Mindful Eating and Menopause Nutrition

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Medicinal Mushrooms for Pro-Aging and Longevity!

Medicinal Mushrooms and Pro-Aging!

Does longevity live in the top of a mushroom? 

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At what age did you start to think of longevity?

30? 40? 50? For me it was in my early 20’s.

I had two parents who were smokers, drinkers, and came with a host of health problems. Looking back I can say that health concern and even health anxiety started in my 20s. 

I was influenced by friends parents, who were health conscious and active and by my high school years, I was very conscious of health, being active, even though my weight obsession was really ramping up in those years.

I see health differently now, and in a more
holistic & weight inclusive manner.
 

I like to look at supplements, or natural health products, as adjuncts or add ins (Check out my video on the Addition “DIET”) to improve my life and maybe my longevity.

Edible mushroom, and supplements, may find a place in your life, if you are wanting to try medicinal mushrooms for some of the reasons we will explore in this episode.

Medicinal Mushrooms may be great for your Perimenopause Fatigue!

Mushrooms are linked to longevity.

The studies on mushrooms, and the benefits to us aging folks, is fascinating.

This episode shares a a product called Prothera, which is an immuno-modulating black maitake liquid that's created here in Canada.  I wanted to highlight a Canadian company, because well, I am Canadian, and sometimes I feel like we don't have the cool stuff that the US has as far as supplements, nutritionals etc.

In today's conversation we'll explore:

  • The nutritional value of a mushroom, which I hated with a distinct passion as a kid, along with onions!

  • What medicinal mushrooms are.

  • The health benefits of medicinal mushrooms

  • Different types of medicinal mushrooms

  • How you can use them to support aging. 

  • Potential side effects.

  • What to look for when buying medicinal mushrooms. 

Finally, we'll focus on the black maitake mushroom, a potent medicinal mushroom with potential anti-aging benefits.

**Please note that this podcast and video are for information and education only. I am not suggesting you treat any disease or chronic condition with internet advice. Please seek help from a licensed care practitioner if you suspect your health is at risk or you have a health issue.

Culinary mushrooms and mushrooms sold as dietary supplements are safe to consume. If consuming wild foraged mushrooms, caution should be taken and a knowledgeable mushroom forager or mycologist should be consulted to identify species that are safe for humans. 

Before the medicinal mushroom: nutrients in a regular edible mushroom.

Not everyone loves a mushroom, raw or cooked, and as a kid when those things were cooked up, along with onions, I was not impressed.

I grew up in a Czech household, with lots of cabbage, garlic, mushrooms, potatoes, onions, overcooked meat, and fresh veg when we could grow it or afford it.

Now, I love mushrooms. I don't know what shifted, and it had to be way before I was ordering portobello mushrooms, glazed in balsamic vinegar, off restaurant menus in the 90s.

Mushrooms Facts:

  • They’re called plant like, but don't have chlorophyll pigments.

  • They don't use sunlight for energy. 

  • They are fungus, and belong in the family of yeast and mold.


When you are eating a stem and a cap, you are eating the fruiting body of a mushroom. This is the reproductive part of the mushroom. Spores come off here and find a new home to make more mushrooms.

I don't want to get into the life cycle of a mushroom, but some of you may have heard of mycelium, which is sold as a supplement.

There are many recognizable types of mushrooms from the button mushroom to the cremini, and to the oyster and beyond.

Many home cooks keep dried mushrooms on their shelves to up the flavour of their kitchen creations.

The button mushroom is an economical and versatile edible fungus, and paired with lentils, ground tomatoes, herbs and spices, makes a great plant based pasta sauce!

My nutrition book from school stated that white button mushrooms have less nutrition than the exotic types that we will talk about in the medicinal portion of this episode, but there are still some nutritional merits to eating mushrooms!

Nutritional merits to of eating mushrooms:

  • Low in sodium

  • Contain protein

  • Contain minerals like phosphorus, and iron. 

  • Contain B Vitamins like Riboflavin and Thiamine, Niacin. 

