Dr. Josh Axe, Dr. Will Cole & Taylor Dukes: Toxoplasma Gondii Is Linked to Brain Tumors |TUH #307

Episode Overview

• Host Gary Brecka (a Human Biologist and host of The Ultimate Human Podcast) explores why millions of people suffer from debilitating "mystery symptoms" (brain fog, crushing fatigue, joint pain, autoimmune issues) or develop serious illnesses like cancer despite having "normal" conventional lab results, asserting that 1 in 5 Americans will develop cancer and the vast majority of autoimmune disease has no known cause.
• Functional Medicine Nurse Practitioner Taylor (who owns a functional medicine practice and co-founded a wellness center with a partner) shares how a gifted full-body preventative MRI scan from Prenuvo in 2022 (2.5 years prior to recording; Brecka notes he is actively trying to bring Prenuvo to the Middle East) revealed an asymptomatic, plum-sized Stage 3 brain tumor in her right frontal lobe.
• Taylor details the 5-month integrative protocol she used at clinics including Hope4Cancer in Mexico and the Cancer Center for Healing in Irvine, California, which shrank her tumor by 50% prior to a successful craniotomy with Dr. Chris Smith at Barrow Neurological Institute in Arizona.
• Functional Medicine Physician Dr. Will Cole (who has 15 years of clinical practice and treats telehealth patients) explains the hidden immunological markers, genetic vulnerabilities, leaky gut mechanisms, and biotoxin exposures (such as mold) that standard blood work misses.
• Holistic Physician and New York Times best-selling author Dr. Josh Axe (whose book The Biblio Diet is visible on the table, and who mentions Rehealth in Cancun as one of his and Gary's "favorite clinics" that he visits regularly) outlines why immediately trying to kill stealth infections fails, presenting his "Strengthen, Kill, Bind" framework that helped his cousin beat glioblastoma and helped Axe rebuild himself after he could not walk for a year following a spinal infection.

Key Concepts

• Immune Exhaustion and Parasitic Links to Cancer: Brecka states that when the immune system is overloaded by mold toxins, parasites, and stealth infections, circulating tumor cells that the body would normally catch every single day slip through. Taylor explains that although a 1-millimeter shift in the brain can cause symptoms, she had zero neurological symptoms from her plum-sized tumor—hedging that she truly cannot explain why, calling it "a God thing" beyond her comprehension. During her pre-surgery workup, Taylor tested positive for parasites in her stool and was blood/serum positive for Toxoplasma gondii, which she notes both the International Journal of Cancer and the American Cancer Society link to brain tumors in middle-aged people because parasites act as foreign invaders that suppress the immune system.
• Pre-Surgical Integrative Oncology: Before undergoing surgery, Taylor spent 5 months doing an intensive integrative protocol that shrank her tumor in half. Her regimen included high-dose Vitamin C IVs (starting at 25 grams and working up to 75 grams), oral methylene blue drops taken 30 minutes prior to using a Weber red light helmet from Germany alongside methylene blue infusions, hyperbaric oxygen in a soft chamber at home (Brecka also mentions owning hyperbaric chambers), red light beds, curcumin IVs, molecular hydrogen oxygen, metabolic ketosis (tracking ketones, Glucose Ketone Index [GKI] via finger pricks, and Continuous Glucose Monitors [CGMs]), and pharmaceutical antiparasitics (ivermectin, mebendazole, fenbendazole, and Alinia). Post-craniotomy, she had no neurological deficits, was walking 6 hours after brain surgery, was discharged home straight from the ICU 24 hours after surgery, and did no chemotherapy or radiation.
• Hidden Immunological Labs and HLA Genetics: Dr. Will Cole explains that patients with mystery illnesses often have normal conventional metabolic and inflammatory labs (such as CRP, hs-CRP, and homocysteine). However, running less common conventional immunological labs—specifically TGF-beta 1, C3a, C4a, and MSH—typically reveals abnormalities, which are then confirmed by testing for biotoxins (mold, bacteria, viruses) via blood and urine tests. Furthermore, Dr. Cole states that almost 100% of patients who check all the boxes for mystery illnesses have HLA (human leukocyte antigen) gene variants, making their immune systems overly sensitive to biotoxins and unable to calm down after exposure.
• Bio-Individual Mold Toxicity and Viral Reactivation: Dr. Cole nuances the functional medicine narrative on mold by explicitly stating that not all mold is toxic and that outcomes depend on the type of mold, duration/amount of exposure, and bio-individual genetic tolerance. Differences in methylation and HLA gene variants explain why one spouse (often the wife) reacts severely to household mold while the other spouse has zero acute symptoms—though the symptomatic spouse acts as the "canary in the coal mine," saving the asymptomatic spouse from a 15-year slow-burning carcinogenic exposure that could lead to cancer. Additionally, while "90-some percent" of people have Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) antibodies, 90% do not have reactivated EBV (with Brecka noting the difference between IgM and IgG), though mold and man-made toxins can trigger viral reactivation.
• Intestinal Permeability, Molecular Mimicry, and Environmental Toxins: Pointing to 15–20 years of research on leaky gut syndrome, Dr. Cole explains that proteins called occludin and zonulin govern gut lining tight junctions like a zipper. Increased zonulin activity or antibodies allow undigested food proteins and bacterial endotoxins (lipopolysaccharides from gram-negative bacteria) to breach the gut lining into the bloodstream, triggering molecular mimicry where the immune system cross-reacts with body tissues (thyroid, joints, gut, brain). Dr. Cole hedges that in his mind, man-made environmental toxins like glyphosate or forever chemicals are exacerbating biotoxin sensitivity, and notes researchers are finding microplastics in 90% of human tissue (with Brecka citing a podcast referencing Dr. Gundry claiming humans ingest about a credit card's worth of microplastics a week).
• The Fallacy of "Killing First" and Co-Infection Activation: Dr. Josh Axe states that immunodeficiency and the buildup of immunosenescent cells is one of the greatest things making people sick today, noting he has seen "thousands" of patients who feel awful despite normal blood work because blood tests only show a snapshot of blood rather than intracellular or organ-system trends. He argues that the #1 mistake people make with parasites, long COVID, Lyme disease, or mold is trying to kill the infection first—statistically most often with antibiotics like doxycycline. Because infections spread only when the immune system is depleted to start with, attacking pathogens before rebuilding the immune system fails. Dr. Axe also shares that when his immediate family tested their blood under an ultra-high-powered microscope years ago, he was the only one negative while his parents, brother, and sister all had Lyme disease without classic joint-pain symptoms (though his brother had Hashimoto's), and he references a study showing that a long COVID viral infection wakes up and activates dormant co-infections like Lyme disease.

