Mushroom Medicine- A Five-Part Series

In this series, we will discuss and explore the healing benefits of mushrooms. You've most likely heard a lot of buzz regarding mushrooms and being labeled as a superfood in the media, but do you truly understand the mechanics of how they work for your benefit? We will go through what a mushroom is, the parts of the mushroom, and what makes them so special. We will take a deep dive into five mushrooms that should be on everyone's list regarding supplements and food.

My top five picks for this series will be:

Maitake

Reishi

Cordyceps

Lions Mane

Chaga

So let's get started!

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What is a Mushroom? Fungi? Plant? Animal?

Fungi belong to a unique kingdom that shares animal metabolic traits and plant structural traits. Like animals, fungi break down organic matter by secreting enzymes into their environment, absorbing smaller molecules, and creating carbon and energy. However, they do not derive carbon from photosynthesis.

Fungi, like plants, have rigid cell walls formed by beta-glucans. Beta-glucans are crucial in the mushroom's medicinal properties and immunological effects. Beta-glucans are believed to inhibit the human body's ability to absorb cholesterol from food. They might also stimulate the immune system by increasing chemicals that prevent infections. Mushrooms spend most of their life in the ground as mycelium, and their reproductive cycle consists of a fruiting body containing spores that are released to propagate new mushrooms. This fruiting body is a crucial part of the mushroom, but just as important are the very complex mycelium structures that run underneath the fruiting body. Mycelium is composed of long filaments that spread through a substrate (which can be any medium on which they are growing, such as trees, bark, or soil) and form a net-like structure throughout the soil. Imagine the netted bag that you buy your onions in, but very tiny. This mycelium allows the mushroom to spread through the ground, like the neurological network of nerves running through the human body. It can be characterized as the communication network throughout the soil that scientists now believe allows all plant life to communicate with one another.

They are aware and can react to environmental changes, act collectively, and consider the long-term health of the host environment. It is fascinating to think that hyphae's almost invisible web-like structure is in constant molecular communication with its environment!

If you think of a thought as an electrical impulse, then trees and plants are the same, in that they also send impulses along that very same communication channel! They can communicate danger signals to one another and convey other important messages.

They are very important to nature.

Life Cycle of the Mushroom

The life cycle of the mushroom is a complex process. It begins underground with a hyphal (threads that make up the mycelium of a fungus) knot at the end of a mycelium; as it grows up through the ground, it forms a pinhead and eventually becomes the fruiting body. The fruiting body of the mushroom has gills on its underside. Everyone has picked a mushroom and turned it over to see these gills. These gills contain spores that are released into the air. Interestingly, mycelium and the fruiting body are familiar but very different in their medicinal properties.

All mushrooms contain beta-glucans ( Beta-glucans are soluble fibers from the cell walls of bacteria, fungi, yeasts, and some plants). These constituents are most commonly found in the fruiting body of the mushroom.

Why are Mushrooms so Great for us?

Mushrooms and their compounds have a unique influence on human immune function. Fungi and humans are more closely related than humans and plants, which may be one reason fungi can interact in complex ways with the human immune system. We share similarities in intercellular signaling and metabolic pathways that aren’t found in plants. While plant and human diseases don’t generally overlap, humans and fungi share some of the same microscopic pathogens; humans may be able to “borrow” specific immune responses from fungi.

Beta-glucans were the first polysaccharide compounds to be isolated from medicinal mushrooms and were initially considered the active constituent responsible for immune and anticancer activity. Subsequent research expanded to encompass other polysaccharides, including alpha-glucans and other low-molecular-weight compounds. Mushrooms offer a multitude of health benefits due to their complex biochemistry.

Mushrooms contain polysaccharides (mainly in the fruiting body but in the mycelium), terpenoids (big words.. I know), lectins, sterols, adenosine compounds, carbohydrates, and fats. The mycelium contains secondary metabolites such as di- and triterpenes ( a class of chemical compounds), vitamins, minerals, and ergosterol (a sterol found in fungi and protozoa cell membranes, serving many of the same functions that cholesterol serves in animal cells).