  • Contain fiber, which supports digestion.

  • Contain selenium and potassium.

  • Contain a bit of Vitamin D

If grown indoors without sun, mushrooms contain only a bit, but if grown outside they contain more!

Mushrooms can be sliced and exposed to sunlight for 15 mins to get Vitamin D in the plant, or fungus (1). Eating maitake mushrooms achieves the same goal without the need for sun exposure.

What are medicinal mushrooms?

According to the National Cancer Institute, “Medicinal mushrooms are mushrooms that are used as medicine” (2)

“For more than 30 years, medicinal mushrooms have been approved as an addition to standard cancer treatments in Japan and China. In these countries, mushrooms have been used safely for a long time, either alone or combined with radiation or chemotherapy.”

They’re used in Traditional Chinese Medicine, to promote health and wellbeing. 

They have also been used for their nutritional properties too. They are actually called a functional food. A functional food offers more than nutrition, it offers health benefits.

What are the most popular medicinal mushrooms? Maybe you have heard of some of their names:

  • Reishi

  • Shiitake

  • Maitake

  • Turkey tail

  • Lions mane

  • Cordyceps

  • Chaga

They have been used in different practices and philosophies for a variety of health conditions. 

Medicinal mushrooms are typically available in a variety of forms, including powders, capsules, tinctures, and teas.  We have mushroom coffees as well.

These products can be found in health food stores and online.

If you caught any of my episodes with clinical herbalist Correne from Spirea Herbs, we talk about the benefits of tinctures.

I'll link them in the show notes, or if you are watching this on You Tube, it will be in the Description.

(Links to resources and research below)

The Health Benefits of Medicinal Mushrooms

There are a lot of claims to medicinal mushrooms including:

  • Hepatoprotective or liver supportive

  • Immune modulation

  • Anti-cancer

  • Anti-viral

  • Hypocholesterolemic agents meaning cholesterol lowering

  • Blood glucose or blood sugar control

  • Antioxidant properties

  • Antiparasitic (possible due to improving beneficial gut microbiota)


As you can see, or hear, medicinal mushrooms are known for what we may want as menopausal women: anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-aging properties. They help to support the immune system and protect against free radical damage.

Studies have shown that some mushrooms can help to reduce the growth of cancer cells and slow the spread of cancer. They can also help to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation.

I mentioned the National Cancer Institute and I will link that below, for deeper discussion on this.

Also look at the Whole Health Library on the US department of veterans affairs, it does specifically talk about maitake and it’s role as a biologic response modifier and its ability to reduce side effects of chemotherapy (4).

Medicinal mushrooms are also believed to have potential benefits for the brain. 

They are thought to improve cognitive functions, reduce stress and anxiety, and protect against age-related cognitive decline. Lion's mane may be beneficial for this along with maitake!

“Neurohealth is the concern for the predicted silver tsunami to hit humans – the aging tsunami is projected to be 80-90 million of 65 –plus population in 2050” (5)

Medicinal mushrooms are  believed to help to reduce wrinkles and skin damage, improve skin elasticity, and protect against age-related diseases. This may be due to the ability to protect from UV and free radical damage (6).

Some of the medicinal mushrooms described here are adaptogens, which are plants and mushrooms that support the body's response to stress.

Who doesn't want that?

Let’s dig into beta-glucans.

I mentioned earlier that the beta-glucans in mushrooms are beneficial to health, They are polysaccharides that are in the cell walls of the mushrooms.

Beta-glucans are also in some grains and algae. The structure of the beta-glucans in a mushroom is different. It is the beta glucans in medicinal mushrooms that have an influence on the immune system.

Beta-glucans are considered prebiotic and are also linked to support for cardiovascular health, blood sugar control and cholesterol control.

Mushrooms as food may support the cardiovascular system through their high fiber content and lower fat.

Not that I am advocating a low fat diet for everyone. We are all different.

