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5,300 years ago, an injured and starving man from Val Venosta, Italy, fled across an Alpine glacier to escape pursuers. But his enemies caught up with him and with a practiced arrow-shot penetrated his shoulder blade and subclavian artery. Before long, he was dead from blood loss. “Oetzi the Iceman” was found mummified in’91. On his person were pouches containing mushroom remedies, the oldest known proof in existence of medicinal mushrooms usage.
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.
Birch polypore and Tinder fungus are both polypores, which have pores on their undersides, hence the name. Most polypores grow on trees and none is known to be poisonous.
Few polypores are edible because they are hard and fibrous. But people in the Orient as well as the Occident have used them to treat a multitude of diseases for ages. Usually in the form of a tea that would be brewed and drunk; sometimes as a poultice placed on a wound or over an aching body part.
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).
Although nearly extinct today, Agarikon was once common in the old-growth forests of ancient Europe. Greek physician Dioscorides referred to Agarikon as a remedy for tuberculosis in Materia Medica, 65 B.C. It’s the earliest record of a medicinal mushroom in European literature. Two millennia later, the historic use of Agarikon in Poland was put down in writing in the article Medicinal mushrooms in Polish Folk Medicine by K. Grzywnowics. Again, it included lung conditions, as well as rheumatoid arthritis and infected wounds.
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 out is Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum), sometimes nicknamed the “Mushroom of Immortality” due to its wide range of healing properties. Reishi was mentioned in Shen Nong’s Herbal Classic from around 2,000 years ago. Many ancient Oriental temples and wood-carvings include images of this highly revered “cure-all” fungus.
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.
Last but not least is the medicinal mushroom Shiitake, better known as a culinary delight. However, Shiitake is also one of the most research mushrooms for medical properties. Commercial cultivation of Shiitake began about a thousand years ago in China. Medicinal uses include immune enhancement, antibiotic and more. Shiitake extracted Lentinan polysaccharide is approved as an anti-cancer drug in Japan.
Modern research into medicinal use of mushrooms began in earnest in the late’60′s Japan. One pioneer, Dr. Ikekawa, discovered that families of mushroom growers had significantly lower cancer rates than their surrounding communities. Scientific research into medicinal mushrooms has expanded exponentially since that time and continues to increase and intensify until this day. Medicinal mushrooms are still in the process of making history.
Note: The information in this article is for informational purposes only. Mushrooms have not been aproved for medicinal use by the FDA. Always consult a licensed medical practitioner about the treatment of any medical condition.
Dr. Markho Rafael has worked in the natural health field since’96 as a researcher and author, now specializing in fungi for health. Click medicinal mushrooms for more articles and mushroom products. Material for this article comes from several different sources. However, a large portion comes from the literature of medicinal fungi expert Paul Stamets, who deserves special credit and thanks.
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Fungi Used as Cures throughout History
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5,300 years ago, an injured and starving man from Val Venosta, Italy, fled across an Alpine glacier to escape pursuers. But his enemies caught up with him and with a practiced arrow-shot penetrated his shoulder blade and subclavian artery. Before long, he was dead from blood loss. “Oetzi the Iceman” was found mummified in’91. On his person were pouches containing mushroom remedies, the oldest known proof in existence of medicinal mushrooms usage.
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.
Birch polypore and Tinder fungus are both polypores, which have pores on their undersides, hence the name. Most polypores grow on trees and none is known to be poisonous.
Few polypores are edible because they are hard and fibrous. But people in the Orient as well as the Occident have used them to treat a multitude of diseases for ages. Usually in the form of a tea that would be brewed and drunk; sometimes as a poultice placed on a wound or over an aching body part.
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).
Although nearly extinct today, Agarikon was once common in the old-growth forests of ancient Europe. Greek physician Dioscorides referred to Agarikon as a remedy for tuberculosis in Materia Medica, 65 B.C. It’s the earliest record of a medicinal mushroom in European literature. Two millennia later, the historic use of Agarikon in Poland was put down in writing in the article Medicinal mushrooms in Polish Folk Medicine by K. Grzywnowics. Again, it included lung conditions, as well as rheumatoid arthritis and infected wounds.
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 out is Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum), sometimes nicknamed the “Mushroom of Immortality” due to its wide range of healing properties. Reishi was mentioned in Shen Nong’s Herbal Classic from around 2,000 years ago. Many ancient Oriental temples and wood-carvings include images of this highly revered “cure-all” fungus.
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.
Last but not least is the medicinal mushroom Shiitake, better known as a culinary delight. However, Shiitake is also one of the most research mushrooms for medical properties. Commercial cultivation of Shiitake began about a thousand years ago in China. Medicinal uses include immune enhancement, antibiotic and more. Shiitake extracted Lentinan polysaccharide is approved as an anti-cancer drug in Japan.
Modern research into medicinal use of mushrooms began in earnest in the late’60′s Japan. One pioneer, Dr. Ikekawa, discovered that families of mushroom growers had significantly lower cancer rates than their surrounding communities. Scientific research into medicinal mushrooms has expanded exponentially since that time and continues to increase and intensify until this day. Medicinal mushrooms are still in the process of making history.
Note: The information in this article is for informational purposes only. Mushrooms have not been aproved for medicinal use by the FDA. Always consult a licensed medical practitioner about the treatment of any medical condition.
Dr. Markho Rafael has worked in the natural health field since’96 as a researcher and author, now specializing in fungi for health. Click medicinal mushrooms for more articles and mushroom products. Material for this article comes from several different sources. However, a large portion comes from the literature of medicinal fungi expert Paul Stamets, who deserves special credit and thanks.