Last fall, I hiked a north Pacific Coast trail hoping to identify medicinal mushrooms. The sky, visible in occasional breaks through the cathedral-like trees, was pearly grey and the fine drizzle which sieved through the forest canopy refreshed. I decided to rest by a massive cedar, fallen long ago, and now decaying into the spongy forest floor. The cedar’s broad surface was covered in deep, moist mosses and fan-like ferns. As I took in the beauty of the old growth forest which surrounded me, I noticed several large, cream coloured, mushrooms, growing ‘shelf-like’ on a nearby tree.
This was Ganoderma applanatum, also known as ‘Artist’s conk’, and although inedible due to its hard, wood-like texture, Ganoderma is one of many medicinal polypore (many pored) mushrooms commonly encountered throughout the North American woodlands.
Long used as a medicine by First Nation peoples, this species of Ganoderma has proven anti-biotic, anti-tumor and immune modulating action. The extract has demonstrated inhibition against several types of bacteria including Bacillis cereus, S. aureus, E-coli, and P. aeruginosa [1]. Other species of Ganoderma including G. sinense, G. lucidum, and G. tsugae have demonstrated anti-tumor activity against breast cancer cells [6].
Later during my hike, I spotted another fungi; the strange, loaf-shaped Fomitopsis officinalis or, ‘ghost bread’ which is still considered to be powerful medicine by Haida shaman of the Queen Charlotte islands. F. officinalis also has a long history of use in Europe. The ancient Greeks named it Agarikon, and the physician Dioscorides (65 C.E) mentioned it in his De Materia Medica as a treatment for coughing and consumption (tuberculosis) [2].
Throughout history, people from many cultures have used mushrooms for food, as medicine, and for a wide range of other practical purposes.
Ice Man Polypore
In 1991, hikers in the Italian Alps stumbled upon the 5,300 year old naturally mummified remains of a Copper Age man. Archaeologists discovered that ‘Otzi’ was carrying two different types of polypore mushrooms, carefully threaded on leather cord. Researchers believe that one, a birch fungus (Piptoporus betulinus), was likely used for its antibiotic properties and the other, Tinder Conk (Fomes fomentaris), now also referred to as ‘Ice Man polypore’, was most certainly used as tinder to start fires [3].
Medicinal mushrooms found in the North America forest include:
Artist’s Conk (Ganoderma applanatum)
Other names: Shelf fungus, tree tongue. Therapeutic actions: anti-tumor, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, lung tonic.
Ice Man polypore (Fomitopsis officinalis)
Other names: Agarikon, larch bracket mushroom, tree biscuit, ghost bread. Therapeutic actions: anti-biotic, anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic.
Maitake (Grifola frondosa)
Other names: Cloud mushroom, hen-of-the-woods. Therapeutic actions: anti-bacterial, anti-candida, anti-tumor, immune enhancer, lowers cholesterol, lowers high blood sugar.
Chaga (Inonotus obliquus)
Other names: Cinder conk, clinker fungus, black mass. Therapeutic actions: anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, lowers high blood sugar, immune enhancer, liver tonic.
Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor)
Therapeutic actions: anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant, anti-tumor, anti-viral, immune enhancer, liver and kidney tonic.
Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus)
Therapeutic actions: lowers cholesterol, anti-viral, anti-tumor [4].
Until recently, North American consumption of mushrooms has been limited to the familiar cultivated ‘button-mushroom’ variety. The opposite is true in South America, Asia, Russia and Europe, where a wide variety of mushrooms have been used both as food and for medicinal purposes.
In some cases, the culinary and medicinal uses of edible mushrooms overlaps; in China, for example, Wei-Chi soup, which translates to ‘Protective Chi soup’ or, ‘Immune-Vitality soup’, is prepared with reishi mushroom, shitaki mushroom, astragalus root, spouted beans and seasonal vegetables.
Reishi—Mushroom of Immortality
Reishi mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum), which is indigenous to the sub-tropical forests of America and Asia has been used by Tibetian monks, shaman and sages, for over two thousand years. Reishi was so revered as a panacea, or heal-all that it was considered to be sacred and was referred to as ‘ Mushroom of Immortality’. As well as being used to prevent altitude sickness, Reishi was, and still is, widely used for its calming effects, as topical wound healer, and as a treatment for infection. In TCM, reishi is considered to be one of the greatest longevity tonics and fortifiers of the mind.
As is the case for a number of medicinal mushroom species today, rather than being harvested from the wild, reishi is now widely cultivated. This fact is significant in that it demonstrates that medicinal mushrooms are highly sustainable.
Modern research
During the past 45 years, hundreds of studies have been conducted into the medicinal properties of mushrooms traditionally used for healing. Much of the research has focused on the immune modulating water soluble polysaccharides including the beta-glucans, and alcohol soluble triterpenoids [7]. These compounds appear to act as biological response modifiers. When consumed either as heated whole mushroom extracts or commercially grown mycelial extracts, these compounds have shown to enhance the immune response, support the ability of the body to adapt to stress, and support other major body systems including the nervous system, and hormonal systems [5].
The anti-tumor, immune modulating actions of reishi and other medical mushrooms, including Shiitake (Lentinus edoedes), Royal Sun Agaricus (Agaricus blazei) and Turkey tail (Trametes versicolor), is due to their ability to activate immunological receptor sites and augment natural immune defense. Reishi has proven to stimulate macrophage activity, activate natural killer cells and increase tumor necrosis factor [8].
The extract has also shown to reduce oxidative stress, reduce high cholesterol levels, decrease candida yeast infection, reduce high blood sugar levels, and reduce inflammatory and allergic response [8, 9].
Most of the research into medicinal mushrooms has involved hot water extracts from the fruiting body (the above surface ‘mushroom’) and secretions from the mushroom mycelium, the thread-like mass found below the surface of cultivated or wild mushrooms. Heating mushrooms or mushroom mycelium in water ensures that the cell walls release chitin-bound active constituents including the polysaccharides, in particular the beta-glucans.
Conclusion
Medicinal mushrooms have been used for thousands of years by many cultures throughout the world. They are among the most valued medicines known. Many species of medicinal mushrooms and quality medicinal mushroom products are now widely cultivated and available to consumers. They are considered to be highly a sustainable area of natural medicine. Medicinal mushrooms are generally safe and without side effects which has made them increasingly popular as immune enhancing tonics which can be used for a wide range of conditions including immune-protection, cancer therapy and prevention, candida infection, skin infections, bacterial and viral infections, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and the treatment of inflammation and allergy.
Celina Ainsworth owns and operates the Herbal Clinic & Dispensary.
References
1. http://www.newchapter.com/public/pdf/articles/132/antimicrobials_reprint.pdf
2. Paul Stamets: Mycomedicinals – An Informational Treatise on Medicinal Mushrooms.
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polypore.
4. Paul Stamets: Mycomedicinals – An Informational Treatise on Medicinal Mushrooms.
5. Herbal Gram , Solomon P. Wasser,
6.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17034284
7. Herbal Gram , Solomon P. Wasser,
8. Paul Stamets, Mycomedicinals: An Informational Treatise on Medicinal Mushrooms
9. Hobbs, Christopher. Medicinal Mushrooms.