NOVEMBER 1, 2011 MUSHROOMS

"STYLE IS NOT A MATTER OF WEALTH, BUT A SENSE OR YOUR IMAGINATION."

Imagination is a wonderful asset. We all have an imagination. Did you ever let your imagination run away with you? Of course, you have. Can you imagine if you won this week's mega millions? What would you buy, what would you do with all that money? What charities would you donate to?

I imagine the success of what I have accomplished when I am no longer here. Did Einstein, Dali, Picasso, Freud and Halstead have the same feeling? I live every day as if it were my last. I want to always constantly learn. It is my passion and my imagination that keeps me going.

What is a mushroom? A mushroom is a fruiting body of a fungus, which unlike plants does not contain chlorophyll. Have you ever wondered if a mushroom is a plant or an animal? It is a trick question. Fungi, or mushrooms are not classified as part of the animal or plant kingdoms, but constitute their own kingdom. Their function is to recycle dead and dying matter. Mushrooms help to decompose dead plants and animals to form nutrients necessary for the growth of new plants and animals. I want you to re read that sentence and you will begin to understand the importance of mushrooms.

We have known for centuries that some mushrooms are poisonous and make people ill, while other mushrooms have the ability to aid in healing people.

The mushrooms that have beneficial effects are :

1. Agaricus bisporus (White button)
2. Cordyceps sinensis (Catepillar mushroom)
3. Coriolus versicolor / Trametes versicolor (Turkey Tail)
4. Hericium erinaceus (Lion's mane)
5. Agaricus blazei (Sun mushroom)
6. Maitake (Dancing mushroom)
7. Reishi
8. Shiitake
9. Tremelis fuciformis (Silver Ear)

Many of these medicinal mushrooms have been integrated, finally in the treatment of cancer patients. Even the National Institute of Health is conducting a study on the medicinal benefits of mushrooms for several cancers. Many studies have reported benefit in enhancing immune function, reducing side effects of chemotherapy, and improving overall results.

Extracts of Coriolus have been developed in China (known as PSP) and in Japan ( known as PSK) Both are different but contain beta -glucans. Both are used as adjunct treatments for cancer in these countries. Both stimulate the immune system, support the patient after surgery and during chemo and/or radiation if the patient pursues that route. The five year survival studies show an increase in survival for non small cell carcinoma in those receiving PSK (39%) versus those who did not (16%)

I really do not understand why it is taking so long for the NIH, The National Institute of Cancer and other organizations to start waking up and looking around at other treatments for cancer --outside the conventional chemotherapy box.

The Maitake D fraction is another good example of beneficial results for those receiving these mushrooms versus those receiving placebo.

There are many places to start your study of Mushrooms. It is a fascinating topic. I know it is not a plant nor an animal, but you have to wonder how could these little 'guys' you see in the woods have so much potential. Mother Earth placed them here for a reason.

Start this way... Visit Fungi Perfect on the web site at http://www.fungi.com/ Look at 'Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms" by my colleague Paul Stamets. He is the leader in the field. Maybe you want to grow mushrooms at home - he has a book on that too.

I like the book 100 Edible Mushrooms by Michael Kuo. I would buy every book I find on mushroom and I know I would read them, but Rick is getting tired of books, books, and more books.

But for mushroom's sake, start somewhere!

Until tomorrow...

June 9 - The BEE and the MUSHROOM

JUNE 9, 2010 Wednesday

"Worry is rehearsing fear about a made-up, fabricated event in the future that most of the time never happens" Thanks KM

The quote above is a good reminder. Worry is also known as projection. Projecting the outcome of a situation, of what people will say or of what may happen, leads to a vicious cycle of fear. As the quote above states, it may never happen. Some may project about what happens when they die--who will come to their funeral, what songs will be played, etc. If you are that worried about this, then make a will and have everything planned out.

I want to discuss three mushrooms which are medicinal. The Maitake (Grifola frondosus) is indigenous to Japan. It is a very expensive mushroom. It has been used mainly for the treatment of cancer and HIV. The Maitake D-fraction is the most potent for enhancement of the immune system. It has been shown to complement conventional chemotherapy.

The Reishi mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum) is used in Chinese medicine. It is commonly used for people who have low energy. Reishi does improve both energy and sleep. The reishi mushroom has a stimulating effect on bone marrow. It also protects the body during radiation and chemotherapy.

The Shiitake mushroom (Lentinus edodes) is the only mushroom that has been shown to lower cholesterol. I have not used the previous two for cholesterol problems. This mushroom does have the ability to stimulate T-helper cells. The component in this mushroom is called lentinan. Studies have shown that lentinan inhibits metastatic cancer and does exert its effect on the thymus gland.

In reading "Medicinal Plants of the Bible", I found this:
"Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat." Job 30:4 (KJV)
and
"They pick mallow and the leaves of bushes, and to warm themselves the roots of the broom." Job 30:4 (RSV)

Both of these quotes are referring to the Maltese Mushroom (Cynomorium coccineum). Cynomorium is known in Chinese as suoyang, which is based on the herb's medicinal effects, "locking the yang". The value of cynomorium was depicted similarly in many cultures. In 16th century Europe, it was known as the Maltese mushroom, though it is not a true fungus. The plant was so highly regarded that the Knights of Malta often sent samples of it to European monarchs as presents.

