From hospital bed to healing: mould, heavy metals, parasites and taking back your health
You wake up tired. Your head feels foggy by mid-afternoon. Colds seem to linger longer than they should. You go to the doctor, and your tests come back "normal".
So you keep going. You tell yourself it's stress, or work or just getting older.
If that sounds familiar, this one is for you.
On a recent episode of The Conscious Action Podcast, Brian Berneman spoke with Wellington-based natural health practitioner Shelley Gawith. Her story is a reminder that the body often whispers long before it shouts. It's also a reminder that mould, heavy metals and parasites can quietly shape how we feel every day.
Most of all, it's a story about taking back your health, one small step at a time.
When "healthy" isn't what it seems
In her twenties, Shelley was an accountant at an investment bank in Sydney. By her own measure, she was doing everything right.
She drank lots of water. She went to the gym whenever work got stressful. She didn't work weekends, which felt like balance compared to the people around her. Breakfast was fruit. Pasta with pesto counted as greens.
She truly believed she was healthy.
The signs she didn't see
Looking back, the signs were there. Her thyroid was underactive, and she reached the highest dose of medication. Her apartment was quietly growing mould in a humid city. She felt better whenever she travelled for work, and worse as soon as she came home.
But like many of us, her mind found other explanations: long hours, a busy season, just pushing through.
The collapse
Then a severe bout of influenza swept through her office. Her body never recovered. Chest infections followed. She lost the ability to think clearly, read or feed herself.
Doctors told her family there was nothing more they could do. Her parents brought her home to New Zealand, where she spent most of the next 18 months in bed.
The first step back
The turning point was surprisingly simple. Her dad attended a workshop on gut health at a local organic store. He came home and started making bone broth and fermented foods.
Within a couple of weeks, Shelley could stay awake for three hours a day. She could read a paragraph. It was a small shift, but after so long, it felt huge.
From her bed, she began studying nutrition. Her parents put everything she learned into practice. One discovery led to the next: food sensitivities, then parasites, viral load, heavy metals and mould.
Today, more than a decade later, she helps others do the same. As she puts it, it's never too late for any of us.
Mould: why leaving the house isn't always enough
Many of us in New Zealand have lived with mould at some point. A damp student flat, a leaky building, a cold childhood bedroom. Even a water bottle lid that went a few weeks without a proper clean.
Most people assume that once they move out, the problem is gone. Shelley's experience suggests otherwise. She explains that mould can linger in the body, especially the brain, until it's actively cleared.
Signs mould may be affecting you
Ongoing tiredness, even when you think your energy is "fine"
Brain fog or trouble concentrating
Headaches, a runny nose or frequent sneezing
Colds that come more often or last longer
Skin reactions or rashes
Feeling better when you are away from home
What you can do
Ask yourself honestly: have I lived or worked somewhere damp, humid or leaky?
Notice how your body feels in different spaces. Your body often knows before your mind does.
Work with a qualified practitioner on a targeted herbal detox and liver support. Shelley is clear that diet changes alone usually aren't enough.
Stay aware. Shelley has been exposed twice more since her first recovery, including a mouldy hotel. Awareness doesn't make you immune, but it helps you act sooner.
Heavy metals: more than old fillings
A decade ago, the heavy metals conversation was mostly about amalgam fillings. Brian had his removed years ago for that reason. But Shelley explains that today, fillings are only one part of the picture.
Where heavy metals hide
Shelley shared a story about her mum. Her parents had removed their fillings, changed their water, switched to organic food and cleared out their cleaning products. Tests showed they were starting from a clean slate.
Then her mum's lead levels began to rise again. The likely sources were things that seemed healthy: turmeric and cacao bought for brain health, and vegetables grown in their own garden near a main road.
Other common sources include:
Spices that haven't been tested for heavy metals
Garden soil, especially near busy roads
Produce from farms that don't test their soil, even organic ones
Water, cleaning products and personal care products
A balanced approach
This can feel overwhelming. Shelley doesn't want to create fear, and neither does Brian. The aim is awareness, not perfection.
Get a baseline. Shelley likes Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) as a relatively affordable test.
Reduce what you can. Choose brands that test for heavy metals, especially for spices and cacao.
Test your soil. In New Zealand, there's a free programme for testing home garden soil. Shelley links to it on her blog.
Support your body daily. Coriander and parsley are simple additions to smoothies, juices or meals. Sweating through sauna or hot yoga, and red light therapy, can also support your body's natural detox pathways.
