Mushrooms contain a few of the most powerful natural medicines in the world. Of the 140,000 species of mushroom-forming fungis, science recognizes with only 10 percent, inning accordance with world-renown mycologist Paul Stamets, who has composed 6 books on the topic.
About 100 species of mushrooms are being studied for their health-promoting benefits. Of those hundred, about a half lots truly stand out for their capability to deliver a significant boost to your body immune system.
It’s crucial to eat only organically grown mushrooms since they take in and concentrate whatever they grow in– great or bad. This is what offers mushrooms their effectiveness. Mushrooms are known to concentrate heavy metals, in addition to air and water contaminants, so healthy growing conditions is a vital element.
While it might sound odd, we’re in fact more carefully related to fungis than we are to any other kingdom, as we share the same pathogens, suggesting bacteria and viruses.
As a defense against bacterial invasion, fungi have established strong antibiotics, which likewise occur to be effective for us human beings. Penicillin, streptomycin, and tetracycline all come from fungal extracts.
The Health Benefits of Mushroom Consumption
What are the benefits of eating mushrooms? Mushrooms contain:
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin B1
- Vitamin B2
- Vitamin B3
- Vitamin B5
- Vitamin B6
- Vitamin B9
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin E
- Potassium
- Phosphorus
- Sulfur
- Chlorine
- Magnesium
- Calcium
- Sodium
- Iron
- Zinc
- Manganese.
The FASEB Journal recently published 9 studies on mushrooms that were likewise presented at Experimental Biology 2013, which detailed a wide variety of health advantages, including:
Weight management
One study discovered that replacing red meat with white button mushrooms can help enhance weight loss. Obese individuals with a mean age of simply over 48 years consumed roughly one cup of mushrooms per day in place of meat. The control group consumed a standard diet without mushrooms.
At the end of the 12-month trial, the intervention group had lost an average of 3.6 percent of their beginning weight, or about seven pounds. They likewise showed improvements in body composition, such as decreased waist area, and ability to preserve their weight loss, compared to the control group.
Enhanced nutrition
One dietary analysis discovered that mushroom intake was connected with much better diet quality and enhanced nutrition.
Increasing vitamin D levels through your diet
Consuming dried white button mushroom extract was discovered to be as efficient as taking additional vitamin D2 or D3 for increasing vitamin D levels (25-hydroxyvitamin D).
Better body immune system function
Long chain polysaccharides, especially alpha and beta glucan particles, are mostly responsible for the mushrooms’ helpful impact on your body immune system.
In one research study, including one or two portions of dried shiitake mushrooms was found to have an useful, modulating result on body immune system function. Another study done on mice discovered that white button mushrooms boosted the adaptive immunity action to salmonella.
Parasitic Fungi Showing Guarantee for Immune Disorders and Cancer
Cordyceps, likewise called caterpillar fungus or Tochukasu, is a favorite of athletes due to the fact that it increases ATP production, strength and endurance, and has anti-aging impacts.
This parasitic mushroom is special because, in the wild, it outgrows an insect host rather of a plant host. It has actually long been used within both conventional chinese medicine.
It has hypoglycemic and possible antidepressant effects, safeguards your liver and kidneys, increases blood circulation, helps stabilize your cholesterol levels, and has been used to treat Hepatitis B.
Cordyceps has antitumor properties as well. Scientists at The University of Nottingham have been studying cordycepin, one of the active medicinal substances discovered in these fungis, and the one identified as a prospective cancer drug. More current research studies recommend it likewise has powerful anti-inflammatory qualities that may be useful for those suffering from:
- asthma
- rheumatoid arthritis
- kidney failure
- stroke damage.
A concern that was pleading for an answer was how cordycepin might produce so many various beneficial effects at the cellular level. Researcher Dr. Cornelia de Moor informed Medical News Today:
” We have revealed that cordycepin reduces the expression of inflammatory genes in respiratory tract smooth muscle cells by acting upon the final step in the synthesis of their messenger RNAs (mRNAs) which bring the chemical blueprint for the synthesis of proteins.
This procedure is called polyadenylation. Frequently used anti-inflammatory drugs either work much earlier in the activation of inflammatory genes, such as prednisone, or work on one of the end products of the inflammatory response (e.g. ibuprofen).
These findings indicate that cordycepin acts by a completely various system than presently used anti-inflammatory drugs, making it a possible drug for patients in which these drugs do not work well.
Nevertheless, it is a surprise that cordycepin does not affect the synthesis of mRNAs from other genes, because almost all mRNAs need polyadenylation.”
According to Dr. de Moor’s research, the system accountable for cordycepin’s numerous varied results may originate from its capability to change the synthesis of numerous classes of quickly caused genes that help combat inflammatory genes, thereby decreasing otherwise quick cellular actions to tissue damage. It might also help prevent over-activation of inflammatory reactions.
