ARE MUSHROOMS A FAD OR BENEFICIAL FOR OUR HEALTH?
Humans and Mushrooms: More alike than we think
Firstly, ignore the photo attached to this post. This is a mushroom I captured whilst I was working at a local community garden, near my home. I liked the colours and it looked good on Instagram, I’m pretty sure you can’t eat it. Looks fairly toxic!
So human and mushrooms are alike? According to scientists, when comparing sequences of ribosomal RNA, fungi are genetically closer to animals than they are to plants. Whilst fungi were originally classified as plants, they were later given their own category as their relationship to plants and animals was not clear. Why is this interesting? Maybe it’s not. It does mean that the relationship between humans and fungi is perhaps more symbiotic than we first thought. In other words, mutually beneficial. They thrive on us and we thrive on them. Mushrooms are do have high nutritional value and are comprised of many medicinally active compounds that can be beneficial to health. Particularly in the case of chronic disease. If you think about eating mushrooms, they are quite similar in texture to meat (although maybe not for the avid meat eater!) so it makes sense that they are structurally and chemically closer to humans than plants.
I first came across the use of mushrooms for therapeutic treatment whilst I was studying to qualify as a naturopath and herbalist. There was a man on my course who had a passion for all things fungi and was an expert about Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) in particular. More commonly known mushrooms (due the increasing mainstream popularity) are Reishi, Shiitake and Maitake; all can be found in supplements, drinks and food (obviously!!).
To be honest, whilst I was studying there was so much going on, mushrooms were just another interesting area that I promised myself I would look into when I had time. I had seen the amazing impact it had on the health of clients, who were presenting with a number of symptoms.
Chaga is a fungus that grows on the bark of Birch trees; mainly in cold climates, such as Russia and Northern Europe. From a phytochemical point of view, it is packed full of antioxidants and can therefore be useful in conditions relating to inflammation, toxicity and for general immunity and wellbeing. It has been used for centuries as medicine in Siberia and South East Asia but is becoming more and more popular in the western world. Working and living in London, I had seen a few places that even offer Chaga coffee and other mushroom based drinks recently.
So Chaga was my first encounter with the idea of using mushrooms to treat disease. It wasn’t until I graduated and went on to further study that I looked into it more. Being the person I am, I really wanted to understand as much as I could about it all; the science, the chemistry, the energetics, the history….and also test it out on myself and my clients. Especially as there has been a surge in Mushroom based products recently, from well known health food distributors and even gyms and boutique fitness centres. I wanted to know what worked and what didn’t and most importantly, test and source good quality products that I could use in practice.
Recently I attended a lecture at Goldsmiths University in London that focused on “New Herbal Insights into Allergy and Inflammation”, delivered by the renowned herbalist Professor Kerry Bone. Amongst many things, Kerry Bone is highly respected and accredited for his work in the field of Phytomedicinal Research. I knew there would be some great, well informed material to learn from and part of the lecture focused on mushroom therapy in particular. The study was extremely in-depth so I can't do it justice here, however some of the main conclusions were as follows:
Therapeutic uses for mushrooms
Adjunctive treatment to enhance the immune system, especially the innate (non acquired) immune function
Particularly useful for people who are debilitated as in the case of chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia
Useful for people experiencing recurrent infections or clients undergoing immunisation or challenging and/or toxic treatments
For disease prevention and anti-aging
Addition of mushrooms to the diet will optimise their efficacy; don’t just take supplements
Mushrooms play a possible role in allergy regulation
Medicinal Mushroom Consumption: Key recommendations
B-Glucans are the key active component in medicinal mushrooms (these are Polysaccharides of D-glucose, linked by glycosidic bonds)
Combinations of mushrooms improves outcome and potency; they work together to have a more impactful, overall effect on the production of immune cells. Shiitake + Reishi + Maitake
Always check the levels of beta and alpha glucans in the formula (not just the total glucan count). It is thought that alpha glucans do not have therapeutic effect.
What medium are the mushrooms grown in? Depending on the substance; more beta glucan may be in the formula
Check what part of the mushroom is used. Is it just the fruiting body?
Want to know more? Please get in touch for product recommendations, one-to-one consultations, lectures and workshops.