Edited by Ilaria Porta, Iridology Naturopath
Mycotherapy is the use of the active ingredients of medicinal mushrooms, which help maintain and improve human and animal health. Used in antiquity, they experience a great revival in recent years. Let's find out better.
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Man has used mushrooms as a medicine for 5000 years, as they preserve health, well-being and improve quality of life.
The use of mushrooms in the East, which comes from the millenary Traditional Medicine is still considered a very important basic value for health care and the search for longevity . in fact, in the years between 1960 and 1970 science became aware of 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 the organic systems and work in depth going to rebalance more points in our body.
Origins of mycotherapy
In cave paintings and engravings dating back to prehistoric times traces are already found: 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 has made it possible to understand that already in the Neolithic period mushrooms were used for their medicinal properties. In fact, this man carried with him a bag of medicines that contained two pieces of a dried mushroom that is supposed to be used for antibiotic properties .
The Egyptians used wild mushrooms because they believed they were the sons of the gods sent to the earth and their consumption was reserved only for the pharaohs.
In ancient Greece the fungus was considered a symbol of life, and therefore divine, and were used during religious rites as hallucinogens. This also happened with the Romans and the Maia and Azteca populations.
Their exclusive use by the Chinese emperor cannot be forgotten. In traditional Chinese medicine, medicinal mushrooms have been used both as a nutrition food and as a herbal medicine to increase longevity and maintain IQ, or life energy.
The mushrooms were already used for various pathologies, the facts, they entered fully into the natural cures for their incredible properties.
The polysaccharides contained in the fungi enhance the immune response which becomes faster and more effective. Fungi act as potent adaptogens of all organic systems, immunomodulators, antioxidants and hepatoprotectors . They regularize and balance the internal systems 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 stabilize and blood sugar to be kept under control.
The properties of fungi as immunomodulators
Each fungus stimulates the action of the immune system, although in different ways, since it is able to produce specific and different beta-glucans depending on the species.
They act directly on the immune system by stimulating and strengthening it, which is why they do not work directly on the disease, but on the contrary, on the cellular immune response, strengthening it. All fungi have immunomodulatory properties and act in depth on all PNEI systems (PsicoNeuroEndocrinoImmunologia).
The properties of fungi as antioxidants
Antioxidant substances are able to reverse the damage created by free radicals on the tissues, therefore taking antioxidants means reducing free radicals and therefore cellular aging .
Among the most popular antioxidants are resveratrol, vitamin C, vitamin A and vitamin E.
Today we know that even taking mushrooms as an integral part of nutrition means reducing the production of free radicals because the mushrooms, by themselves, do not produce free radicals.
You can learn more about the properties of vitamins and the foods that contain them
The properties of fungi as hepatoprotectors
The liver is the chemical machine of our body and one of its main tasks is to detoxify the organism . If the liver is in order, the 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 the mushrooms have a protective action on the liver, not only in the many detectable liver disorders, but also help the liver during chemo and radiotherapy cycles.
These substances would therefore act both on complex and degenerative chronic diseases and on acute problems by supporting this important organ.
Among the medicinal mushrooms with marked hepatoprotective properties we remember the Reishi and the Cordyceps, which seem to be the most powerful.
How to take it
The active ingredients extracted from the mushrooms can be found on the market in powder, capsules or tablets . Depending on the concentration of extract, each company indicates its dosage, but in general 3 capsules should be taken per day, between meals, after about 30 minutes of taking vitamin C.
However, depending on the current disease and the subject, the therapist will carefully choose the dosage, always boosted by the intake of Vitamin C. The consumer's attention must be paid to organic mushrooms that will give the certainty of quality of the sold supplement.
It is always good to take the mushrooms after a good detox, in this way they will work better and more in depth.
Who to contact
Always contact a qualified practitioner of Natural Medicine who will treat the cause of internal imbalance: Naturopath, Iridologist, Homeopath, Doctor of Alternative Medicine. Only professionals who are familiar with micotherapy will know how to best indicate the best fungus or constitution and health, indicating the most suitable dosage.
