Medicinal mushrooms

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Scientific research indicates that the major actions of medicinal mushrooms are stimulating the immune system and protecting against cardiovascular disease, free radicals, mutagens, and toxins. Most medicinal mushrooms contain polysaccharides (complex sugar molecules) called beta-glucans that increase RNA and DNA in the bone marrow where immune cells, like lymphocytes, are made. The combination of compounds in mushrooms is believed to target the immune system and aid in neuron transmission, metabolism, and the transport of nutrients and oxygen.

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Beta Glucan Description: Beta glucan refers to a type of polysaccharide that is extracted from the cell walls of medicinal mushrooms, oats, barley, and baker's yeast. The structure and the activity of various beta glucans differ, depending on the source. Indications: Blood sugar balance High cholesterol Immune support Precautions: Immune-enhancing beta glucan products should be avoided by people who are on immunosuppressant medications. Dosage: Dosage recommendations vary greatly, depending on the product. Follow the label recommendations.

The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods by Michael Murray, N.D. and Joseph Pizzorno, N.D. See book keywords and concepts

Enhance immune function through high-quality nutrition and, if necessary, herbal supplements such as astragalus, Siberian ginseng, and medicinal mushrooms, including shiitake, maitake, and reishi mushrooms. 5. Enhance liver function by eating a high-fiber, low-fat diet. 6. Use nutritional and herbal supplements that help control against yeast overgrowth and promote a healthy bacterial flora, such as oregano oil, thyme oil, lauric acid, Lactobacillus acidophilus, and Bifidobacteria. 7.

Medicinal Mushrooms: An Exploration of Tradition, Healing, & Culture (Herbs and Health Series) Christopher Hobbs See book keywords and concepts

Cordyceps sinensis, Auricularia polytricha, and Lentinula edodes (Shiao et al, 1994). Other uses of G. lucidum include as an antidote for poisonous mushrooms (Ying et al, 1987) and as an ingredient in skin lotions for protecting against UV radiation (Naeshiro et al, 1992b,d). It is also used for nervous disability, dizziness, hepatitis, nephritis, gastric ulcer, leukopenia, and as an expectorant and antitussive (Chang and But, 1986; Liu and Bau, 1980; Ying et al, 1987; Huang, 1993).

Interview with Jon Barron of Baseline Nutritionals on herbal healing, the bird flu and alternative health Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

There are a number of immune boosters and medicinal mushrooms, such as maitake mushrooms. You probably want to use a number of them because they all build different parts of the immune systems. The antipathogens -- the things that are known to kill viruses in particular -- include garlic, and, interestingly enough, they have reports in Korea of people who basically kept their birds alive, even though avian flu is normally 100 percent fatal for birds, by feeding them kimchi, which is has a lot of garlic. Mike: Wow. Barron: Yeah. It's basically a sort of fermented cabbage and high-garlic food.

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Amazon herbs, Western herbs, Chinese herbs and even medicinal mushrooms from Japan. NutrientReference.com is a reference database of healing nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and phytonutrients like anthocyanins or saponins. Using this online reference site, you can find out which nutrients help certain health conditions, or even which foods contain specific nutrients. SupplementReference.com is the smallest of these sites, listing dietary supplements like psyllium, glucosamine and others that don't quite qualify as individual nutrients.

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Beta-glucan is a fiber-type complex sugar (polysaccharide) derived from the cell wall of baker's yeast, oat (page 716) and barley fiber, and many medicinal mushrooms, such as maitake (page 707). In their natural states, yeast and mushrooms contain a mixture of beta-1,3-glucan and beta-l,6-glucan. Oats and barley contain a mixture of beta-l,3-glucan and beta-l,4-glucan. In addition to purified beta-l,3-glucan from these sources, you may see products listed as beta-1,3/1,6-glucan in the case of yeast-derived products and as beta-1,3/1,4-glucan when derived from oats.

Beta-glucan (page 470) is a fiber-type polysaccharide (complex sugar) derived from the cell wall of baker's yeast, oat and barley fiber (page 512), and many medicinal mushrooms, such as maitake (page 707). Numerous experimental studies in test tubes and animals have shown beta-glucan to activate white blood cells.100,101,102,103,104 In fact, there have been hundreds of research papers on beta-glucan since the 1960s.105 The research indicates that beta-l,3-glucan, in particular, is very effective at activating white blood cells known as macrophages and neutrophils.

Other immune-modulating plants that could theoretically be beneficial for people with HIV infection include Asian ginseng (page 630), eleuthero (page 672), and the medicinal mushrooms shiitake (page 746) and reishi (page 737). One preliminary study found that steamed then dried Asian ginseng (also known as red ginseng) had beneficial effects in people infected with HIV, and increased the effectiveness of the anti-HIV drug, AZT.80 This supports the idea that immuno-modulating herbs could benefit people with HIV infection, though more research is needed.

