#34 Two Fungi You Want to Know Better
For millennia, sages and healers have revered botanical medicines, passing down their wisdom through generations via traditions and mentorships.
Today, as the lens of Western science studies these healing plants, many findings affirm the time-honored knowledge and applications.
Dive into this episode to unearth the therapeutic wonders of two potent medicinal mushrooms. Explore the scientific basis for their cancer-fighting and immune-enhancing properties. Moreover, discover avenues and resources to seamlessly integrate these ancient botanical marvels into your life, allowing you to harness their time-tested benefits.
Resources For Episode 34:
Studies:
Ganoderma lucidum spore extract inhibits endothelial and breast cancer cells in vitro
Ganoderma lucidum (Lingzhi or Reishi)
Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database
Websites:
Read the full transcript:
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This is Laura Lummer, the breast cancer recovery coach. I'm a healthy lifestyle coach, a clinical Ayurveda specialist, a personal trainer, and I'm also a breast cancer survivor. In this podcast, we talk about healthy thinking and mindfulness practices, eating well, moving your body for health and longevity. And we'll also hear from other breast cancer survivors who have reengaged with life, and have incredible stories to share. This podcast is your go to resource for getting back to life after breast cancer.
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Hello, and welcome to episode 34 of the breast cancer recovery coach. I'm Laura Lummer. And today we're talking about to fungi that you want to become friends with. First of all, welcome, thank you so much for downloading the show for listening in. And I want to acknowledge right off the bat the show's a little later than originally planned, because I had an whole wonderful show with Janelle, a repeat guest here on the breast cancer recovery coach, and we talked about finding joy while living with metastatic disease. And unfortunately, the sound It's tough when you're an amateur podcaster, I tell you, and you do an interview with someone over Skype, and the audio just was so bad that I couldn't post it. So I was thinking about a new topic. And an interesting thing happened. Like any other job, you know, you when you do something long enough, it becomes second nature. And because whatever your job is, it's your world. So you forget what, quote unquote, beginners don't know. So working in wellness is no different. Because you're always reading, I'm always reading, researching, talking with people, and trying to keep up to date on the newest and the most effective trends in nutrition and exercise and stress reduction practices. And you know, when you're in that world, you start to think that everyone knows what you know. And then you mentioned something to one of your friends who isn't a part of the industry. And they're like, wait, wait, what's that? What are you talking about? I had no idea. And that's kind of what happened the other day, I was making a cup of my mushroom coffee. And a friend of mine saw it and asked what it was because it sounded obviously sounded weird to her. But it actually is something that I drink on a regular basis. And it doesn't taste like mushroom water. It tastes just like coffee. It's like a strong, rich coffee. But it has the middle read more and more for their beneficial impact on a whole range of health issues, including cancer prevention, and boosting our immune system. So when I thought about I was like great, I have a new topic I had to scratch my other show, but do tune in because we will be re recording that it was a great show. And Janelle is an amazing soul with some wonderful insights that I think it's so important to share with everyone who listens to this podcast. So I thought I'd take this opportunity to talk about the benefits and the uses of medicinal mushrooms, as well as some ways for you to get them into your body. Even if you're somebody who doesn't like to eat mushrooms, there seem to be some intense texture issues for those people who aren't mushroom fans. But the good news is that there are several reliable sources that make products you can use to get the benefits of these botanical medicines without the taste or the texture of mushroom. And these are actually not the kind of mushrooms that you would want to just eat raw anyway.