Quotes

• At 5:30 - "I did methylene blue infusions, I did methylene blue before doing a red light helmet, like 30 minutes before to activate it. Yeah, I did oral. Um, so I'd do like my methylene blue drops, 30 minutes later I'd put on my red light helmet." - Taylor explaining one of the targeted biohacking modalities she used during her 5-month pre-surgical protocol to shrink her Stage 3 brain tumor by 50%.
• At 7:01 - "And I actually found I was blood positive, serum positive for a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii that the International Journal of Cancer and the American Cancer Society link to brain tumors in middle-aged people." - Taylor describing the hidden parasitic root cause she uncovered while investigating why she developed a brain tumor despite living a healthy lifestyle.
• At 12:15 - "But you're right, when you look at things like TGF-beta 1, C3a, C4a, MSH, these sort of other immunological labs that are conventional labs, but aren't typically ran in the conventional setting, you will typically find that for that subset of people, those labs will be off. And then when you start looking at biotoxins, it confirms those conventional labs in my mind." - Dr. Will Cole detailing the exact blood markers that validate patients whose standard inflammatory labs come back normal.
• At 24:50 - "When it comes to these microbial overgrowth, the first thing that people are getting wrong, whether it be with a parasite or long COVID or Lyme disease or mold, is that the first thing they try and do is go and kill the infection. That's the first thing they try and do." - Dr. Josh Axe identifying the primary clinical error in treating chronic stealth infections.
• At 27:36 - "But if you follow that right process of strengthen, kill, and bind, and then of course with that, infrared sauna sweating is just absolutely amazing to support the process." - Dr. Josh Axe summarizing the proper chronological sequence required to clear pathogens and their toxins without causing relapse.

Takeaways

• Request Deeper Immunological and Biotoxin Testing: If you experience chronic mystery symptoms despite normal CRP, hs-CRP, and homocysteine levels, ask your practitioner to run conventional immunological markers—specifically TGF-beta 1, C3a, C4a, and MSH—alongside HLA genetic testing and blood/urine biotoxin panels to check for mold, parasites, and viral reactivation (differentiating IgM from IgG antibodies).
• Calm the Gut-Immune Axis with Cooked Foods and Detox Support: Because "75-some percent" of the immune system is in the gut and raw salads or raw fruits can stress an overwhelmed digestive tract, adopt Dr. Cole's low-cost gut-calming protocols such as "souping and stewing" (bone broth-based soups, pureed or soft-cooked vegetables, and fruit cooked down into a compote), carnivore/carnivore-adjacent, or GAPS diets, while supporting detoxification with glutathione or N-acetylcysteine (NAC), binders (activated charcoal, zeolite, diatomaceous earth, modified citrus pectin), ozone therapy, and sweating via infrared sauna, traditional sauna, or sauna blankets.
• Execute the "Strengthen, Kill, Bind" Protocol in Order: For parasites, first strengthen the immune system and lower fight-or-flight using rest, sunlight, community, astragalus, reishi mushroom, ashwagandha, skullcap, higher doses of magnesium, and magnolia; second, kill the pathogens by cycling capsules or tinctures of black walnut, wormwood, and ivermectin for 2 to 6 weeks; third, bind toxins using activated charcoal for short-term cleanses (e.g., 2 weeks or silver filling removal) or silica clay, chlorella, citrus pectin, and zeolites for longer-term binding, followed by rebuilding the gut with 1 trillion CFUs of probiotics a day and infrared sauna sweating (for Lyme disease, pair mental/emotional health work, deep breathing, red light therapy, and a traditional diet of meat and vegetable soups, pomegranates, berries, and sweet potatoes with immune builders like high-dose astragalus, schisandra, high-dose probiotics, vitamin D, and zinc before using Japanese knotweed, cat's claw, and andrographis to kill the Lyme).