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Mycotherapy (or fungotherapy) means treatment with mushrooms. Many mushrooms have healing properties, thanks to which hundreds of years ago they were used in natural medicine. The most famous medicinal mushrooms are those used in Far East medicine, especially shiitake, maitake and reishi mushrooms. Our native mushrooms also have a positive effect on he alth. Check which mushrooms are considered medicinal and in the treatment of which diseases they can help.

Mykotherapy(also known asfungoterapia ) is a form of therapy popular in natural medicine, especially in the Far East, which involves the use of medicinal properties of mushroomsin the treatment of various diseases. Currently, about 700 species of mushrooms show a he alth-promoting effect. About 200 are obtained from natural sites, mainly in the Far East .¹ This is where the three most popular mushrooms that are considered medicinal - reishi, shiitake and mitake come from. Our native mushrooms also have a positive effect on he alth, incl. Boletus edulis. One of the best documented and the most promising is the anti-tumor activity of mushrooms. Some fungi lower cholesterol, blood pressure and sugar levels, as well as fight viruses, pathogenic fungi and bacteria, and even soothe pain and inflammation.

Mycotherapy (treatment with mushrooms) - anti-cancer properties of mushrooms

In traditional Chinese medicine, one species, Cordyceps militaria , has been used for a long time to treat cancer patients. On the other hand, in the folk medicine of Eastern Europe in the 16th - 17th centuries, the fruiting bodies of the oblique fiber (LatinInonotus obliquus ) were used in cancer therapy. Our native mushrooms, especially boletus, also have anti-cancer properties. Already in the second half of the twentieth century, the effectiveness of the extract of this fungus against sarcoma cells in mice was demonstrated. limit the development of cancer cells. Among wild-growing species, antioxidant properties were also found in the goat carp. Antioxidant activity is also demonstrated by the extract of butterflies .²

Currentlythe most popular medicinal mushrooms that are used in natural medicine are lacquerware (reishi mushrooms), cottage cheese (shiitake mushrooms), grapefruit (maitake mushroom), varicoloured mycosis, and cormtail.

Medicinal mushrooms are a source of compounds that not only act directly on cancer cells, but also stimulate the human immune system to fight them. For example, lentinan, schizophyllan, and MD fraction from Grifola (Mitake mushroom), and substances called PSK and PSP, which are derived from Grapevine, are used in Japan and China for immunotherapy of stomach, colon, and breast cancers .¹

Modern phytotherapy recommends the use of shiitake and reishi mushrooms in cancer diseases. Joann Lau and Sanda Zolj - scientists at Bellarmine University (USA) - found that reishi mushrooms contain important polysaccharides and saponins that reduce the proliferation (multiplication) of cancer cells in lung cancer affected by cancer. In turn, the compound they contain called lentinan is responsible for the anti-cancer properties of shiitake mushrooms. It probably stimulates the immune system and is responsible for activating certain cells and proteins that attack tumors - including macrophages, T lymphocytes and NK cells (Natural Killer).

Mycotherapy (treatment with mushrooms) will lower blood pressure, cholesterol, prevent atherosclerosis and blood clots

Some mushrooms contain compounds that help lower levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol and triacylglycerols without affecting the levels of "good" HDL.

For cardiovascular problems - hypertension, elevated cholesterol levels, etc. - the best is the edible cottage cheese, i.e. shiitake mushrooms.

Such properties have, among others, eritadenine isolated from shiitake mushroom and lovastatin present in oyster mushroom species. Eritadenine also has the ability to reduce the production of homocysteine, which is a risk factor for heart disease .¹ Shiitake mushroom extracts also prevent platelets from sticking together, thus reducing the risk of developing blood clots. In addition, shiitake mushrooms, as well as Lingidae (reishi), oyster mushroom ( P. Nebrodensis ), and Grifola may lower blood pressure.

Mycotherapy (treatment with mushrooms) will lower blood sugar levels

Some mushrooms contain substances that have the ability to lower blood sugar, including polysaccharides and lectins. This group includes Grifola leaf, Lingidae (reishi mushrooms) andCordyceps. The hypoglycemic effect of the capricornus, and more specifically the comatine isolated from the liquid culture of this fungus has also been documented. It has been found that the capillary cap has a protective effect on pancreatic cells and can be used in diabetic patients to prevent diabetic complications .¹

Mycotherapy (treatment with mushrooms) can prevent an allergic reaction

Some mushrooms are also anti-allergic. You can mention here, among others, reishi mushrooms. Ganodermic acids C and D obtained from them inhibit the histamine reaction (responsible for the appearance of allergy symptoms). The antiallergic effect was also demonstrated by the ethanolic extracts of the Hypsizygus marmoreus fungus, the velvet-molar fungus, nameko shellfish ( Pholiota nameko ) and St. Nicholas oyster mushroom .¹

Mycotherapy, or a mushroom in a mushroom

Some fungi are viral, bacterial and fungicidal. It has been shown that the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium commonly found in hospitals, can be inhibited by compounds in reddish ganoderm ( G. pfeifferi ) and shiitake mushrooms. Some authors have demonstrated a strong antibacterial activity of the fruiting bodies of our native chanterelles against staphylococcus aureus.

In turn, antiviral properties are shown, among others, by substances contained in reishi mushrooms (ganoderiol, ganodermanontriol and ganodermic acid) or in reddish ganoderma (ganodermadiol and lucidadiol). The last two compounds work, inter alia, against influenza A virus.

On the other hand, proteins derived from fungi, e.g. pleurostrin from oyster mushroom, agrocybin from halfwort oyster mushroom, eryngin from St. Nicholas' oyster mushroom ( P. eryngii)and ganodermin from reishi mushrooms, show activity antifungal.

Mycotherapy (treatment with mushrooms) will relieve pain, joint inflammation, protect the liver

Many species of fungi can help reduce inflammation (e.g. in arthritis). Their action is comparable to that of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). For example, methanol extracts of spoon oyster mushroom have an effect similar to that of diclofenac, one of the NSAIDs.

Other mushrooms have a strong analgesic effect. For example, erinacin E - a substance isolated from the bark beetle (LatinH. Coralloides ) - has shown a significant analgesic effect in studies without causing the side effects that are characteristic of morphine.

Extracts of medicinal mushrooms also protect the liver. For example, ethanolic reishi mushroom extract, containing trieterpenoids, prevents the destruction of hepatocytes (liver cells) bychloroform.

Source:

1. Siwulski M., Sobieralski K., Sas-Golak I., Nutritional and pro-he alth value of mushrooms, "Food. Science. Technology. Quality", 2014, No. 12. Sas-Gola I., Sobieralski K., Siwulski M., Lisiecka J., Composition, nutritional value and he alth properties of mushrooms obtained from natural sites, "Kosmos. Problem of biological sciences" 2011, No. 3-4

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Alternative medicine