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So let's talk a little bit about the background and the science, we're going to look at two popular medicinal mushroom varieties, the reishi, mushroom, and quadriceps. So the scientific name for the reishi mushroom is Ganoderma lucidum. And I say that because that's the variety that I'm going to be referring to when I use the word reishi mushroom in this show. And I'm going to be talking about the research and the benefits of that specific strain of reishi mushroom. So Rishis had been used for medicinal purposes for 1000s of years, and there are hundreds of varieties of Reishi Mushrooms, some are considered to be more superior to others in terms of their healing power, and their adaptogenic properties which is their ability to support the overall healthy aging and restorative properties of the body. Some of the conditions that Reishi Mushrooms have been used to treat over the centuries include viral infections, asthma, high blood pressure, cancer, liver disease, chronic fatigue, insomnia, and trust me the list goes on. There's a long long list of conditions that are benefited by consuming reishi mushroom. But out of just that list, I can identify with at least four of those that I experience on a regular basis which is one of the reasons that I keep this mushroom in my nutrition lineup. And for this show I want to look specifically at the reishi mushroom with respect to how it boosts our
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immunity and can protect against cancer. Before we get too deep into this, though, I want to remind you as always, check with your doctor before you begin to introduce any kind of supplement or herbal medicine into your body, especially if you have other medical conditions, or you're taking any type of prescription medication. herbs can be powerful medications and they interact with drugs sometimes, or they have side effects that could harm you. And this show is for information only and you should never replace the advice of your physician. I'm only just giving you alternatives that you can consider and discuss with your oncologist or with your primary care physician to see if it's something that might be beneficial for you. Okay, so always put your safety first and know that prescription drugs interact with many other things with different foods with different herbs and with other drugs. So always be careful. All right, so let's take a look at the western perspective of the reishi mushroom.
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A study published in a 2004 edition of oncology reports by the Department of Medicine and the Center for Human Nutrition at UCLA revealed that they identified an alcohol extract from the spore of the reishi mushroom that may possess potential anti tumor and anti angiogenic activities, which means that this extract can prevent tumors from developing their own blood supply, which we know contributes to the growth and the spread of cancer. Another 2004 study by the Cancer Research Laboratory at the Methodist Research Institute in Indianapolis was published in Nutrition and cancer. And it was attempting to discover what the reishi mushroom did at a cellular level that resulted in inhibiting or stopping the growth of invasive or metastatic breast cancer cells. Now, this study had a lot of scientific terminology and reaction, so I'm going to try to simplify it and still get the main point across. What they discovered in this study was that the reishi mushroom blocked the signaling of a certain enzyme that contributed to the growth of a specific type of breast cancer cell. This cell line is called MDA, MB 231. And it's one of the most commonly studied strains of breast cancer. So the study concluded that the reishi mushroom could have potential therapeutic use for the treatment of this breast cancer. These findings were corroborated. In a 2017 study that was published in biochemical and biophysical research communications.
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Here, The finding was that the reishi mushroom inhibited or stopped this MDA MB 231 cell migration. And although they didn't understand exactly what it was in the reishi mushroom that caused this to happen, the scientists who are conducting the study concluded that the rishi suppressed breast cancer cell growth and migration, and that it may be a potential natural inhibitor for breast cancer. That's some pretty exciting stuff. As always, I'll post the reference to the studies in the show notes on my website for those of you who want to look further into it, or that you want to take any of these studies to discuss with your physicians, because they go into a lot more detail. And I'm just kind of summarizing it for you so you can get an idea of what the benefits are out there. And you can look a lot deeper into it, if you choose because I don't like to go into too much science and in this podcast. So from an Eastern medicine perspective, the reishi mushroom has been used for over 2000 years, and it's known as the mushroom of immortality, or the herb of spiritual potency depending on where you read about it. This medicinal fungus is actually considered to be an adaptogen and adaptogens are comprised of specific qualities, including being antioxidant, and anti inflammatory, among other things. Adaptogens are these plant medicines that also support the immune system. And they're considered to be immuno modulators, which means they help strengthen the immune system. In the Eastern medicine approach to healing the body. The reishi mushroom like other adaptogens is used as a part of the healthy lifestyle. So rather than being broken down to this molecular level that we do with our western studies, trying to discover exactly what chemical or what constituent of this botanical medicine treats a specific disease. In the eastern philosophy of medicine, it's used to support the body's ability to heal itself by strengthening the immune system. So the philosophy is a little different, because in that Eastern system of medicine, whether it's your VEDA or Chinese medicine,
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We believe the body has this innate ability to heal itself. And if you create the environment that maximizes that your body's potential to heal itself, then you're going to see a lot of wonderful progression happen. And you create that environment by using the right foods having the right lifestyle habits, sleep habits, eating habits, and using things like adaptogens
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in Chapter Nine of the second edition of herbal medicine, biomolecular and clinical aspects, you know, some big titles in this podcast. But the chapter of that book goes into great detail and talks about many studies on the antioxidant and immunomodulation and anti cancer effects of the reishi mushroom. And this all supports this ancient knowledge and use of this amazing fungi. Now, you are not going to find Reishi Mushrooms in your local produce department, because they're not that kind of mushroom that you saute in garlic and butter. There actually is really cool, shiny, Woody looking mushroom, and they have a woody and bitter tastes. They're even said to be not digestible to us humans in their raw form, which is why all of the studies use extracts of Rishis in their tests.
