Why You Need Electrolytes When Recovering from Toxic Mold

Electrolytes get a lot of attention if you’re training for a marathon or suffering from the stomach flu. However, they’re often ignored when recovering from toxic mold. This is a shame because having a proper electrolyte balance can make mold recovery smoother and easier. Trust me, I should know! 

This article will review mold toxicity and reveal how electrolytes are a crucial piece of the recovery process. 

What Is Toxic Mold Illness? (aka CIRS)

If you’re new here, mold toxicity is the cluster of symptoms that happens with repeated exposure to water-damaged buildings. Considering up to 50% of buildings in the US have a history of water damage, mold illness is way more common than you think! (1)

While not all mold is toxic, indoor environments create a perfect breeding ground for toxic mold to dominate. Toxic mold’s harmful effects on health are due to its related biotoxins, including spores, cell fragments, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), beta-glucans, endotoxins, and the dreaded mycotoxins. 

Prolonged exposure to these biotoxins creates a chronic inflammatory state that weakens your immune system. And if you’re one of the unlucky 25% of the population that carries the HLA-DR gene, mold exposure can hit you especially hard. (2) This gene impairs your liver’s ability to tag and clear biotoxins. Instead, in people with the HLA-DR gene, mycotoxins continue recirculating in your bloodstream, wreaking havoc. (3)

Mold illness is often called Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS), coined by Dr. Richie Shoemaker in 1998. Dr. Shoemaker, a pioneer in biotoxin research, noticed that patients with a history of exposure to biotoxins shared a similar symptom profile. (2) 

While several biotoxins can cause CIRS, Dr. Shoemaker estimates that 80% of CIRS cases are due to mold biotoxins from repeated exposure to water-damaged buildings. (2)

Symptoms of Mold Toxicity 

The chronic inflammation and poor immunity caused by mold toxicity impair all bodily systems. That’s why symptoms of mold toxicity are all over the map:

• Asthma

• Fatigue

• Memory problems

• Foggy thinking

• Headaches

• Muscle aches & joint pain

• Chronic sinus congestion

• Hypersensitivity to light

• Shortness of breath

• Insomnia

• Skin rashes

• Chronic digestive issues

• Weight gain

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Irregular periods

I discovered my own mold exposure back in early 2016 (you can check out my story here). However, I had been experiencing symptoms for years before my discovery! 

Thankfully, I learned a thing or two from my own toxic mold journey, so my patients can have a smoother ride restoring their health. Taking binders, sweating it out in the sauna, and using nutrients that foster detox has been game-changing for both myself and my clients. 

However, recently I discovered another way to support recovery from mold toxicity. Yep, you guessed it: electrolytes. 

What Are Electrolytes?

Electrolytes are minerals that carry an electric charge. They’re vital for proper nerve and muscle function. They also keep you hydrated and help regulate your internal pH. (4) 

Some examples of electrolytes include:

• Calcium

• Potassium

• Sodium

• Magnesium

• Chloride

• Phosphate

• Bicarbonate

Electrolytes support your bodily systems in several ways, including:

• Nervous system function: Sodium allows the transmission of nerve impulses throughout the body. (5)

• Muscle function: Calcium contracts your muscles while magnesium relaxes them.

• Hydration: Electrolytes help maintain the proper fluid balance in and out of your cells.

• Internal pH:  Electrolytes are vital for maintaining proper blood pH. For optimal health, you want your internal pH to be between 7.35 to 7.45. Otherwise, bodily systems break down. (6)

In an ideal world, everyone would get their fill of electrolytes from eating a healthy, balanced diet and drinking plenty of water. 

However, most people don’t eat a perfect diet -- at least not every day. Even if you religiously eat an uber-clean diet, you could still be low on key nutrients due to soil degradation from modern farming practices. Plus, most people drink highly filtered water devoid of natural minerals. 

Symptoms of Electrolyte Imbalance

Severe electrolyte imbalance is pretty uncommon and is usually due to overexercising, extreme heat, blood loss, vomiting, or diarrhea. Here are some electrolyte imbalance symptoms:

• Frequent urination

• Muscle cramps

• Twitching

• Weakness

• Brain fog

• Low energy

• Frequent colds and flu

However, you don’t need to have a serious electrolyte imbalance to benefit from adding more electrolytes into the mix. Especially if you’re recovering from mold toxicity…

How Electrolytes Support Recovery from Mold Toxicity

There are several ways electrolytes support toxic mold recovery. I’ll lay out three of them for you:

1. Mold Toxicity Causes Frequent Urination

Feel like you’re constantly running to the bathroom, even after you just went? That’s pretty common if you’re dealing with toxic mold. 

This is because toxic mold patients frequently have decreased levels of antidiuretic hormone (ADH). (2) ADH, also called arginine vasopressin (AVP), is a hormone that controls your blood pressure and regulates the fluids in your body. 

Low levels of ADH cause your kidneys to excrete too much water, leading to dehydration and reduced blood pressure. (7) Dr. Richie Shoemaker found that 80% of CIRS patients had reduced levels of ADH. (8)

2. Detox Practices Deplete Electrolytes

If you’re a regular here, you’ve heard me preach the importance of detox practices for mold recovery -- especially sauna and coffee enemas. These two practices saved my sanity throughout mold recovery, and I use them to this day to keep my detox game strong. 

But every rose has its thorn. And the downside to sauna and coffee enemas is they can deplete your body of electrolytes and cause dehydration. 

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do them! Coffee enemas can increase glutathione production, increase bile flow, and stimulate your body’s parasympathetic nervous system. And sweating it out in the sauna allows your body to remove an abundance of harmful toxins -- without burdening your eliminatory organs. 

You just need to be smart and replenish your body’s electrolyte stores afterward. 

3. Adrenal Fatigue Impairs Electrolyte Balance

Mold illness taxes your adrenal glands to the max. The overwhelm that comes with leaving a moldy environment combined with debilitating fatigue, brain fog, depression, and anxiety do a number on your adrenals.

Adrenal fatigue throws your cortisol levels off, but it impairs other hormones as well. Aldosterone is a hormone your adrenals secrete that regulates your blood pressure by controlling your fluid and salt balance. (9) Aldosterone’s presence tells your kidneys to hold onto sodium (salt) so that water is retained. The problem is, adrenal fatigue reduces levels of aldosterone. (10)

Low aldosterone means your body won’t be able to retain adequate sodium, causing frequent urination. If this goes on long enough, it can mean chronic dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. (11)

How to Add More Electrolytes into Your Life

Having a proper electrolyte balance is key to healing from mold toxicity -- or any chronic health condition for that matter! You can boost your electrolyte intake via diet or supplementation. 

The following foods are rich in key electrolytes. (12) Be sure to keep these in regular rotation:

• Sodium: fermented veggies, salt

• Potassium: banana, avocados, tomatoes, potatoes with skin

• Calcium: spinach, kale, sardines, collard greens, yogurt

• Magnesium: pumpkin seeds, spinach, halibut

• Chloride: olives, lettuce, salt

Remember, if you’re dealing with mold toxicity, several factors are hindering your electrolyte balance. That’s why adding an electrolyte supplement can take your healing to the next level.

I believe STRONGLY in the power of electrolytes to help us heal! I typically have my clients take electrolytes, but I had trouble finding a brand that I could wholeheartedly recommend, even for those who are sensitive and struggling with multiple issues.

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Bridgit Danner, LAc, FDNP, is trained in functional health coaching and has worked with thousands of women over her career since 2004. She is the founder of Women’s Wellness Collaborative llc and functionaldetoxproducts.com.

Check out her easy 5-Day DIY Detox Guide here!

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