Cordyceps Maitake Reishi Shiitake - The thousand properties of medicinal mushrooms

(Bioline Supplements: i medicinal mushrooms!)

This article deals with the main mushrooms that, over time, have been able to gain notoriety and appreciation all over the world by those who, through natural cures, seek to improve their state of shape and well-being.
The mushrooms in question are: Cordyceps, Maitake, Reishi, Shiitake.

Introduction to mycotherapy

There mycotherapy (the art of care and well-being through i mushrooms), is a branch of phytotherapy (the art of care and well-being through the use of plants and herbs).

In the course of this introduction, I will not fail to provide another definition of mycotherapy, definition certainly in step with the times and endowed with the importance it deserves.

An importance that also emerges from numerous and significant studies… which I will not fail to mention.

The word nutraceuticals comes from the union of the words "nutrition" and "pharmaceutical": beneficial properties for our health are in fact ascribed to a nutraceutical substance.

Just to cite a few examples, valuable antioxidants are nutraceutical substances, as are fibers and, not surprisingly, the mushrooms of which we will discuss are rich.

These mushrooms fall into the category of medicinal mushrooms and the exercise of multiple and beneficial actions towards our health, is their common denominator.

But, in order to have the right vision of the subject, it will also be necessary to read some historical notes on these mushrooms, which from the East have spread all over the world, just as it will be necessary to rattle off the scientific evidence that emerged from their study.

We will go in order, so as not to create confusion, and I state that the 4 mushrooms which we will discuss perform very similar functions.

Traditional Chinese medicine in particular, and that of the Asian continent in general, has a centuries-old tradition and, in some cases, even millenary.

In the sense that the history and tradition of mushrooms Cordyceps, Maitake, Reishi, Shiitake, when it is short, it is centuries old and, when it is long, it has lasted since before the year zero.

Through the centuries and millennia these mushrooms have earned a reputation for medicinal mushrooms.

Used and appreciated in traditional and popular medicine, they then came into the sphere of interest of official medicine which, at a certain point in fact, approached these mushrooms by studying them in depth.

And it is thanks to these studies that a whole series of scientific evidences have emerged, which confirm a single concept in unison:

THE medicinal mushrooms carry out multiple and beneficial actions towards health and the human body.

What, among other things, has always been supported by oriental folk medicine.

The benefits of medicinal mushrooms

But what are the physiological benefits we can enjoy from taking these mushrooms? And what are they due to?

Let's start with the main ones benefits we can benefit from taking Cordyceps, Maitake, Reishi and Shiitake:

• support of the immune system, both innate and acquired immunity
• reduction of LDL "bad cholesterol" levels
• reduction in blood sugar levels
• antitumor action, both preventive and therapeutic
• assisting action in chemotherapy treatments and reducing side effects
• antioxidant action
• natural tonic action
• action to improve sports performance

These are the main benefits we can get from taking these regularly medicinal mushrooms.

But is it Asian folk medicine or official medicine to say this?

Well they both say it.

Official medicine, regarding these medicinal mushrooms, is not in contrast with traditional or popular medicine, if you prefer.

Simply, official medicine, before decreeing the beneficial action of one or more molecules against our health, wants to see clearly. That is, he wants to have scientific evidence, as it should be.

Over time, and to the sound of studies, this scientific evidence has come.

And, in this regard, I would like to bring to your attention a very significant thing regarding the Cordyceps sinensis mushroom:

The Cordyceps sinensis, which has always been used effectively by TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), for over 50 years it has also been found in official medicine.

Indeed in 1964 it was officially included in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, in which it appears as a real herbal medicine. And in the early 2000s, moreover, its use increased exponentially unfortunately due to the onset of SARS, or of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

But what are the physiological benefits so praised by Asian folk medicine and proven by official medicine due to?

To the bioactive principles and the molecules contained in medicinal mushrooms.

And it is precisely in this that the effectiveness of the mycotherapy: thanks to the presence of these bioactive principles inside the medicinal mushrooms, many studies have confirmed what folk medicine has been arguing for a long time ago.

At this point I cannot fail to mention the following study (which is about theantitumor action exercised by medicinal mushrooms):

“Micotherapy of cancer: An update on cytotoxic and antitumor activities of mushrooms, bioactive principles and molecular mechanism of their action“.

Thanks to this study, and other similar studies, i medicinal mushrooms they are used in adjuvant and support therapies in chemotherapy treatments, as well as to limit their side effects. Thanks to the fact that official medicine has taken an interest in medicinal mushrooms, a new definition of mycotherapy.

There mycotherapy scientifically defined and using modern and updated terminology is:

the study of the use of extracts and components obtained from mushrooms, as medicines or as health promoting agents.

On the other hand, numerous scientific works have been conducted on bioactive compounds, isolated precisely from medicinal mushrooms. These bioactive principles are used to create medicines, supplements aimed at improving our well-being or to treat pathologies.

But what are these bioactive compounds / molecules so precious for our health and our state of well-being?

First of all, a clarification must be made:

The molecules in question are common to all 4 medicinal mushrooms which we will deal with, individually and in detail.

Among these molecules, the main ones are i polysaccharides and between polysaccharides of these mushrooms we have i beta-glucans.

The scientific literature defines the latter as powerful and effective immunomodulators, that is, capable of exerting a beneficial action on our immune system, both on innate and adaptive immunity.

Soon I will deepen the question polysaccharides is beta-glucans, trying to be as clear and exhaustive as possible.

