Disclaimer: This blog today is to give you an idea of what goes into a low-mold diet and to hopefully make it easier for you. For a program that works around all your food limitations ( a side effect of mold toxicity) and lifestyle, please check out my low-mold program or contact me for a consult.
Low-Mold Diet Made Simpler
Mold toxicity is a bear. You’ve been feeling worse despite trying to change your diet and lifestyle. It’s frustrating but now you finally know why! Having an answer is fantastic! Yet, the road to recovery is a marathon and not a sprint. When mold starts to die off, it causes us to get much sicker. When we’re already sick, it can often be debilitating.
Surprisingly, and comforting to know, mold toxicity is not rare. You are not alone. There are about 15% of people who don’t respond to traditional integrative approaches to healing. We are the canaries in the coal mine when it comes to environmental mold. We start feeling the detrimental effects of it first and take the longest to recover from exposure. Recovery is tricky. We can’t rush it. Our bodies can only detox out so much at a time. If we kill off the mold more quickly than our bodies can filter it out, we’re going to feel worse. We have to back off of our supplements until we feel better, then start slowly moving forward again. Professional guidance is a must.
3 Steps To A Successful Low-Mold Diet
As you know, the foundation to recovery (and health) is what we put into our bodies.
The very first step and the key to a successful low-mold diet is everything as fresh as can be.
This looks like:
- Absolutely no leftovers (unless you freeze immediately)
- nothing prechopped or precooked (that isn’t already frozen)
- and nothing preserved in any way (other than freeze-dried)
You know how in most other countries people go to the market daily for their food? It’s like that. If it has a barcode, you have to skip it. I don’t see this as a bad thing, it’s usually a huge adjustment though. Becoming BFF’s with your local farmers market and farmers will make life a lot easier too.
The second step is to avoid the foods that feed mold.
It makes sense right? If you’re trying to kill the mold that has taken hold of your body, you have to avoid the foods that keep feeding it. There are two main groups: mold and yeast containing foods and sugar.
Mold and yeast containing foods include:
- Fermented foods and drinks
- All cheese and soured milk products
- All cured meats (including bacon and hotdogs)
- All alcoholic beverages
- All vinegar except apple cider vinegar
- Mushrooms of all varieties
- Dried fruits
- Condiments including mustard, ketchup, BBQ sauce, mayonnaise, etc
- Juices bottled for more than 24 hours
- Most nuts, except almonds
- High-mold coffee
Sugar, artificial sweeteners and high sugar foods including:
- All forms of sugar including coconut sugar and raw honey
- Artificial and zero-calorie sweeteners (green leaf stevia okay is very small amounts)
- Tropical fruits including pineapple, mango, banana, and grapes
- Grains and pseudo-grains
The third step is to enjoy lots of these fresh (or frozen) foods!
Proteins
- Organic and pastured meats, fish, and eggs
- Almonds
- Seeds including hemp, chia, flax, sunflower, and pumpkin
Vegetables Including:
- Dark leafy greens
- Cruciferous including broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, asparagus, etc
- Squashes including zucchini, yellow, acorn, butternut, spaghetti, kohlrabi,etc
- Sweet potatoes (peeled and only a couple of times per week)
- Carrots, turnips, parsnips (peeling is a must)
- Radishes
- Artichokes
- Bell peppers
- Fresh tomatoes
- Cucumber
- Onions
- Garlic
- Fennel
- Jicama
Fresh and freeze-dried herbs and spices
Enjoy plenty of these because their healing properties are amazing AND they add a lot of variety to your dishes. This will help prevent food boredom!
Healthy Fats
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Virgin coconut oil
- Butter and ghee from organic and grass-fed cows
- Avocado oil and avocadoes
Lower sugar fruits
- Lemons
- Limes
- Berries (frozen or fresh picked)
- Cherries
- Apples
- Oranges
- Peaches
- Pears
- Nectarines
- Plums
- Melons
Drinks
- Purified water
- Organic, low-mold coffee (such as bulletproof brand coffee)
- Herbal teas
Additional Resources
That’s a lot of food! Thank goodness! I have a few more resources for you. That’s how we roll over here.