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So you'll most commonly find reishi mushroom in a supplement form. And like any other supplement, you want to be certain that you have a reliable resource if you decide to incorporate Reishi Mushrooms into your nutrition and supplementation plan. Especially because you want to be sure you're getting the variety of mushroom that has been studied, and that you're getting it in its most bio available form. So I'll tell you a little more about how I use it and I'll give you the resources that I turned to after we talked about our next medicinal fungi, the quarter steps mushroom. Like the reishi mushroom, there are different varieties of the quarter set mushroom, and the one that I'm going to be referring to is called cordsets sin nesis. You see it sometimes as quarter sips quadriceps s. quadriceps also has adaptogenic qualities like the reshape, it strengthens the immune system, and it supports graceful aging and promotes longevity. That's one of the qualities of an adaptogen quadriceps is also known for its energy enhancing properties is probably even better known for that. It's used to treat lethargy, anemia, weakness, wasting to increase energy, stamina and reduce fatigue. And it's also used a lot to help people with kidney issues or hepatitis B to recuperate. quadriceps is also known for enhancing athletic performance. But studies are kind of inconclusive on how effective that actually is. There's a whole story that goes back to some Chinese Olympians that their coach attributed the use of quarter steps, I think it was an extract or maybe it was the the consumption of some kind of a quarter step supplement during their training, mixed with turtle blood. And that made them win all the gold medals in the I believe it was track and field. And then I believe also later on those those same Olympians failed the drug test. So, you know, I think quadriceps was it was kind of a fable that started there with that Olympic game. But in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, there was a study published in 2010 of 20 healthy adults that were aged 50 to 75. And I gotta tell you as a 55 year old, it's more and more had an off putting to me when I read about these studies, and they're referring to elderly people of 50 to 75. Seriously. Anyway, half the group of these 50 to 75 year olds took 333 milligrams of quarter sets three times a day for 12 weeks, and the other half took a placebo. But neither the authors of the study nor the participants knew who was taking what. After the 12 weeks, all these subjects were tested and the ones that were taking the quarter sets had a significant increase in their exercise ability. And the authors of the study concluded that quadriceps actually improves exercise performance and might contribute to wellness in healthy older subjects. According to the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, there is preliminary evidence that taking cortisol orally following cancer chemotherapy might improve quality of life and cellular immunity. Also, this database says that there's some preliminary evidence that continuous administration of quarter steps along with chemotherapy or radiotherapy might improve the tolerance
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to chemotherapy or radiotherapy radiation. In a 2006 study in Radiation Research, they actually found that mice who were subjected to high doses of radiation and treated with an extract of quarter subs extended their average lifespan by up to 50% longer now, that's in terms of days, from nine days to 18 days, but it's still a significant increase for this one change. This study also showed that white blood cells recovered faster and free radicals were reduced in response to quarter steps being administered. Now, these are mice and in vitro or petri dish studies. So the effects may or may not translate to humans with the same impact. And more importantly, wild quarter sub synthesis are very rare and very expensive. These mushrooms actually grow on a specific Caterpillar found a very high elevations in Tibet, and certain areas of China, India and Nepal. And the quarter set actually consumes this caterpillar as it fruits. And it's one of the most expensive mushrooms in the world selling for up to $20,000 a kilogram. Now fortunately for us, scientists have figured out how to culture these quarter steps in a way that the studies that are done on them and the science behind them shows that they still do carry the medicinal benefits of the mushroom without creating the actual fruit or the mushroom body itself. And I gotta tell you, that that actually grosses me out a lot less than eating a mushroom that is part Caterpillar carcass, even though it has