Betaglucans - The polysaccharides that activate the immune system

THE Cordyceps, Maitake, Reishi, and Shiitake mushrooms they are considered gods BRM (Biological Response Modifiers), i.e. biological response modifiers capable of strengthening our immune system.

As mentioned above, these medicinal mushrooms are rich in polysaccharides, among which there are many beta-glucans.

And speaking of the polysaccharides is beta-glucans gods mushrooms, it is worth spending a few words and talking about concepts that are very important for our health.

THE polysaccharides are macromolecules made up of many molecules of monosaccharides joined together, that is, by many sugar molecules. But don't think of the term sugars as something negative, on the contrary, i polysaccharides they are endowed with a valuable and great ability to transfer biological information.

THE polysaccharides they are united, through particular types of bonds (called key-lock), to macrophage, neutrophil and natural killer receptors. Macrophages, natural killers, neutrophils are all cells that are part of our immune system.

It is told key-lock because it is as if the polysaccharide slipped the key into the macrophage lock and unlocked the door.

But why i polysaccharides / beta-glucans do they bind to these cells?

Why (I would add) is it so important?

Because by doing so they give a very important "start", in fact they activate the immune system and a consequent immune response. But that is not all.

THE polysaccharides / beta-glucans they activate lymphocytes, which are immune system cells capable of both producing antibodies and multiplying their number.

Always i polysaccharides / beta-glucans they also interact with dendritic cells, which are always part of our immune system. Dendritic cells can eliminate, after identifying it, a pathogen.

Furthermore, i polysaccharides they start the induction for the production of cytokines, which are protein molecules of the immune system nicknamed "molecular words", as they are able to "speak" to the cells. In the sense that they are able to give precise instructions to the cells.

It should be emphasized that the support action that i polysaccharides / beta-glucans offer to our immune system is "double", ie they act both at the level of innate immunity and acquired immunity.

By innate immunity we mean the one we have from birth. In fact, innate immunity does not need to be acquired through exposure to the pathogen.

THE beta-glucans, which as we said are types of polysaccharides copiously contained in medicinal mushrooms, perform an antidegenerative function for antitumor purposes.

In fact i beta-glucans they are capable of stimulating apoptosis towards tumor cells. For apoptosis we mean the process of programmed cell death, in this case of cancer cells. The anti-neoplastic function, that is, anti-tumor, is carried out both preventively and therapeutically.

That the medicinal mushrooms serve to support our immune system I would say that it is clear and we have also seen with which cells they interact and in what way.

Fig. 1 - The structure of the beta-glucans.

Other benefits

So let's continue our journey into the world of mycotherapy, discovering other benefits.

L'assumption of medicinal mushrooms it favors the lowering of the cholesterol level, but in this regard an important clarification must be made.

And that is that theaction of medicinal mushrooms focuses on the so-called bad cholesterol, which is technically called LDL, where LDL stands for low density lipoprotein.

Well, this bad cholesterol has 2 fractions and of these 2 it is the small fraction that can create some problems for us.

The small fraction in fact oxidizes and settles, and, in so doing, gives rise to the fearful arteriosclerotic plaques.

Fig. 2 - On the left a healthy artery, and on the right an artery with arteriosclerotic plaques

Fortunately i medicinal mushrooms, thanks to beta-glucans contained in them, they have the ability to lower bad cholesterol. This reduction takes place in a very short time.

THE beta-glucans, thanks to this ability to reduce bad cholesterol, they can be considered a great natural aid in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

Cordyceps sinensis, Maitake, Reishi, and Shiitake, as already mentioned, are rich in these particular polysaccharides called beta-glucans.

And, always from mycotherapy, help also arrives to keep the blood sugar level at bay.

THE medicinal mushrooms, in fact, they favor the lowering of the blood sugar level, so that the value falls within the normal range. By normal range we mean a value between 65 and 110 mg / dl.

The hypoglycemic function of medicinal mushrooms it is to be taken into great consideration, especially if one thinks of the worldwide increase in cases of diabetes.

In 30 years, the number of people with diabetes has risen from 150 million to 350 million, and today there are over 400 million diabetics in the world.

These are frightening figures, considering that 5 million people die from diabetes every year.

Well, in addition to all the physiological benefits listed so far, i medicinal mushrooms they also lower the blood sugar level.

And just take a few grams a day of their extracts.

THE medicinal mushrooms exert an antibacterial action: a study carried out by researchers from the United Kingdom has highlighted the qualities, in this sense, of the Shiitake mushroom.

Shiitake extracts exerted strong antimicrobial activity on pathogens 85%.

All verifiable by consulting the study:

” An examination of antibacterial and antifungal properties of constituents of Shiitake and Oyster mushrooms “.

The study was published in Pubmed, NCBI, come on Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice.

This is just one of the many studies that have led to significant scientific evidence in these terms.

Conclusions

But how is it possible to derive all these benefits from mycotherapy, that is, from mushrooms?

Well, the answer is very simple and science provides it:

Fungi are born and spend their existence in hostile habitats, decidedly more hostile than the habitats of most other living beings and, moreover, they are very skilled in breaking down the organic matter existing in nature.

In order for fungi to be able to live in these hostile environments, and be so adept at breaking down organic matter, they must possess a very specific characteristic:

they must possess a set of extremely healthy and particularly active immune functions.

It is precisely these characteristics that are so strong and developed in the medicinal mushrooms, to make them such valuable allies for our health.

As we have seen, from mycotherapy it is possible to derive a whole series of important physiological benefits and, to do so, just take a few grams of extracts of medicinal mushrooms Cordyceps sinensis, Maitake, Reishi, Shiitake.