If you want to know the science behind this approach, the book Toxic by Neil Nathan (Amazon affiliate link here) is a fantastic read.
I have also created a webinar diving into mold toxicity, it’s symptoms and the lifestyle approach to living low mold, you can read more about it here.
If you want a done-for-you low mold diet with meal plans, shopping lists, recipes, plus additional guidance, I have a low-mold program you’ll love. It makes the recovery a million times easier. Check it out here.
If you feel overwhelmed and aren’t sure where to begin, I would love to give you a plan and on-going support. Drop me an email and we can schedule a free 15-minute consult.
From Old Diet To New: Coping With The Mental And Physical Transition
Thank you so much for posting all this. Very helpful. I have a couple of questions maybe you can help me with:
1) can I make my own mayo in small amounts if lemon juice used not vinegar ( likewise mustard)?
2) why is no mayo/mustard allowed? Is it The vinegar?
Can you tell me why only small amount of stevia allowed.
I will get the book you suggested.
Thank you!
Hi! These are great questions.
It’s that they sit around, waiting to be used. If you can make a small batch that will be used that day then it’s totally okay. But you can’t save them for a week or so. It’s that food that sits around grows mold. while most of the time it’s not harmful if you are struggling with mold toxicity you want to remove all food sources possible for 3-6 months.
Hi I’m just wondering if there is Candida also involved is fruit out of the diet? Also. Squashes are ok a few times weekly? Thanks
Hi! You can limit fruit easily with this diet and squash is okay a few times per week. The meal plan is fairly low sugar due to it also feeding mold and I designed it to be low in fruit and added sugars.
This seems to be a good list but I can’t do almonds bc of the high oxalates which was causes from the mold. Also, odd bc the ACV and vinegar seems backwards. I can do reg vinegar but ACV I react to every time. Also the teas especially black tea is usually high mycotoxin or what I’ve read. The most frustrating thing about the mold free diet, depending on who or where you read, restrictions change.
Every person has individual foods they’ll react to that another person won’t. Also perfection isn’t required for healing. You don’t need to eat perfect to heal. The most important part is to avoid the biggest offenders, listen to your body, and know that healing is not an overnight process. I hope this helps ease the frustration you’re feeling trying to navigate a low-mold diet and healing journey.
Thank you for all the great information. I have a question. My partner has been having health issues for a while now but they have gradually gotten a little better since we moved out of our duplex with toxic mold. However, some symptoms are persisting. He has been doing a low-histamine diet for a couple weeks and just started doing a low-mold diet today and said he is feeling worse than he has in several weeks. Is this to be expected when beginning this diet?
Thank you!
Hi Erin! This is extremely normal. The mold is being starved of its food source and is dying off. They release mycotoxins and thus make us feel quite awful. Is he doing anything to support his liver to make sure it’s able to clean things out effectively? Also, is he taking any binders?
hey
how long is one on this diet
Typically 3-6 months.
This is such a wonderful site. Thank you!
Question:
When fresh is not available can “fresh” organic produce be washed in GSE to clean and then be used? Must produce be purchased daily? We just do not have enough farmers markets to do so. Best suggestions for vegan protein please. Again, thank you!
By fresh I do not mean you have to shop daily. Thank goodness! It means, not prechopped or precooked. You can shop weekly, then rinse with GSE before preparing and eating.
Vegan protein sources: Nuts and seeds (including butters, milks and yogurts made from them) and a small amount of beans. If you can cook them from dried yourself and then freeze in small portions that would be ideal but if that is the only prepared food you eat then I think it would be okay. The goal is low mold, not no mold. You need protein and I don’t think that would set you back.
I hope this helps!
Hi there-
I see in your list of mold growing foods you include “most nuts, besides almonds,” but then the image above with the words “Low Mold Diet Made Easier” shows walnuts. Can you please clarify if walnuts are a component of a low-mold diet?
Thanks!
Hi Kate,
The image is a stock image that I didn’t take. Walnut are not allowed while on a low-mold diet. IF you are a mold-sensitive individual you won’t be able to enjoy them often but they won’t be “off-limits” upon completing your mold protocol.