” However, it likewise suggests that cordycepin could have unfavorable results on typical injury recovery and on the natural defenses against transmittable diseases,” the featured short article states.
” Dr. de Moor said: ‘We are hoping to even more investigate which genes are more depending on polyadenylation than others and why this is the case, along with test the impact of cordycepin on animal models of disease. Clinical screening of cordycepin is not in our instant plans, as we believe we first have to understand this drug in more detail prior to we can risk treating patients with it.'”
Foragers, Be careful of Toxic Mushrooms
An November 2012 article in The Atlantic highlighted current cases of lethal gastrointestinal disorder associated with eating wild mushrooms, and the requirement for care when foraging food:
” Of the over 10,000 types of mushrooms, only about 50 to 100 are hazardous. About 6,000 Americans each year end up eating them. Over half of those cases include not being watched children. So if you’re considering treating that unique person in your life to a wild mushroom-based meal, take the following into factor to consider: Over 90 percent of deaths, consisting of these latest ones, are caused by amatoxins.”
As pointed out in the article, the North American Mycological Association uses important info on a number of harmful mushrooms and the symptoms they cause, consisting of those for amanitin (amatoxins), which is among the most serious:
- Stage 1: A latency period of 6 to 24 Hr after ingestion, where the contaminants are actively ruining the victim’s kidneys and liver, however the victim experiences no discomfort.
- Stage 2: A period of about 24 hours characterized by violent vomiting, bloody diarrhea, and severe abdominal cramps.
- Stage 3: A period of 24 hours during which the victim appears to recover (if hospitalized, the patient is sometimes launched).
- Stage 4: Relapse, during which kidney and liver failure typically happens, leading to death. Patients may also “bleed out” and die due to the damage of clotting elements in the blood. There might be more than one regression.
Warning: If you have any need to believe that someone has consumed an amanitin-containing mushroom, DO N’T WAIT for symptoms to appear! There is no remedy for amanitin poisoning, and the best hope is to rush the person to the hospital where the toxins can be gotten rid of prior to being fully soaked up into the body.
It’s likewise essential to eat ONLY organically grown mushrooms due to the fact that they soak up and concentrate whatever they grow in– excellent OR bad. This is what gives mushrooms their potency, for much better or even worse.
Mushrooms are known to concentrate heavy metals, along with air and water contaminants. One way to know what you’re getting is to grow your very own. You can discover a variety of DIY garden sets readily available online, which will remove any concerns about what kind of mushroom you’re selecting.
Improving Your Nutrition with Mushrooms
Inning accordance with Farrar, Americans consume about 900 million pounds of mushrooms a year, but 95 percent of that is simply one species: the common button mushroom and its loved ones, the Crimini and the Portabello mushrooms.
Granted, the button mushroom is an outstanding low-calorie food, specifically for diabetics. It includes a number of valuable nutrients, including protein, enzymes, B vitamins (especially niacin), and vitamin D2. Nevertheless, there are numerous other types of mushrooms worthwhile of factor to consider if you wish to improve your diet.
Farrar’s focus has actually been on growing various premium mushroom types, particularly the wood decomposing mushroom types, which vary considerably from your typical button mushroom in terms of biology, nutrition and medicinal worth.
Mushrooms are outstanding sources of antioxidants in basic as they include polyphenols and selenium, which are common in the plant world. However they also contain anti-oxidants that are unique to mushrooms. One such anti-oxidant is ergothioneine, which researchers are now beginning to recognize as a ‘master antioxidant.’
Interestingly, it’s an amino acid which contains sulfur, and if you listened to interview with Dr. Seneff on the extremely undervalued value of sulfur, you may recognize why this particular antioxidant may be of particular importance for human health, as numerous are seriously lacking in sulfur.
A previous research study in the journal Nature goes over the significance of ergothioneine, which is relatively unique to mushrooms, explaining it as “an uncommon sulfur-containing derivative of the amino acid, histidine,” which appears to have a really particular role in safeguarding your DNA from oxidative damage.
With that in mind, it becomes easy to see how mushrooms might be a fundamental part of an optimal diet. If you do not want to eat them entire, you can also discover them in supplement type, either as an extract or entire food supplement.
Examples of Mushrooms to Contribute to Your Diet
A few of my preferred health-enhancing mushroom species include:
Shiitake (Lentinula edodes)
Shiitake is a popular cooking mushroom used in meals around the globe. It contains a number of health-stimulating agents, consisting of lentinan, the polysaccharide for which it was named.
Lentinan has been isolated and used to treat stomach and other cancers due to its antitumor properties, however has actually also been found to safeguard your liver, ease other stomach disorders (hyperacidity, gallstones, ulcers), anemia, ascites, and pleural effusion.