Beta-glucan (page 470) is a type of soluble fiber (page 512) molecule derived from the cell wall of baker's yeast, oats (page 716) and barley, and many medicinal mushrooms, such as maitake (page 707). Beta-glucan is the key factor for the cholesterol-lowering effect of oat bran.230, 231,232,233 As with other soluble-fiber components, the binding of cholesterol (and bile acids) by beta-glucan and the resulting elimination of these substances in the feces is very helpful for reducing blood cholesterol.

The Seven Laws of Nutrition Mike Adams See book keywords and concepts

It has medicinal mushrooms and concentrates of berries, vegetables and fruits. So it really is a whole food concentrate that covers all of the main disease-fighting food groups. And as I've said before about this product, if the manufacturer could actually claim the truth about this supplement on the label, it would say, "This product prevents cancer, diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis and many other diseases." But of course, the FDA won't allow Nature's Way to make such a claim, even when it's true.

There are countless examples of this, but one of the most recent is a company called Lane Labs that was selling a product called MGN-3 which contained medicinal mushrooms well known to boost immune system function and overcome cancer in humans. The FDA didn't like this company selling a product that actually worked, so they attacked the company and effectively put it out of business through lawsuits. This is, of course, part of the FDA's strategy for protecting the profits of the pharmaceutical industry to which the Food and Drug Administration answers.

Revealed: The original cause of bird flu, and realistic solutions for preventing a pandemic Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

You can tell people all day long that the best way to protect themselves is to have knowledge about antiviral herbs, medicinal mushrooms and antiviral foods. You can warn people all day long, but until people die, the government won't change its ways, because it doesn't see any reason to change. There's no public outcry until a bunch of people die. Unfortunately, we may pay a very high price in human lives before people wake up and see the reality, which is that we could have stopped this bird flu virus in its tracks.

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Hobbs, Christopher 1995, medicinal mushrooms. An Exploration of Tradition, Healing and Culture, Botanica Press, Santa Cruz. Huang, K. 1993, The Pharmacology of Chinese Herbs, CRC Press, Boca Raton. Kako, M. M., Miura, T., Nishiyama, Y., Ichimaru, M., Moriyasu, M. and Kato, A. 1996, 'Hypoglycaemic effect of rhizomes of Poly gala senega in normal and diabetic mice and its main component, the triterpenoid glycoside senegin-II', Planta Medica 62: 440^443. Kim, H., Shim, M. and Kim, B.

Healing Pets With Nature's Miracle Cures Henry Pasternak, D.V.M., C.V.A. See book keywords and concepts

This may also be true of other medicinal mushrooms.64 Once the polysaccharides are reduced, it is believed, they are more accessible to the immune system cell called the macrophage. Remember, these are nonspecific "Pac Man"-like immune cells that literally gobble up invaders. When the macrophage becomes activated, it signals helper T cells to get to work. From research in China and Japan, the immune cells being activated by reishi to kill tumor cells are primarily the macrophages and helper T cells.651 have used reishi either alone or in combination with other medicinal mushrooms for years.

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Growing gourmet and medicinal mushrooms. Rev. ed. Berkeley, Calif.: Ten Speed Press. -. 1998. Gardening with gourmet and medicinal mushrooms. Berkeley, Calif.: Ten Speed Press. Stamets, Paul, and J. S. Chilton. 1983. The mushroom cultivar. Olympia, Wash.: Agarikon Press. Stevens, Rile, and Rich Gee. 1977. How to identify and grow psilocybin mushrooms. Rev. ed. Seattle: Sun Magic Publishing. Mushrooms and the Law Psilocybin and psilocin, the active compounds in many psychoactive mushrooms (but not the mushrooms themselves!

Prescription for Dietary Wellness: Using Foods to Heal Phyllis A. Balch, CNC See book keywords and concepts

When compared to other powerful medicinal mushrooms, including reishi and shiitake, ABM had the highest level of beta-glucan. Button Mushrooms The button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) is the most commonly cultivated mushroom. It contains protein, carbohydrates, fiber, B vitamins, vitamin C, ergosterol, vitamin E, calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, potassium, selenium, and zinc. A decoction of the dried fruiting bodies of the button mushroom is reported as useful in the treatment of diabetes.

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An early European example is medicinal mushrooms, which were found with the Austrian/Italian 'iceman' of the Alps of Otztal (3300 BCE). Two walnut-sized objects were identified as the birch polypore (Piptoporus betuli-nus), a bracket fungus common in alpine and other cooler environments. This species contains toxic natural products, and one of its active constituents (agaric acid) is a very strong and effective purgative, which leads to strong and short-lasting diarrhoea. It also has antibiotic effects against mycobacteria and toxic effects on diverse organisms (Capasso 1998).

Healing Pets With Nature's Miracle Cures Henry Pasternak, D.V.M., C.V.A. See book keywords and concepts

Some researchers believe that maitake is the most powerful of all the medicinal mushrooms. I use at least a half dozen medicinal mushrooms, and research is constantly discovering new ones. At this point, I have not ascertained which mushroom is the most medicinally active. If I have, I would have certainly only used that one. So, at Highlands Vet Hospital, I use many different herbs because no herb has "magical" powers and what works in one patient for one disease may not work in another. All of my patients get the benefits of the latest in both western and complementary therapies.

