Mushrooms are more than an essential ingredient for spaghetti sauce. They contain some of the top nutrients that support the immune system. They have been used for everything from the common cold to cancer, HIV and tuberculosis. They can be eaten as a food, made into teas, capsules or tinctures and used to increase both health and nutrition.

Reishi

Reishi (ray-shee) mushrooms are also known as Ling-Zhi, or plant of immortality. There are six types: blue, red, yellow, white, black and purple.

For more than 4,000 years Reishi has been used in both China and Japan, especially in the treatment of hepatitis, nephritis, hypertension, arthritis, insomnia, bronchitis, asthma and ulcers. Many sources also list reishi for weight loss, increasing longevity, heart problems and for degenerative diseases like cancer. It is still used in the same ways, but today it is most valued for its benefits to the immune system.

Reishi is rich in nutrients. It contains carbohydrates, amino acids, protein, riboflavin, vitamin C, magnesium, zinc, manganese, copper and many other vitamins and minerals. A number of its polysaccharides (complex sugars) have demonstrated anti-tumor and immuno-stimulating activities.

The sterols in reishi act as hormone precursors and the adenosine, another of reishi’s active ingredients, has been found to inhibit platelet aggregation, making it useful for anyone who suffers from heart disease. Another set of compounds in reishi, the triterpenes, have been found to have adaptogenic, anti-hypertensive and anti-allergy effects. Reishi seems to have the ability to stop the release of histamine, thereby stopping allergy reactions before they start.

This incredible mushroom has also been shown to be a pain killer, an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. This makes it a good treatment for arthritis. It’s known as an expectorant, detoxifyer and liver protector; it even helps to reduce the side effects of caffeine. It increases natural killer cells, helps HIV patients and improves adrenal function, making it useful for anyone suffering from stress, insomnia or depression. It also increases white blood cells and has anti-ulcer effects.

Numerous studies have demonstrated reishi’s benefits. For example, in 1970, more than 2,000 patients with bronchitis were given reishi. In only two weeks, 60 to 90 per cent of the patients were better or improved, especially the elderly patients and those with bronchial asthma.

A clinical report from China shows that reishi was given to 70,000 patients with hepatitis. Ninety per cent were cured. Reishi can even be used as an antidote for poisonous mushrooms and as a lotion to protect against harmful ultraviolet rays.

Maitake

Maitake (my-ta-kee) means dancing mushroom in Japanese, probably because it was so valued in ancient times that those who found the mushroom danced for joy. It was worth its weight in silver!

Maitake, used consistently in the diet as food, tea or as a supplement, has many benefits. It helps prevent cancer and stimulates the immune system in people with leukemia or breast, colon, lung or stomach cancer. It even strengthens the resistance of those undergoing chemotherapy and people infected with HIV. Maitake has also been found to help diabetics lower blood glucose levels and to help those with hypertension.

Beta glucan, a complex carbohydrate, is believed to be the secret to maitake’s immunologic action. Large white blood cells that devour pathogens and tumor cells have receptors for beta glucan, hence maitake’s connection to immunity.

At least 30 studies have looked at maitake’s anti-tumor action. In one study, maitake extract injected into tumor-bearing mice produced an 87-per-cent tumor shrinkage. One study compared maitake with a widely-used chemo- therapeutic drug. With just a small dose, the maitake extract produced an 85-per-cent tumor shrinkage in mice, compared to 30 per cent with the chemotherapy.

Shiitake

Linda Woolven is creator of the newsletter The Natural Path.

Source: alive #212, June 2000