Mushrooms Used as Remedies throughout History
In 3,300 B.C., a tribal elder from Val Venosta, Italy, trekked across an Alpine glacier in an attempted getaway from enemies. But his foes got the better of him and with a well-aimed arrow pierced his subclavian artery, leaving him to bleed to death in a glacial cave where his mummified remains were discovered in 1991. Among the belongings of Oetzi the Iceman were two medicinal mushrooms, the earliest evidence in existence of mushrooms used as remedies.
One of the mushrooms he carried was a traditional de-wormer known as Birch polypore (Piptoporus betulinus), which makes sense because whipworm eggs were found in Oetzi’s intestines. The other mushroom was a species frequently used to cauterize wounds, Tinder fungus (Fomes fomentarius). The Iceman’s right hand had been injured days earlier and was in the process of healing when he was killed.
Both of these are polypores, so named because they have pores instead of gills underneath. No species of polypore is known to be poisonous. They usually grow on trees, dead or alive.
Polypores are usually considered inedible due to the fact that they are hard and wood-like. But for ancient peoples all across the globe - from China and India to Europe and the Americas - polypore teas and poultices have none-the-less been indispensible allies to human health at least for as long as written and oral traditions can recount.
Oral traditions of Native Americans bear tale of many types of polypores being used to help against the diseases brought by the Europeans, including Birch polypore but also Reishi (Ganoderma resinaceum), Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor), Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) and the now almost vanished species Agarikon (Fomitopsis officinalis).
And as though by no coincidence, Agarikon also holds the distinction as the oldest medicinal mushroom in historic European literature. In 65 B.C., Greek physician Dioscorides recorded it in Materia Medica as a remedy for tuberculosis. More recently, K. Grzywnowics in a 2001 article titled Medicinal Mushrooms in Polish Folk Medicine said Agarikon tea was traditionally considered an elixir for long life and listed historical uses to include lung conditions (coughing, asthma) and rheumatoid arthritis, but also infected wounds and open bleeding.
While mushrooms have been utilized medicinally in the West, it pales in comparison to the adulation they have received in the Orient. Next follows three species of medicinal mushrooms from Asia, which simply have to be included in any article on medicinal mushrooms.
First is the polypore Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum), which has been used in China and Japan as a health bestowing mushroom of immortality for at least two millennia. It was first mentioned in the 2,000 year old book Shen Nong’s Herbal Classic. Many ancient wood-carvings and temple engravings in the Orient bear testament to the homage paid to this acclaimed cure-all mushroom.
Next is Cordyceps, a minute fungus from the Tibetan plateau, parasitising on silk caterpillars. Cordyceps sinensis was first mentioned as a medicinal mushroom in The Classic Herbal of the Divine Plowman from 200 A.D. It is popular with athletes to improve physical stamina. Historically, it’s been used as an aphrodiciac.
Finally there is Shiitake, the number one gourmet mushroom of the Orient. Shiitake has been cultured in China for approximately 1,000 years as a food. What is less known is that it is also one of the most researched medicinal mushrooms in the world. A polysaccharide extracted from Shiitake is approved in Japan as an anti-cancer drug. Other qualities hinted at by research include antibiotic and immune enhancer.
Medical research on mushrooms appears to have begun in the late 1960’s in Japan. It gained attention in the West through the research by Dr. Ikekawa, who found that families growing mushrooms had lower cancer-rates than other people in their communities. Since those early days, medical research into mushrooms has grown exponentially and is still increasing. Medicinal mushrooms are continuing to make history.
Note: The article is informational only. The FDA has not approved mushrooms for medicinal use. Always consult a licensed medical practitioner before using any product to treat an illness.
Tags: Alternative Health