It was almost 50 years ago that I began studying fungal parasites and their effect on my own ill health. “Mycotoxins” are poisonous byproducts made by about 300 species of fungus. They can cause symptoms and diseases as simple as sniffles, yet as complex as human cancer. After learning this, I could not believe that neither the pharmaceutical industry, who produce mycotoxins called “antibiotics,” the FDA, who regulates mycotoxins in our foods, nor medical schools, who should be teaching this to physicians, teach about mycotoxins.
Especially in times of flooding or drought, certain foods can become impregnated with fungus and their mycotoxins become deposited onto or within them. Wheat (even whole wheat), corn, and peanuts, to name a few are especially vulnerable to fungal growth.
My advice has always been simple and consistent-avoid those foods. Others disagree with me. Harvard Medical School gave peanut the “legume of the month” in June 2019). Nary a word about adverse health effects that peanut mycotoxins could cause. Why? To this day, I do not believe that a conspiracy exists. Ignorance, it seems, is bliss. I believe the food industry does police its own supply. Sometimes the mycotoxin content is excessive, and the food must be destroyed (or become an ingredient in pet food). Apparently small animals can tolerate a higher concentration of these poisons than much larger humans (I don’t get it).
Low carb diets generally mean avoid grains. Avoiding grains means your exposure to mycotoxins is minimized, but not eliminated, as the cracked shell of nuts, like pistachios and peanuts, might contribute to. Even sunflower seeds are vulnerable to mold growth.
In the end, I believe good health has much to do with being actively antifungal diet. As such, your diet can become your best friend, or your worse enemy.
References
Harvard Health Publishing: https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/legume-of-the-month-peanuts