Amazing Health Benefits of Mushrooms

Mushrooms are not only delicious, but also known as a nutritious superfood. Many medicinal mushrooms having strong anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal properties, and also boost your immunity, stabilize blood sugar, lowers cholesterol levels, all well documented by science. They have also been utilized in folk medicine since ancient times in many cultures. Here are a some examples of the life enhancing properties of mushrooms.

"We are more closely related to Fungi than to any other Kingdom. We share the same pathogens, meaning bacteria and viruses. As a defense against bacterial invasion, fungi have developed strong antibiotics, which also happen to be effective for us humans. Penicillin, streptomycin, and tetracycline all come from fungal extracts." (1)

Shiitake Mushrooms

"Shiitake is one of the popular culinary mushrooms used around the world. It contains Lentinan which has been isolated and used to treat stomach and other cancers due to its antitumor properties, but has also been found to protect your liver, relieve other stomach ailments (hyperacidity, gallstones, ulcers), anemia, ascites, and pleural effusion.

One of the more remarkable scientific studies demonstrating shiitake's antitumor effect was a Japanese animal study, where mice suffering from sarcoma were given shiitake extract. Six of 10 mice had complete tumor regression, and with slightly higher concentrations, all ten mice showed complete tumor regression.

Shiitake mushrooms also demonstrate antiviral (including HIV, hepatitis, and the "common cold"), antibacterial, and antifungal effects; blood sugar stabilization; reduced platelet aggregation; and reduced atherosclerosis. Shiitake also contains eritadenine, which has strong cholesterol-lowering properties." (2)

Properties include:

antibacterial
antitumor
antiviral
regulate blood pressure
moderate blood sugar
cholesterol reducer
immune enhancer
kidney and liver tonic
sexual poteniator
stress reducer
anticancer (3)

Oyster Mushrooms

"Oyster mushrooms contain a natural isomer of lovastatin, an FDA-approved cholesterol-lowering drug. A study showed that a small pool of people who had ingested 15 grams of oyster mushrooms per day for 30 days reduced LDL cholesterol by up to 30%." (4)

Properties include:

antibacterial
antitumor
regulate blood pressure
cardiovascular
cholesterol reducer
anticancer (5)

Turkey Tail Mushrooms

"Science is showing that Turkey Tail mushroom holds an arsenal of cancer-blasting compounds. A seven-year, $2 million NIH-funded clinical study in 2011 found that Turkey Tail mycelium improves immune function when dosed daily to women with stage I–III breast cancer. Immune response was dose-dependent, with no adverse effects.

In addition to breast cancer, Turkey Tail has been found to hold promise for other cancers, including stomach, colorectal, lung, esophageal, nasopharyngeal, cervical, and uterine. PSP has been shown to significantly enhance immune status in 70 to 97% of cancer patients. Turkey tail is also being used to treat many different infections, including aspergillus niger, Candida albicans, E. coli, HIV, Herpes, and streptococcus pneumonia, and is hepatoprotective. It may also be useful for CFIDS." (6)

Properties include:

antibacterial
antioxidant
antitumor
antiviral
cholesterol reducer
immune enhancer
kidney tonic
anticancer (7)

Paul Stamets states Mushrooms are "The Most Powerful Medicine in Nature", and there are about 100 species are being studied for their health-promoting benefits. (8) "A carefully designed blend of medicinal fungi can deliver a powerful therapeutic punch, whether you just wish to help protect yourself from seasonal colds or flu, or you have a more serious condition such as cancer. Either way, these special mushrooms can be an excellent adjunct to a healthful diet and lifestyle to improve your immune health." (9)