Archive for June, 2009

mushroom capsules

Taking a mushroom product in capsule or powder form has distinct advantages because most mushroom products are made from the mycelium, the feeding body of the mushroom that grows underground. Mycelium is a potent substance, nature’s way of concentrating the beneficial compounds of mushrooms. When you buy a culinary mushroom, however, you buy the fruit-body. Fruit-bodies do not always contain the potent concentrations of polysaccharides that are found in mycelium. (Mycologists are currently perfecting cultivation techniques whereby the fruit-body of mushrooms can contain potent concentrations of polysaccharides.)

What’s more, medicinal mushroom products are more hygienic. The organically grown mycelium powder is sterilized before it is pressed into pills or poured into capsules. Because nonorganic, store-bought mushrooms are often sprayed with pesticides, eating them regularly may actually be harmful. For that reason, I recommend buying culinary mushrooms at special food stores and other places where organic products are sold. Taking medicinal mushrooms in pills or capsules is easier on the digestive system, too. The mycelium finds its way into the body faster than the fruitbodies of mushrooms do.

SOURCE: Healing Mushrooms, Effective Treatments for Today’s Illnesses

chanterelle

Culinary mushrooms are an aid to health. They appear to be a good source of B vitamins, iron, niacin, riboflavin, thiamine, and ascorbic acid. By proportion to weight, mushrooms are high in polyunsaturated fats. Cultivated varieties contain large amounts of carbohydrates and fiber. On a dryweight basis, a mushroom is high in protein, and mushroom proteins contain essential amino acids.

Some mushrooms are better than others. Shiitake, for example, stimulates the immune system about a hundred times more than the common white button mushroom. Maitake does much more to aid the immune system than do morels, portobellos, chanterelles, or any other culinary mushroom. Still, all mushrooms are excellent for your health.

The difference between culinary mushrooms and medicinal mushrooms is that medicinal mushrooms are a class above their culinary cousins.

SOURCE: Healing Mushrooms, Effective Treatments for Today’s Illnesses

shiitake

Mushrooms are not green like many other plants because they do not contain chlorophyll, the green pigment associated with photosynthesis. In spring and summer, the most abundant substance in leaves is chlorophyll, which gives them their green color. Chlorophyll is essential for photosynthesis, the process which converts the energy of sunlight into sugar.

Sun-light is also necessary for the synthesis of chlorophyll itself. During summer when the days are long and sunlight is plentiful, chlorophyll is synthesizedi n a steady, abundant supply, so that throughout the season then leaves remain green.

SOURCE: Healing Mushrooms, Effective Treatments for Today’s Illnesses

alternative medicines

Finding and working with a health-care professional who understands alternative medicines may be essential if you intend to use unfamiliar treatments. Be sure to let your physician know if you are using an alternative  medicine. Your physician can advise you according to your needs and also help monitor the effects of the medicine on your health. Moreover, keeping informed about the latest findings in the health field is essential for your good health.

Scientific research into alternative medicine is still in its infancy. From a medical standpoint, we have only now begun to understand all the benefits of alternative medicines. As more research is conducted, the studies recounted in this blog will fade into archives. Advances in medical technology will permit research into alternative medicines to go much deeper than it has now.