A Blue Poppy blog post by Bob Quinn
In Traditional East Asian Medicine (TEAM) we find a number of mushrooms prominently recognized and esteemed:
- Reishi-lingzhi
- Coriolus–yunzhi
- Maitake-huishuhua
- Cordyceps–dongchongxiacao
- Shiitake – xiang gu
There are others of course, but these five fungi enjoy stellar reputations, not just in a traditional sense but also due to modern research into their properties.
TCM education typically will cover lingzhi and dongchongxiacao but not the others. If one checks in Bensky’s Formula book, it is interesting to note no formulas include any of these five mushrooms. In the Materia Medica reishi and cordyceps are listed and their properties detailed. It should come as no surprise then that acupuncturists-herbalists do not often prescribe these substances. We are simply not trained to do so in our schooling.
Some of the first reading I did on the mushrooms was from Subhuti Dharmananda at ITM in his START group. Then I went on to read a book by Christopher Hobbs. Since then the literature has expanded, and now numerous other books are available. With all these books now available it is possible with a little research to get a feel for these mushrooms and to start to incorporate them into our treatment plans, particularly for seriously and chronically ill patients.
My interest ramped up in the early days of People’s Herbs when my mother received a cancer diagnosis. It was a rare cancer with poor survival expectation. The literature from the National Cancer Institute (they kindly mailed it to me) recommended no treatment; I am sure that is also rare. But in fact nothing had been shown to help. My mother and her doctor chose to ignore the no treatment option and instead used an old and harsh chemotherapeutic agent and radiation for six weeks. In addition to these standard therapies I gave her two herb formulas and the People’s Herbs Five Mushroom capsules.
How did this all work? Her oncologist never had a patient on this regimen who had not lost of her hair and her energy. My mother lost no hair at all, and she rode the stationary bike in the hospital gym every day. She survived another 18 years. Almost unheard of for that type of cancer. This is by the way a common use of mushroom extracts in East Asian countries—as supportive (not sole) agents for patients going through standard cancer therapies. But that is not at all the only use for their substances.
Cordyceps, for instance, is probably now on the training table of every elite athlete in the world. It can be used to help the chronically ill recover their energy after long illness (this is one of its traditional uses), but it also excels at strengthening what we might call the Lung-Kidney axis. The oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood is strengthened with regular use. It emerged on the world scene when some young, relatively unknown
Chinese runners broke world records at a track meet in Germany. Everyone suspected doping but nothing was found. Their coach said the trick had been using cordyceps as a regular food on the training table. Overnight every athlete wanted cordyceps. The price for wild cordyceps exploded, and indeed it is still unbelievably high-recently over $28K per kg when the per ounce price is multiplied. Wow!
Luckily the science of growing cordyceps has grown by leaps and bounds in recent decades, and we no longer have to rely on wild materials. The best strains developed in the US and in China are combined in the People’s Herbs product Empowered Cordyceps. All ingredients in this product are certified organic. I don’t think there is a better cordyceps product available anywhere, and it is affordable. Cordyceps is safe for children and can make all the difference in exercise-induced asthma treatment.