Medicinal mushrooms in the aging process

If we go back and look at that list of the health benefits of medicinal mushrooms, how they may support liver health, their antioxidant properties, and ability to support the immune system, it makes sense that this is a supplement, or adaptogen, that I WANT for longevity.

If we are blessed to be on the earth for a while, our body's ability to fight off disease and inflammation will decrease. Medicinal mushrooms may help to combat these things, by providing the body with compounds of protection.

Of course, we can’t control everything, as our genes, and fate would have it, AND we can spend an inordinate amount of money on anti aging products.

However … cooking with mushrooms  will enhance your food satisfaction if you like them, and investing in mushroom tinctures is one Add In that might just impact your overall aging process. In a GOOD way.

Breaking down the different types of medicinal mushrooms

There are a variety of different types of medicinal mushrooms available. The most common include reishi, shiitake, maitake, turkey tail, lion's mane, chaga, and cordyceps. 

Each of these mushrooms has unique health benefits and can be used to support aging. Many times you will see these in blends. 

When you look at the properties of each, there is a lot of cross over.

Chaga 

Chaga is called the birch mushroom, as it grows on birch trees. It's also called a parasitic fungus, because it lives off the birch tree.Popular as a tea, I do like a chaga coffee blend. 

Chaga has its specific compounds betulin, betulinic acid, and inotodiol which are cytotoxic, toxic to certain cells.

Chaga should be used with caution by people with diabetes who are on insulin due to its lowering impact on blood sugar. Chaga also contains a protein that can prevent blood clotting and is best to avoid in those who have an upcoming surgery, are on blood-thinning medications, herbs or have a bleeding disorder.  

Reishi Ganoderma Lucidum

Also known as  Ganoderma Lucidum,  the mushroom of immortality, the reishi mushroom is known for immune enhancement. Reishi mushrooms are known for their anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and especially their anti-aging properties. They may also boost gut health through prebiotic potential.

Reishi mushroom may slow blood clotting and should be avoided prior to surgery or when taking blood-thinning medications or herbs. It also may lower blood pressure so use with caution when on blood pressure-lowering medications.

Shitake

Shiitake mushrooms are common as a food. Their claims are to support the immune system, and reduce inflammation.They have a polysaccharide called lentinan which is noted to be anti cancer, but guess what is in lentinan? Beta glucan.

Turkey Tail 

Turkey tail mushrooms are known for their potential fatigue busting  benefits. They are thought to improve cognitive functions, reduce stress and anxiety, and protect against age-related cognitive decline along with immune boosting properties

Lions mane

Lions mane is also said to be supportive of your cognition. Apparently it tastes like lobster! It seems this mushroom is best purchased log grown as some musttoms are grow in oats and other growing mediums

Cordyceps 

Finally, mushrooms are known for their potential anti-aging benefits. They are thought to help to regulate hormones and improve mental clarity.


Maitake (Grifola frondosa)

Maitake, pronounced “my-ih-ta-kay”, is also known as the ram’s head mushroom or hen-of- the-woods and by its more formal species name of Grifola frondosa.  Its shape has given it the name hen of the woods in Europe and North America.

Maitake is both a medicinal mushroom and a popular culinary mushroom, especially in Asia, although it is native to the hardwood forests of Europe and eastern North America as well as Asia

Some sources list maitake as the most beneficial functional mushroom. It is said to support balanced blood sugar and immune health. It grows on the base of trees, like maple, or an oak. 


Maitake is a particularly good source of beneficial beta- glucans 8, and maitake extracts are categorized as a natural health product by Health Canada.

TCM uses maitake for spleen and stomach health. 

The power of Black Maitake

I mentioned that I was highlighting Prothera, which is an extract from the black maitake mushroom made by Shogun Maitake here in London Ontario. You can get prothera in a powder and liquid.

Shogun Maitake is the first company to sell black maitake in Japan and North America. Black maitake is very rare even in natural environments.

The mushrooms are grown in a replicated environment that replicates natural growing conditions, Optimal temperature, air flow, humidity light and even wind are applied to grow the black maitake.