Most important, though, are the beta-glucans, considered the major immunoreactive compounds in mushrooms. Beta-glucans are non-digestible carbohydrates that occur at very low levels when ingesting a mushroom, yet we get clear immunogenic responses from them.

How?

Our intestinal microbiome loves mushrooms; they are a prebiotic. These microbiotics in our intestines digest the compounds in the mushroom and turn them into postbiotics or short-chain fatty acids. These short-chain fatty acids are readily absorbed into the body and can bind to specific receptors on our immune cells. It all sounds complicated, and it is, but be aware that this is a crucial immune function in the body.

Mushrooms can also help maintain daily immune function. For example, pleural, a beta-glucan found in oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus), has been shown to help decrease the frequency of upper and lower respiratory infections in children who had previously suffered from recurring infections. We are aware of how mushrooms can enhance immune activity, and numerous studies demonstrate that this function translates from the laboratory to everyday use.

What is a Mushroom Extract?

Mushroom fruiting body extracts are the majority of extracts on the market. Fruiting body extracts are very robust in their concentration of these all-important beta-glucans. Generally, 25-77% (depending on the type of mushroom) of the mass of the mushroom is beta-glucans. While there are beta-glucans in the mycelium, there are generally fewer, on average, with only about 20% of the concentration.

Therefore, since you get a higher concentration of these critical compounds in the fruiting body, most extracts are from the fruiting body. The extraction method is crucial to ensure that you extract all the mushroom's medicinal compounds.

Fruiting Body Extracts are either:

Hot Water Extraction - Hot water is the most effective method for extracting beta-glucans, yielding high polysaccharide content. However, it does not extract specific components in mushrooms, such as triterpenes. It is also more bioavailable ( meaning easier for your body to digest, absorb, and receive the medicinal compounds)

Ethanolic Extract- ethanol extracts more compounds from the mushroom that hot water cannot extract.

Combined or Dual Extraction—This is a combination of hot water extraction and ethanolic extraction, resulting in a higher yield of all the mushrooms' constituents. This is especially important for some types of mushrooms, such as Reishi.

Mycelia Extracts are cultivated on a sterile grain (usually brown rice) substrate (the material on which a process is conducted). It will be harvested after it has exhausted all of the substrate ( its energy) and JUST BEFORE it begins to produce a fruiting body.

Remember, mycelia, or mycelium, is the web-like structure that is beneath the mushroom, its foundation, so to speak. Unfortunately, many poor-quality mycelia extracts are available on the market, but some are of excellent quality. What should happen when making an extract from mycelia when the mushroom spawn is injected into the substrate, and the mycelium starts to exhaust or metabolize the substrate, if you harvest this too early, you will get a mixture of this mycelia product, but also partially digested or undigested substrate. It, therefore, is not as immunogenic or as good in quality. On the other hand, if you allow that mycelium to ferment or digest the substrate fully, these mycelia are higher in the concentration of beta-glucans, plus more secondary metabolites. The mycelia are harvested, dried, and then granulated to make a powder, which is further extracted with hot water and ethanol to make liquid extracts. These two extracts, the fruiting body and mycelia extract, can now be combined.

We have now covered what mushrooms and mycelia are, discussed a few of the constituents they contain, and why they are beneficial to us, and touched on how extracts are made. Now we can explore various mushrooms and delve into their unique medicinal compounds.

This chart serves as a quick guide to the medicinal qualities of the following mushrooms.

Mushroom	Beta-Glucans	Other Compounds
Maitake	Yes	Lectins: immunostimulatory properties.
Reishi	Yes	Triterpenes (anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, hypotensive), ganoderic acid (anti-cancer)
Cordyceps	Yes	Adenosine compounds: stamina, energy building, endurance, HPA adaptogen
Lions Mane	Yes	Meroterpenoids which contribute to stimulate nerve growth factor (NGF) to enhance cognition. Sterols: anti-angiogenic, anti-tumor.
Chaga	Yes	adaptogen, anticancer, antioxidant, antitumor, antiviral, hypoglycemic, immunomodulant, hypocholesterolemic,

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