Mushrooms for Health

The Martial Art of Wellness

Volume 14 – January 2015

(Archive of Previous BioNews)

DEAR FRIENDS

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

” Mushrooms are miniature nutrient factories, and of the thousands of mushroom species in nature, our ancestors and modern scientists have identified several dozen that have a unique combination of talents that improve our health. ”

THIS ISSUE’S TESTIMONIAL: Paul Stamets on Mushroom

Listen to this short video for best on mushrooms at http://www.hostdefense.com/resources/interviews-with-paul

THE MARTIAL ART OF WELLNESS: Mushrooms for Health!

When I was researching superfoods 15 years ago, mushrooms were on my radar.   And since, I have wanted to introduce mushrooms in our offering at BIOAGE.  It is not until I was introduced to the Host Defense mushrooms by Paul Stamets that I became convinced to offer them to myself, my family, and my clients.  After consuming some of Paul Stamets’ mushrooms now for over three months, I am confident that they are the best mushrooms offered in America.   The factors that convinced me of this are  1.) that they are organic, and,  2.) that they are grown by a world leading expert in not only mushrooms, but in soil and organic life.  In the next several months we will be writing about mushrooms and we will also be conducting webinar and telephone conferences to help you in your decision to try these extraordinary mushrooms as you continue your quest for wellness.

Mushrooms for Optimum Health

Seven primary mushroom constituent classes buttress the immunity enhancing effects of mushrooms:

1. Polysaccharides (ex. Alpha & Beta-glucans): Immunomodulating
2. Glycoproteins (ex. PSK): Immunomodulating
3. Triterpenes (Sterols, ex. sistosterols, stigmasterols, campesterols)
4. Lipids: Cholesterol modulating
5. Proteins (Enzymes): Antioxidants
6. Cyathane Derivatives (ex. erinacines & hericenones, nerve growth stimulant factors)
7. Secondary Metabolites

These constituents in turn may enhance immune system function and vitality.

Nature supplies mankind with nutrition, healing and wholeness, and mushrooms are one of the many miracles found in nature. Mainstream is just now learning of the many benefits to consuming healthful organic mushrooms.

Mushrooms contain some of the most potent natural medicines on the planet for healing the human body. Of the 140,000 species of mushroom-forming fungi, science is familiar with only 10 percent, according to world-renown mycologist Paul Stamets who has written six books on the topic.

Nearly 100 species of mushrooms are being studied for their health-promoting benefits. Of those hundred, about a half-dozen really stand out for their ability to deliver a tremendous boost to the immune system.

It’s important to eat only organically grown mushrooms because they absorb and concentrate whatever they grow in — good or bad. This is what gives mushrooms their potency. Mushrooms are known to concentrate heavy metals, as well as air and water pollutants, so healthy growing conditions are an important factor.

While it may sound strange, this is a good thing for us in that we are actually more closely related to fungi than we are to any other kingdom, as 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.

Mushrooms have approximately 12,000 genes controlling the production of more than 200,000 compounds. Each mushroom species has a unique genetic identity and molecular architecture.  Embedded within this highly integrated molecular matrix of fungal cells are beneficial active ingredients. Our bodies are able to utilize these active ingredients, provided the mycomaterial is pure, genetically potent and bioavailable. Using the mushrooms and mycelium in their natural forms renders them functional foods. With mushrooms, the adage that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” seems particularly descriptive. For the majority of us, mushrooms are a whole system tonic, benefitting overall human health, fortifying and readying immunity.

Mushrooms as superfoods are simply more efficient than most regular foods!

• Improved Brain Function:  High amount of brain friendly amino acids, vitamins, minerals, while not causing a digestive burden. They are dense ounce per ounce, yet offer no digestive loss. They contain rare nutrients not easily obtained from our regular diet – they are nutritional bullets, containing many amino acids, sterols, and other nutrients necessary for brain health.
• Weight Management: One study found that substituting red meat with white button mushrooms can help enhance weight loss. Obese participants with a median age of just over 48 years ate approximately one cup of mushrooms per day in place of meat.  The participants had lost an average of 3.6 percent of their starting weight, or about seven pounds. They also showed improvements in body composition, such as reduced waist circumference, and ability to maintain their weight loss, compared to the control group.  The control group ate a standard diet without mushrooms and had little or no weight loss.
• Improved Nutrition: One dietary analysis found that mushroom consumption was associated with better diet quality and improved nutrition.
• Improved Immune System Function: Long chain polysaccharides, particularly alpha and beta glucan molecules, are primarily responsible for mushrooms’ beneficial effect on your immune system. In one study, adding one or two servings of dried shiitake mushrooms was found to have a beneficial, modulating effect on immune system function. Another study done on mice found that white button mushrooms enhanced the adaptive immunity response to salmonella.
• Unique Nutritional Content : Often grouped with vegetables, mushrooms provide many of the nutritional attributes of produce, as well as attributes more commonly found in meat, beans or grains. Mushrooms are low in calories, fat-free, cholesterol-free, gluten-free, and very low in sodium, yet they provide important nutrients, including selenium, potassium (8%), riboflavin, niacin, vitamin D and more. – See more at: http://mushroominfo.com/benefits/#sthash.XLkejuJ4.dpuf
• Increasing vitamin D levels through your diet: Mushrooms stand out as the only source of vitamin D in the produce aisle and one of the few non-fortified food sources. In fact, the IOM recognizes them as the exception to the rule that plant foods don’t naturally contain vitamin D.  Consuming dried white button mushroom extract was found to be as effective as taking supplemental vitamin D2 or D3 for increasing vitamin D levels (25-hydroxyvitamin D) – See more at: http://mushroominfo.com/all-about-vitamin-d/#sthash.nWVNjWef.dpuf
• Improved immune system function: Long chain polysaccharides, particularly alpha and beta glucan molecules, are primarily responsible for the mushrooms’ beneficial effect on your immune system. In one study, adding one or two servings of dried shiitake mushrooms was found to have a beneficial, modulating effect on immune system function.  Another study done on mice found that white button mushrooms enhanced the adaptive immunity response to salmonella.
  

We at BIOAGE have chosen Host Defense Mushrooms because we believe they are simply the best mushrooms available in a bottle!  Host Defense’s Mushrooms are Certified Organic. They are Sustainably Cultivated and Grown, and they are processed in the U.S.A. They are formulated by top mushroom scientist Paul Stamets, D.Sc. who, together with his skilled team, grows every single mushroom in every single Host Defense product, maintaining complete control over their raw materials.   They are backed by Scientific Research, and the capsules are Non-GMO Project Verified & Bee Friendly™.

References

– Mushrooms Renaissance –  http://www.hostdefense.com/about-mushrooms/the-mushroom-renaissance

– Why Host Defense Mushrooms – http://www.hostdefense.com/about/why-hd-mushrooms

– About Paul Stamets – http://www.hostdefense.com/about/about-the-founder

– Huffington Post, July 10, 2012, Place Mushrooms in Sunlight to Get Your Vitamin D: Part Two 

– Huffington Post, July 2, 2012, Place Mushrooms in Sunlight to Get Your Vitamin D: Part One

– http://www.hostdefense.com/about-mushrooms/seven-pillars-of-immune-benefits

– http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/05/13/mushroom-benefits.aspx

– http://www.myhealthwire.com/news/diet-nutrition/465

– http://mushroominfo.com/all-about-vitamin-d/