The founder of this company, Yoshinobu Odaira, worked decades on these growing techniques.

What I found interesting, besides this chemical free, organic natural growing condition, is that the techniques of growth are based off of a gentleman named Dr Namba. Dr. Namba is an expert in immunology,  an award-winning researcher on the benefits and workings of medicinal mushrooms. He’s considered by many to be the father of maitake mushroom research.

He is also the author of four books and numerous peer-reviewed articles, including key studies on the benefits of maitake.

Why is this important?

Dr. Namba discovered something called the beta-glucan fraction. This is a special way to extract and prepare the beta-glucans, used in his research for anticancer properties.

He stated that maitake had the strongest evidence for anti cancer properties, and this was from human studies. 

Why black maitake?

It is the rarer and strongest grade of maitake.

Dr. Namba used maitake in anti cancer research, and I have attached a White Paper from Shogun Maitake, who follow this method.

What to look for when buying medicinal mushrooms

When purchasing a natural health product, there are many factors that impact the quality of the product.

When buying medicinal mushrooms, it's important to look for products that are organic, non-GMO, and free from pesticides and other chemicals. It's also important to look for products that are made from certain parts of the mushroom.

Prothera is made from the fruiting body and NOT the mycelium.

The mycellium is what I mentioned in the beginning of the episode, and this is like a root system. This part of the mushroom takes on properties of the substrate or growing material that they live in.

When the extraction process takes place, impurities may end up in the final product, if the mycelium is used.

The fruiting body is the cap and stalk of the mushroom. Using this part of the mushroom to extract the beta glucans, leaves you with a product with less impurities.

Finally, make sure to buy from a reputable company. Look for companies that provide clear information about their products, use quality ingredients and offer good customer service.

A final note on health in general.

When I was in my 20’s I was not yet a registered health professional, and had not yet learned about the Social Determinants of Health, or ACEs.

In brief, both of these are names for a series of factors that shape your health, and are beyond your control.

Why am I putting these in here as we explore longevity?

I never want to give the impression that I think one thing is the ticket to healthy aging. The Social Determinants of Health, which include your SES, or socio-economic status, your income, race, education and even how secure you are financially, but also your perceptions of social status, all influence your health outcomes.

ACEs are adverse childhood events, which include abuse and neglect. These also influence your health outcomes. They are beyond our control.

Supplements may not be financially feasible for all people, and I’m not saying food is all the time either, especially with what we’re seeing with rising costs of everything in 2023.

All of this warrants a deeper discussion on how we view health.

How to use medicinal mushrooms for aging

Mushrooms are excellent sources of protein, minerals, vitamins, and fiber.

There are a variety of ways you can use medicinal mushrooms to support aging.

The most popular methods include taking them in supplement form, drinking them in tea, and adding them to recipes.

You can also drink medicinal mushrooms in tea. To make a medicinal mushroom tea, simply add a teaspoon of powdered mushroom to a cup of hot water and stir. You can also add honey or lemon for flavor.

My favourite Canadian Brands include Prothera, and a few others I have in my Fullscript Account, for my Canadian Clients.

Get supplements, health food, protein powders delivered to your door, at 10% off


Potential side effects of medicinal mushrooms

Although medicinal mushrooms are generally safe, they can have potential side effects in some people. 

These include nausea, headaches, dizziness, and stomach upset.

If you experience any of these side effects, stop taking the medicinal mushrooms and consult your doctor or health practitioner.

Questions?
Comment below!

Sources:

Health Benefits from Shogun Maitake

  1. https://www.uclahealth.org/news/7-health-benefits-of-mushrooms

  2. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/patient/mushrooms-pdq

  3. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/patient/mushrooms-pdq#:~:text=Mushrooms%20are%20being%20studied%20to,immune%20system%20to%20fight%20cancer.

  4. https://www.va.gov/WHOLEHEALTHLIBRARY/tools/mycomedicinals-mushrooms-for-cancer.as

  5. https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/10/12/2996

  6. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0265615

  7. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36364151/