More about mushrooms. Turns out they are magic.
Medicinal Mushrooms
“An accumulating body of evidence suggests that consumption of dietary mushrooms can
protect against breast cancer.”
—Arizona State University scientists, 2010
(Martin KR, Brophy SK. Commonly consumed and specialty dietary mushrooms reduce cellular proliferation in
MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. Exp Biol Med. (Maywood) 2010;235:1306-1311)
Mushrooms are the source of some of mankind’s oldest medications. Given the fact that
mushrooms are often delicious, but can also be deadly, and at other times are hallucinogenic
(e.g., psilocybin), one of the earliest specializations of our distant ancestors was that of the
mycologist. This was the clan’s resident expert in mushroom selection and use. After all, one’s
life could depend on the skill of the wise man or woman who was responsible for this important
role.
The celebrated American mycologist Paul Stamets points out that fungi were well known to
prehistoric people:
“Ötzi, the Ice Man, who lived nearly 5,300 years ago, carried amadou and a birch
polypore [two mushrooms, ed.] tethered in a pouch to help him survive in the Alps of
northern Italy.”
Stamets, Paul, and Heather Zwickey. “Medicinal Mushrooms: Ancient Remedies Meet Modern Science.” Integrative Medicine (Encinitas, Calif.) 13, no. 1 (February 2014): 46–47)
It is widely believed that the “Soma” mentioned in the ancient Indian sacred Rig Veda was a
mushroom, and that mushrooms also played a central role in the Eleusinian mysteries of ancient
Greece. (Furst, Peter T. (1976). Hallucinogens and Culture. Chandler & Sharp. pp. 96–108; Wasson, Robert Gordon (1968). "Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality". Ethno-Mycological Studies (New York) 1. ISBN 0-15-683800-1)
Mushrooms, particularly those of Far Eastern origin (shiitake, maitake, reishi, etc.) are
increasingly popular and available, even in American supermarkets. But it will surprise some
readers to know that mushrooms are recognized as effective anti-cancer agents in several
populous countries. They contain anticancer compounds, not just polysaccharides, but also
triterpenes.
!
(Xue, Zhaohui, Jiaomei Li, Aiqing Cheng, Wancong Yu, Zhijun Zhang, Xiaohong Kou, and Fengjuan Zhou. “Structure Identification of Triterpene from the Mushroom Pleurotus Eryngii with Inhibitory Effects Against Breast Cancer.” Plant Foods for Human Nutrition (Dordrecht, Netherlands) 70, no. 3 (September 2015): 291–96)
There are also antioxidants in these mushrooms that also exert a beneficial effect in many cases.
Elsewhere in this report I give my formula for Mushroom Soup. In this section I will explain the
scientific basis for this healing food category.
Approved Medications
PSK (which is extracted from Coriolus versicolor = Trametes versicolor or turkey tail) was the
first mushroom to be approved as a cancer treatment, in this case by the Japanese equivalent of
the FDA in 1977. Lentinan (from shiitake mushrooms) came next in Japan in 1985.
Schizophyllan (from the fungus Schizophyllum commune, commonly growing on dead wood)
was approved in Japan in 1986. Around the same time (1983), PSP (polysaccharide peptide, also
from Trametes versicolor) was approved in China. (To be clear, all of these approvals occurred in
Asia, and these medications are difficult to obtain in the US or Europe.)
Astonishingly, mushroom preparations can simultaneously target half of Hanahan and
Weinberg’s cancer hallmarks by:
“…changing the course of inflammation, cell differentiation, survival, apoptosis,
angiogenesis, tumor progression, and so forth.”
(Durgo, Ksenija, Mladen Koncar, Drazenka Komes, Ana Belscak-Cvitanovic, Jasna Franekic, Ivan Jakopovich, Neven Jakopovich, and Boris Jakopovich. “Cytotoxicity of Blended versus Single Medicinal Mushroom Extracts on Human
Cancer Cell Lines: Contribution of Polyphenol and Polysaccharide Content.” International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms 15, no. 5 (2013): 435–48)
Scientists continue to find new uses for anticancer mushroom preparations. In 2016, Japanese
scientists showed that a polysaccharide from the aforementioned Schizophyllan fungus could
target abnormal DNA in lung cancer cells.
(Izumi, Hiroto, Shohei Nagao, Shinichi Mochizuki, Nobuaki Fujiwara, Kazuo Sakurai, and Yasuo Morimoto. “Optimal Sequence of Antisense DNA to Silence YB-1 in Lung Cancer by Use of a Novel Polysaccharide Drug Delivery System.” International Journal of Oncology 48, no. 6 (June 2016): 2472–78)
Most attention has focused on preparations made from individual mushroom species, such as
shiitake. However, a mixture of mushrooms provides better overall clinical effects:
“The cytotoxic effect of medicinal mushroom blends [is] stronger than that of single
mushroom species extracts.” (Ibid.)
A Croatian group studied a five-mushroom commercial preparation called Agarikon.1®. This
mixture killed 69.9 percent of lung cancer cells, while PSP alone killed only 6.27, AHCC killed
6.13 and beta glucans (derived from mushrooms) killed just 3.24 percent.
Some of the mushrooms included in the Agarikon.1 preparation are the same as in my Mushroom
Soup formula….shiitake, maitake and oyster mushrooms. These are potent edible mushrooms.
The Myko San® company produces a very good product line, but it is relatively expensive: one
bottle of their Agarikon.1® contains 90 tablets. Since the recommended dose for cancer patients
is 2 tablets taken 3 times per day, this comes to less than $5.00 per day (including shipping). For
patients who are cost-conscious, a better alternative would be to make the Mushroom Soup for
around $1 per day, as described elsewhere in this Moss Report.
In December 2010 the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of the Republic of Croatia registered the tablet preparation Agarikon.1. developed by Dr Myko San-Health From Mushrooms Co., as a dietary supplement. This was the first time that a European manufacturer successfully registered a medicinal mushroom product in a European country.
In a comprehensive review of the subject, the naturopath Alena G. Guggenheim, ND, singled out
five mushrooms that have a particularly strong association in the scientific literature with anticancer
and pro-immunity activity. These five are:
• Agaricus blazei (= A. subrufescens, Brazil mushroom)
• Grifola frondosa (= maitake)
• Ganoderma lucidum (= reishi)
• Cordyceps sinensis (= Caterpillar fungus)
• Trametes versicolor (= Coriolus versicolor or Turkey tail)
(Guggenheim, Alena G., Kirsten M. Wright, and Heather L. Zwickey. “Immune Modulation From Five Major Mushrooms: Application to Integrative Oncology.” Integrative Medicine (Encinitas, Calif.) 13, no. 1 (February 2014): 32–44.)
Some of these are contained in both Mycommunity® and in my Mushroom Soup recipe. The
other two (Cordyceps and Trametes) are considered inedible, but can be taken as supplement
pills.