Among the more exceptional scientific research studies demonstrating shiitake’s antitumor effect was a Japanese animal research study, where mice struggling with sarcoma were offered shiitake extract. Six of 10 mice had complete tumor regression, and with a little higher concentrations, all 10 mice showed total growth regression.
Shiitake mushrooms also demonstrate antiviral (consisting of HIV, liver disease, and the “acute rhinitis”), anti-bacterial, and antifungal effects; blood glucose stabilization; lowered platelet aggregation; and minimized atherosclerosis. Shiitake also includes eritadenine, which has strong cholesterol-lowering properties.
Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum)
Among its better compounds is ganoderic acid (a triterpenoid), which is being used to treat lung cancer, leukemia and other cancers. The list of Reishi’s health benefits includes the following.
- Antibacterial, antiviral (Herpes, Epstein-Barr), antifungal (including Candida) properties.
- Anti-inflammatory, helpful for decreasing symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.
- Immune system up-regulation.
- Normalization of blood cholesterol levels and blood pressure.
- Reduction of prostate-related urinary symptoms in men.
Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor)
Turkey Tail is likewise called Coriolis, or “cloud mushroom.” Two polysaccharide complexes in Turkey Tail are getting a good deal of scientific attention, PSK (or “Kreskin”) and PSP, making it the most extensively researched of all medicinal mushrooms with big scale scientific trials.
A seven-year, $2 million NIH-funded clinical study in 2011 discovered that Turkey Tail mycelium enhances immune function when dosed daily to women with stage I– III breast cancer. Immune action was dose-dependent, with no adverse impacts.
PSP has been revealed to considerably enhance immune status in 70 to 97 percent of cancer patients. Turkey tail is also being used to treat various infections, including aspergillus niger, Candida albicans, E. coli, HIV, Herpes, and streptococcus pneumonia, and is hepatoprotective. It might likewise be useful for chronic fatigue.
Himematsutake (Agaricus blazei)
Himematsutake, also called Royal Sun Agaricus, is a relative of the typical button mushroom. Himematsutake was not cultivated in the East up until relatively just recently but is now an incredibly popular alternative medicine, used by almost a half million Japanese.
Himematsutake mushroom is drawing in numerous researchers worldwide due to its impressive anticancer properties associated to 6 unique polysaccharides. Like many other medicinal mushrooms, this fungus can likewise secure you from the damaging effects of radiation and chemotherapy. But its benefits do not stop there — Himematsutake might likewise help reduce insulin resistance in diabetics, stabilize your cholesterol, improve your hair and skin, as well as treat polio.
Usage and Dosage Recommendations for Mushroom Supplements
When it concerns mushroom supplements, there are two main types:
- Mushroom concentrates or draws out– Most of these are so-called hot water extracts, where either the mushroom mycelia– the fruit body– is boiled for extended amount of times to extract the long chain polysaccharides. The end product is a focused type of glyconutrients (complex sugars) thought to be responsible for much of the health benefits of the mushroom.
- Whole food/raw mushrooms– Consuming the mushrooms raw or using a whole food mushroom (powdered tablet) product is generally a better alternative if you’re fairly healthy and planning to maintain optimal health, as they help preserve perfect function of your various systems as opposed to imparting a direct effect. Most of the knowledge about mushrooms originated from ancient Chinese medicine where mushrooms are considered as tonics. Tonics are thought about to have non-specific useful effects throughout several systems of your body that do not decrease in time.
As mentioned earlier, if you choose to eat your mushrooms raw, ensure they are naturally grown, as their flesh easily takes in air and soil impurities. Likewise, you’ll wish to make sure any product you purchase is accredited natural for the same reason.
In addition to important nutrients, entire mushrooms likewise supply healthful dietary fiber that serves as prebiotic platforms for the growth of probiotic organisms in your gut, which is very important for digestive health. This is yet another reason to go with an entire food mushroom item.
Adding Mushrooms Is a Simple Way to Boost Your Health Through Your Diet
With all the proof supporting mushrooms as little powerhouses of powerful nutrition, I extremely recommend adding some to your diet. They’re an excellent addition to any salad and go fantastic with all sort of meat and fish. “Let food be thy medication” readies guidance certainly, and with mushrooms that is specifically true, as they contain a few of the most powerful natural medicines on the planet.
Health Tips
Simply ensure they’re naturally grown in order to prevent harmful pollutants that mushrooms soak up and focus from soil, air and water. Likewise, prevent choosing mushrooms in the wild unless you are definitely sure you understand what you’re choosing.
There are a number of hazardous mushrooms, and it’s simple to obtain them puzzled unless you have a great deal of experience and know what to search for. Growing your own is an exceptional choice and a far more secure option to selecting wild mushrooms.
Good luck! Have a nice weekend.