The needle point pillow above is a "bee". A bee has nothing to do with mushrooms but I like this pillow. It was given to my dear friend, Carol. Carol is my craft buddy for stamping and knitting. She is a much better knitter than I am.

Photo credit: Carol
The top photograph is of the Maltese Mushroom. Tomorrow I will discuss the Cloud Fungus.

Until tomorrow...

June 8, 2010 Mushroom Abundance

June 8, 2010

"Love does not measure; it just gives" - Mother Teresa

"See joy and love in what you give, not in what you get" - EL

In my opinion, love is an overused four letter word. What is love? Is it the first time you step into the first spring rain and let it pour over your body? Is it your little dog sitting next to you on the couch? Is it when your child first says the word Daddy? The definition from Wikipedia is any of a number of emotions related to a sense of strong affection and attachment. How vague is that! The word love can refer to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from generic pleasure ("I loved that steak sandwich") to intense interpersonal attraction ("I love my partner"). This diversity of uses and meanings, combined with the complexity of the feelings involved, makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, even compared to other emotional states. Ugh!

I feel it must come from within. I learned about a different kind of "love" when I began to see the world and my place in the world in a completely different light. I began to appreciate the small things. This appreciation came from a lot of work within myself. I felt love as a child and the love of an extended family (great aunts, uncles, cousins, and more cousins) but then my perception changed when the God of my understanding left me at 20 years old without a mother. I felt lonely. I began to search for love in all the wrong places and drowned my sorrows over the years in addictions. I know now that was not love. It may have been an infatuation, or attraction. Today, I feel the love I did as a child. I am a little boy within who is not lost anymore. How could I be? I have the real love of a partner, of children, of friends, of all living creatures (including plants) and most of all the love of the God of my understanding. Who could ask for a better birthday gift to enter the next half century of my life?!

As we continue with dietary lifestyle changes, I want to state that any disease entity can fit into my LIFESTYLE pyramid. Let's review it again from the bottom to the top of the triangle.
#1 Lifestyle Change - Dietary
#2 Exercise
#3 Addictions
#4 Meditation
#5 Self Esteem/Hobbies
#6 Anger/Resentment - Forgiveness
#7 Self-Love

Since I want to discuss the Medicinal Uses of Mushrooms, I must discuss their roles in a variety of cancers. Any type of cancer can be fit into the Lifestyle Change Pyramid. Through the next few weeks, I want to discuss my philosophy in the treatment of cancers. I am not going to discuss allopathic or conventional-specific treatments. I am not an oncologist. I am an internist/cardiologist with a background in Integrative Medicine (may also be called Holistic, Alternative and Complimentary Medicine). There are many modalities used to treat cancers. Some of these modalities include herbs, meditation, Traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic Medicine, spirituality and especially Dietary Lifestyle Changes.

There are many dietary lifestyle changes that a patient with cancer may institute. For example, some may try a Macrobiotic Diet, others may use a Vegetarian diet and still others may not change their diet at all.

In my opinion, the dietary lifestyle change should be to an alkaline diet, rich in vegetables and fruits, and low in simple carbohydrates. An acidic diet rich or abundant in simple carbohydrates is only putting gasoline on the fire, which is the cancer. The less simple sugar one consumes when diagnosed with cancer, the better the overall outcome.

Historically, some cite Eli Jones, an American Eclectic Physiomedical Physician who practiced eclectic Phytochemical Medicine in the 19th and 20th century. What is eclectic medicine? I knew what type of medicine this was but I had another introduction to it in Ithaca during my Botany Education. Eclectic medicine was a branch of American medicine which made use of botanical remedies along with other substances and physical therapy practices, popular in the latter half of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. The term was coined by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque (1784 to 1841), a physician living among the Native Americans and observing their use of medicinal plants. Rafinesque used the word "eclectic" to refer to those physicians who employed whatever was found to be beneficial to their patients (eclectic being derived from the Greek word "eklego", meaning "to choose from"). Therefore, "Eclectics" were doctors who practiced with a philosophy of "alignment with nature", learning from and using concepts from other schools of medical thought.

I believe that I can be considered an Eclectic Physician. I really like that term. Jones was against using the knife to cut out cancer. I cannot and would not agree with that knowing the technology we have today.

So without getting lost in this philosophy, let's talk MUSHROOMS.

Medicinal mushrooms have been used extensively in Traditional Chinese Medicine. They are usually used in either liquid or powdered form. Some are now used to treat the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Mushrooms are used to enhance and stimulate the body's own immune system. I especially use mushroom extract (liquid or powder) for patients with a variety of cancers as well as other immune deficiency diseases such as HIV.

Some mushrooms are tough, chewy and they are fungi. Ewwee!

However, Maitake (Grifola frondosus), Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) and Shiitake (Lentinus edodes) have been used in cancer treatment and to support the immune system. Both the reishi and woody mushrooms can be used in food as they are too bitter to ingest. These mushrooms are non-toxic and can be used as a dietary supplement. Mushrooms...to be continued.

I could go on and on, but "Tomorrow is another day..."