Healing Mushrooms and Medicinal Mushrooms

Mushrooms are probably the least understood of the healing and medicinal herbs. While herbal studies of ginseng, black cosh, echinacea and green tea number in the thousands, research papers about medicinal uses of mushrooms number under a thousand. Research into medicinal properties of mushrooms has only picked up since the 80s. A difficulty with mushrooms is their innate ability to absorb elements and chemical found in their direct environment. Shiitake mushrooms grown in a greenhouse in Canada, will have significantly different chemical properties from those grown outdoors in California, because temperature, growing medium and climate play their part in the level of medicinal properties of a particular species of mushroom. Research has resulted in diverging results, even using exactly the same strains of a particular mushroom. Over the last 40 years, there has been evidence that certain mushrooms contain protein, trace minerals, polysaccharides, amino-acids and fiber that are essential for overall heath. Compounds found in mushrooms are now believed to boost the immune system, while others may inhibit tumor growth. Some mushrooms may also be adaptogens. Adaptogens increase resistance to environmental stress factors like stress, and fatigue. The adaptogens in mushrooms are often their antioxidant properties, which by helping to reduce cellular damage and removal toxins assist the body in cope with the day-to-day stress induced by our environment. Mushrooms associated medicinal properties include: Reishi Maitaki Chaga Shiitake Cordyceps Lion’s Mane Turkey Tail Agaricus Of these mushrooms, the most studied by far is the Reishi, often called the mushroom of immortality in the Orient.