tremendous health benefits, it just is kind of gross. So if you can't find these amazing medicinal mushrooms in the produce section of your grocery store, or you wouldn't even want to, if you could, where can you get them. I have three go to resources that I use for my mushrooms. One is Dragon herbs, which is a really cool resource that I learned about while I was doing a six month course of study on medicinal plants with David Crowe, who is a Master Herbalist and author and the founder of flora copia and essential oils company. And so, Dragon herbs is a go to resource when it comes to mushrooms. The founder of Iran tea garden is known as an expert in the field and has been studying and creating medicines out of these mushrooms for a very, very long time. I use his 22 Reishi extract, which is obviously as it sounds is a blend of 22 varieties of the reishi mushroom. And so it's a little liquid dropper and I put a dropper full in my first glass of water in the morning and then another and a glass of water before I go to bed. And for me, intertwining supplements with my regular hygiene routine is the best way for me to stay consistent and taking them so that works well. Another resource that I use is called Four Sigmatic the number four this company makes a really cool line of mushroom coffees and I know that sounds gross, but it isn't. And they even make them in the little cups that you can put in your correct they do not taste like mushrooms and on gross out. They actually taste like a really rich and delicious coffee. And I'm very snobby about my coffee so I can tell you that they're actually really tasty and enjoyable. They also have cocoa and I get my Reishi from them in the form of this elixir which is this little powder, it's a packet powder and I throw it into my protein drink in the morning before I go and work out and it's pretty tasty. You could probably put it in pretty much any beverage or just mix it with some almond milk or regular milk. Another resource is one that I camp on more recently and I was actually introduced to this one by my 19 year old son. He had a friend who was dealing with cancer and she turned to using Reishi Mushrooms and was telling him about the benefits and how much she felt that taking these mushroom supplements had helped her in her recovery. So this resource is called Mud water and it's mud bat slash w t our mud water. This company makes this Chai powder beverage and it contains several medicinal mushrooms. It's got Tumeric it's got Chai cinnamon, Chaga, Rishi quarter SEPs and you can mix it with water or milk. I like mine mixed with almond milk. And it's actually really tasty with tons of health benefits. They call it mud water because when you stir it up, it looks pretty thick and muddy. But it isn't a really bad way to promote their product. But hey, I'm not getting paid for it right. I'm just letting you know it's something I use and actually my son drinks
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too, and I'm happy to see that he's that interested in taking those steps to to promote and support his health as well. So I'll post the links to all of these products in the show notes page on my website, and I hope that you do check them out. But I really hope that you do some research into the benefits of these medicinal plants, check out the studies that I'll post on there. And see if you think that's something that might work for you and your lifestyle. Of course, after you check with your doctor to make sure it's safe for you. Now, if you have a mushroom resource or product that you love, I would love to hear about it. So please find me on Facebook at Laura Lummer on Instagram as the breast cancer recovery coach and share your insights with our community of thriving breast cancer survivors. And if you listen to the show regularly and you find some benefit in it, I would really appreciate if you could take the time to go to the iTunes Store, leave a positive review and tap on I don't know maybe five stars for it that would really help. The more ratings we get the more reviews we get for the show the easier it is for other breast cancer survivors to find us. So thanks for tuning in. And I look forward to talking with you again in two weeks. Until then, let your lifestyle be your medicine. You've put your courage to the test laid all your doubts
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your mind is clearer than before your heart is full and wanting more your futures
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given all you
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know has
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you been waiting on yours
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this is your
