need a starting place for researching and finding out if mold could be something that is affecting you. If you are in the Tulsa area and you need a realtor who actually gets it. I'm your gal. If you are outside of the area, reach out anyways, because I do have a network of trusted wellness aware partners in the real estate space and I'd love to connect you with someone in your region who speaks the same language and understands. So that is all I have for today. I think there are a lot more conversations we can be having on this topic, but I thank you for tuning in. Please share this with someone who you think will benefit from it or needs to hear it, and I will see you next time.

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Holly Jean Mullen

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