Some of Shelley's clients take herbs for a set period. Others add coriander and parsley every day for life. Both are valid. Choose what fits your life.
Parasites: the topic we stop talking about after childhood
In New Zealand people worm their pets and farm animals, treat their kids when they pick something up. But somewhere in adulthood, they stop thinking about it.
Shelley believes parasites are far more common than most people assume. And you don't need to have travelled overseas to have them.
How we pick them up
Travel, even when the stomach upset has passed
Raw fish and sushi
Pork, including bacon
Unwashed fruit and vegetables
Water, including swimming pools
Pets, and children who share everything
Shelley noticed something striking. Many of the foods pregnant women are told to avoid are the same foods linked to parasites.
The role of stress
Our first line of defence is stomach acid. Stress depletes it. So when we are running on high stress, we are more open to picking things up. Many traditional cultures also protect themselves through daily habits, like fermented foods or warming spices and herbs.
Signs to notice
Constant hunger, or always feeling "starving"
Itching, especially at night
Teeth grinding
Bed wetting in children
Low iron or B12 that never seems to improve
Brian resonated with this. Growing up in Argentina, he was tiny but ate constantly. People used to joke that he had "the worm". Looking back, they may not have been wrong.
Maintenance over one big fight
Parasites lay eggs daily, so a first clear-out takes work. After that, maintenance is simple. Shelley suggests a short cleanse once a year or once a quarter, depending on your exposure. For children, it can be as gentle as a few days of a liquid herb after exposure.
Why "normal" isn't the same as well
One of the most important ideas from the conversation is this: most of us have normalised feeling unwell.
Shelley says that in over a decade of practice, she's never had a new client arrive with optimal blood work. Many were told their results were normal. But normal often just means you are not diseased. It doesn't mean you are thriving.
We measure ourselves against the people around us
Shelley thought she had work-life balance because her flatmates worked weekends and she didn't. Her benchmark was skewed.
We all do this. If everyone around you is exhausted, exhaustion starts to feel normal. Often we only realise how heavy we felt once something shifts.
The body and emotions are connected
When Shelley first got sick, a friend asked whether there might be an emotional side to it. She dismissed the idea completely. Her symptoms were physical, so she thought the answer had to be physical too.
Today she sees it differently. Sometimes you need to support the physical body before you can open up emotionally. Sometimes it's the other way around. In Brian's own work with emotions, trauma and Family Constellations, he sees the same thing. Our nervous system, our gut and our stories are all part of one living system.
Healing rarely comes from a single magic pill. It comes from lifestyle, habits, what we eat, what we carry emotionally and how we care for ourselves over time.
Taking back your health: where to start
Shelley has a simple saying: health is hard to get, but easy to maintain.
The first stretch takes effort. You are learning, clearing and adjusting. Once you have the awareness and the tools, though, staying well becomes much simpler.
Pick one entry point
You don't need to tackle everything at once. Choose the one that speaks to you most right now:
Mould if you've lived somewhere damp or feel better away from home
Heavy metals if you want to understand your exposure and reduce it
Parasites if constant hunger, itching or low iron sound familiar
Emotions if you sense your body is holding more than your mind admits
Small steps that add up
Wash your fruit and vegetables when you get home.
Add coriander and parsley to one meal or drink a day.
Notice how your body feels in different places and after different foods.
Ask for your blood test results, and ask what "optimal" looks like, not just "normal".
Find a practitioner you trust to guide you.
An honest note
This kind of support isn't always cheap or easy to find. There aren't many practitioners doing this work in New Zealand. That's why free resources like podcasts and blogs matter. They help you build awareness and ask better questions.
And please remember: this article is for education, not medical advice. Talk with a qualified practitioner about your own situation.
Your health is the foundation
When Shelley was bedbound, she didn't dream of her old international career. She dreamed of showering on her own and walking to her parents' front gate.
Without our health, everything else becomes harder. Our work, our relationships, our dreams. Caring for your body isn't selfish. It's the foundation for the life you want to live.
Wherever you are starting from, it's not too late. Start small. Stay curious. Keep going.
Ready to explore this journey more deeply?
For more about Shelley find her on Instagram and shelleygawith.com.
Connect with Brian for one-on-one guidance, group sessions or upcoming workshops designed to support your path of presence and conscious transformation.
Don't miss this enlightening episode filled with inspiration and profound insights 🎧✨
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