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The medication kicked in only after he went back on the adaptogens and began taking other immune boosters—astragalus and a mixture of 12 medicinal mushrooms. The herbal regimen worked; eventually, Mel was free from all infection. He surprised his family by living another year—nearly 2 years beyond the original 2-month prognosis. Rhodiola rosea appears to reduce toxic damage to the liver and to bone marrow, our renewable source of blood cells.

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According to Hobbs (1996), "Reishi has the unique ability among medicinal mushrooms to calm and support nerve function." In his practice, he recommends reishi to people with chronic stress, anxiety, or insomnia. Suggested dosage: Reishi is available in capsules, tablets, syrups, and teas. Usual dosages are up to five 420-mg capsules a day; up to three 1 gram tablets up to 3 times a day; up to 2 tsp 2-3 times a day of tincture; or 1 tsp a day of the syrup.

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There are countless examples of this, but one of the most recent is a company called Lane Labs that was selling a product called MGN-3 which contained medicinal mushrooms well known to boost immune system function and treat cancer in humans. The FDA didn't like this company selling a product that actually worked, so they attacked the company and effectively put it out of business through lawsuits. This is, of course, part of the FDA's strategy for protecting the profits of the pharmaceutical industry to which the Fraud and Drug Administration answers.

Healing Pets With Nature's Miracle Cures Henry Pasternak, D.V.M., C.V.A. See book keywords and concepts

I use at least a half dozen medicinal mushrooms, and research is constantly discovering new ones. At this point, I have not ascertained which mushroom is the most medicinally active. If I have, I would have certainly only used that one. So, at Highlands Vet Hospital, I use many different herbs because no herb has "magical" powers and what works in one patient for one disease may not work in another. All of my patients get the benefits of the latest in both western and complementary therapies.

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Hobbs C. medicinal mushrooms. Santa Cruz, CA: Botanica Press, 1995, 110-15. Marshmallow 1. Nosal'ova G, Strapkova A, Kardosova A, et al. Antitussive action of extracts and polysaccharides of marsh mallow (Althea offcinalis L., var. robusta). Pharmazie 1992; 47: 224-26 [in German]. 2. Tomoda M, Shimizu N, Oshima Y, et al. Hypoglycemic activity of twenty plant mucilages and three modified products. Planta Med 1987; 53: 8-12. 3. Blumenthal M, Busse WR, Goldberg A, et al. (eds). The Complete Commission E Monographs: Therapeutic Guide to Herbal Medicines.

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In the 1980s, Japanese researchers began to investigate the folklore behind medicinal mushrooms and found that many had truly remarkable properties. For example, maitake mushroom stimulates the immune system by activating T-cells, the body's natural defenders against viruses and cancer cells. Recent animal studies have shown that maitake extract can shrink tumors in mice even better than a common chemotherapy drug.

Healing Pets With Nature's Miracle Cures Henry Pasternak, D.V.M., C.V.A. See book keywords and concepts

There are certainly other medicinal mushrooms in the marketplace, but I wanted to expose the reader to a few of the more popular ones and those proven effective by extensive research. No doubt in the future there will be other mushrooms to benefit the health of humans and animals. Sterols/Sterolins Plant sterols and sterolins are among the many phytochemicals, which have in recent years stimulated research into the healing and curing effects of plants against disease. Most of the research on this comes from South Africa.

The Complete Book of Alternative Nutrition Selene Y. Craig, Jennifer Haigh, Sari Harrar and the Editors of PREVENTION Magazine Health Books See book keywords and concepts

In his book medicinal mushrooms, licensed acupuncturist and herbalist Christopher Hobbs, L.Ac., explains that while kombucha is likely to have some health benefits, there are no studies to support these claims. Kombucha's detractors, skeptical of the craze, say that airborne molds Jetson-Style Dining? Not Yet! Remember the sumptuous meals the Jetson clan used to dine on? A handful of multicolored pills. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, down the hatch. We laughed then.

Healing Pets With Nature's Miracle Cures Henry Pasternak, D.V.M., C.V.A. See book keywords and concepts

This is the most versatile of all of the medicinal mushrooms that I use, as we will see in later discussions. For quite some time, cordyceps was best known in the U.S. for its ability to stimulate the immune system. As previously discussed, the compounds responsible for immune activity are long chain sugars known as polysaccharides. The Sichuan Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine reported that its researchers had isolated a polysaccharide from cordyceps, which had the effect of activating macrophages.

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Plants of immortality in Mushroom Extracts Super Shiitakes One of the best-known medicinal mushrooms is the shiitake. It's widely used in Japan as a stimulant, liver tonic and stroke preventive. Over the years, Japanese researchers have demonstrated that the shiitake can help reduce cholesterol and blood pressure and suppress the growth of HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) and tumors. Unfortunately, the mushroom is not well-studied in the United States, although Western scientists do recognize a potential healing component in shiitakes that seems to have definite disease-fighting power.

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