The new frontier of health and wellness is 4,000 years old

1 minute read

Good old news

Dust off a B.C.E. edition of “Materia Medica” and discover that medicinal mushrooms have been used for about 4000 years.

Science now backs up what our Eastern ancestors believed about many of these mushrooms.  

Today, functional mushrooms are more democratically available which is good news, especially when there’s an airborne virus on the loose.

Covid-19 has made us acutely aware that without our health, we don’t really have anything.

[Mushroom shaman from an Algerian cave painting ~ 4000 BCE. Courtesy, Food of the Gods by Terence McKenna]

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Highly prized, bygone societies reserved mushrooms exclusively for royalty.

So revered in ancient Egypt, the average Joe was forbidden to even touch them – we can imagine a suitable hieroglyphic warning.

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Protect against vulnerability

This pandemic has exposed the danger of being on the back foot. Underlying illness makes us more vulnerable to a virus like Covid.

The value of preventative wellness has become crystal clear: we protect ourselves by staying healthy.

Ye old wisdom stands true, there is no substitute for the pillars of wellness - healthy food, exercise, stress reduction and sleep.

Lion’s Mane, Reishi, Turkey Tail and others support our longevity. While their benefits vary, they have a common ability to reduce inflammation [1-8].

This is the common culprit in dementia, cancer, heart disease, neuropathy (pain), diabetes and mental health.

Luckily, several mushrooms know what to do with it, and then some (additional benefits can be found here).

The mushroom revival

Abundant fungi varieties hold innumerable health benefits - seemingly too many to be plausible.

But perhaps perspective opens when understanding how integral fungi are to life.

Beneath every foot of soil are hundreds of miles of mushroom mycelium - the network, biologists say, that connects living things.

It’s staggering that a little mushroom is part of the largest organism on earth.

[Credit: Joran Quinten]

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[Ancient mushroom stones discovered in Central America, presumably used for grinding. Borhegi 1961]

You’re a Fun Guy

You share around 50% of your DNA with fungi. Wait, what?

It’s true. Humans’ genetic make-up is closer to mushrooms than plants.

This fascinating kingdom has much to offer. It sounds fanciful, but this inspiration is on firm ground thanks to decades of investigative research.

Fungi are being explored as a frontier in health, beauty and wellness, with some novel applications. The surface has barely been scratched, and surely more will be revealed in our lifetime.

As you can tell, we swoon at the weird and wondrous fungi kingdom, its role in the natural world and human livelihood.

Spanning an awesome passage of time, our DNA retains a lineage from fungi.

Today, these mushrooms offer a way to reconnect to health and wellness, a frontier which appears new but is actually age-old.

This is it

Moksha 

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[Man holding Reishi mushroom, artist: Chen Hungsho, 1600s. Wikicommons]

Disclaimer. The findings collated here are for your information but aren’t intended to diagnose, cure or prevent any disease. Always consult a qualified medical practitioner for advice. Please remember: do not eat mushrooms unless you know they are safe to consume.

Safety. Functional mushrooms are considered to be very safe, even in high quantities. However, if you have a mushroom allergy or auto-immune problems then you should seek advice from a medical practitioner. 

Not all mushroom extracts are equal. Always look for high quality products. Consider Lion's Mane made with fruiting body, Beta-glucan polysaccharides of 20-30% and mycelium-rich compounds. Beware high levels of fillers, starches and grains. While not harmful they are less beneficial.

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Sources

1. Antiinflammatory and Immunomodulating Properties of Fungal Metabolites. Lull C, Wichers HJ and Savelkoul HFJ. 2005. Mediators of Inflammation.

2. Lion's Mane Mushroom, Hericium erinaceus (Bull.: Fr.) Pers. Suppresses H2O2-Induced Oxidative Damage and LPS-Induced Inflammation in HT22 Hippocampal Neurons and BV2 Microglia. Kushairi N, Phan CW, Sabaratnam V, David P, Naidu M. 2019. National Library of Medicine.

3. Mushrooms: a potential natural source of anti-inflammatory compounds for medical applications. Elsayed EA, Enshasy HE, Wadaan MAM, Aziz R. 2014. Mediators of Inflammation.

4. Polysaccharide of Hericium erinaceus attenuates colitis in C57BL/6 mice via regulation of oxidative stress, inflammation-related signaling pathways and modulating the composition of the gut microbiota. Yilin Ren, Yan Geng, Yan Du, Wang Li, Zhen-Ming Lu, Hong-Yu Xu, Guo-Hua Xu, Jin-Song Shi, Zheng-Hong Xu. July 2018. The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry.

5. Extracts from Hericium erinaceus relieve inflammatory bowel disease by regulating immunity and gut microbiota. Chen Diling, Yang Xin, Zheng Chaoqun, Yang Jian, Tang Xiaocui, Chen Jun, Shuai Ou, Xie Yizhen. September 2017. Oncotarget.