Mycotherapy is the use of the active ingredients of medicinal mushrooms, which help maintain and improve the health of humans and animals. Already used in antiquity, they have experienced a great revival in recent years. Let’s find out better.
Man has used mushrooms as a medicine for 5,000 years, as they preserve health, well-being and improve the quality of life.
The use of mushrooms in the East, which comes from the millenary Traditional Medicines, is still considered today a very important basic value for health care and the search for longevity. in fact, in the years between 1960 and 1970, science realized their value, discovering that mushrooms are the secret of some of the longest-lived populations on the planet.
The use of medicinal mushrooms must be done consistently and for a long time since they are adaptogens of all organic systems and work in depth by rebalancing more points in our body.
Origins of mycotherapy
Traces can already be found in cave paintings and engravings dating back to prehistoric times: it seems, in fact, that they were used in initiation and / or religious rites. It is therefore not difficult to think of their connection with the use of hallucinogenic substances.
The discovery of the Otzi mummy made it possible to understand that mushrooms were already used in the Neolithic period for their medicinal properties. In fact, this man carried with him a bag of medicines which contained two pieces of a dried mushroom that he is presumed to use for its antibiotic properties.
The Egyptians used wild mushrooms because they believed they were the sons of the gods sent to earth and their consumption was reserved only for the pharaohs.
In ancient Greece the mushroom was considered a symbol of life, and therefore divine, and were used during religious rites as hallucinogens. This was also the case with the Romans and in the Maya and Aztec populations.
We cannot forget their exclusive use by the Chinese emperor. In traditional Chinese medicine, medicinal mushrooms have been used both as a nourishing food and as a herbal medicine to increase longevity and maintain IQ, or vital energy.
Mushrooms were already used for various pathologies, in fact, they have fully entered into natural cures for their incredible properties.
The polysaccharides contained in mushrooms enhance the immune response which becomes faster and more effective. Fungi act as powerful adaptogens of all organic systems, immunomodulators, antioxidants and hepatoprotectors. They regularize and balance internal systems by working on several fronts, in depth without stimulating but rebalancing the psycho-physical framework of the person.
Adaptogens allow the adrenal glands to be recharged, hormone production to be stabilized and blood sugar levels to be kept under control.
The properties of mushrooms as immunomodulators
Each mushroom stimulates the action of the immune system, albeit in different ways, since it is capable of producing specific and different beta-glucans depending on the species.
They act directly on the immune system by stimulating and strengthening it, for this reason they do not work directly on the disease, but on the contrary on the cellular immune response by strengthening it. All mushrooms have immunomodulating properties and act in depth on all PNEI systems ( PsychoNeuroEndocrineImmunology) .
The properties of mushrooms as antioxidants
Antioxidant substances are able to reverse the damage created by free radicals on tissues, therefore taking antioxidants means reducing free radicals and therefore cellular aging.
Among the best known antioxidants are resveratrol, vitamin C, vitamin A and vitamin E.
Today we know that even taking mushrooms as an integral part of the diet means reducing the production of free radicals since mushrooms, by themselves, do not produce free radicals.
The properties of fungi as hepatoprotectors
The liver is the chemical machine of our organism and one of its main tasks is to detoxify the organism. If the liver is in order, detoxification and all its functions work perfectly, but if this organ does not work properly, an inflammation process is created and the organ is in imbalance and overloaded.
Some substances contained in mushrooms have a protective action on the liver, not only in the many liver diseases that can be found, but also come to the aid of the liver during chemo and radiotherapy cycles.
These substances would therefore act both on complex and degenerative chronic diseases and in acute problems, supporting this important organ.
Among the medicinal mushrooms with marked hepatoprotective properties we remember Reishi and Cordyceps, which seem to be the most powerful.
How they hire themselves
The active ingredients extrapolated from mushrooms can be found on the market in powder, capsule or tablet form. Depending on the concentration of extract, each company indicates its dosage, but in general, 3 capsules should be taken a day, away from meals, after about 30 minutes having taken vitamin C.
However, depending on the pathology in progress and on the subject, the therapist will carefully choose the dosage, always enhanced by the intake of Vitamin C. The consumer’s attention must be directed to organic mushrooms that will give the certainty of the quality of the supplement sold.
It is always good to take mushrooms after a good detox, that way they will work better and deeper.
Who to contact
Always contact a qualified Natural Medicine professional who will treat the cause of the internal imbalance: Naturopath, Iridologist, Homeopath, Alternative Medicine Doctor. Only professionals who are familiar with mycotherapy will be able to best indicate the best mushroom or mushrooms for the constitution and health, indicating the most suitable dosage.
