Previous 7 days a pal of mine named me up simply because she was searching for a specific medicinal mushroom. She experienced been ordering it from Hong Kong for her aunt since of its medicinal properties however, for some explanation, the provider experienced ceased to export mushrooms to Canada.

The mushroom she was seeking for is referred to as Yun Zhi in China, and my pal was paying all around 800$ for every bottle for it. Yun Zhi, what is that? You may possibly consider that 800$ may possibly pay out for a label with a botanical identify on it so folks outdoors of China know what they are truly acquiring. I experienced to cross reference Chinese mushroom names to scientific names to learn that Yun Zhi is in reality Trametes versicolor.

My jaw hit the flooring. 800$ for Trametes versicolor!!? (Aka. Coriolus versicolor / Turkey Tail). If you are a mushroom picker, you will possibly be pondering possibly that you gotta’ start picking and marketing this things, or that my pal was being totally ripped off. “Ripped off” due to the fact T. versicolor is a frequent mushroom in every temperate zone in the planet. If you have walked in the forest at any time in your existence, there is a fifty percent decent likelihood that you have noticed this mushroom.increase the five yr survival price of lung cancer patients by four hundred%.

I experienced to look a lot more into it. The real merchandise that my friend was acquiring was a polysaccharide extract. Relying on which mushroom pressure it comes from, these extracts are possibly named PSK or PSP, and there is significant evidence for their use in most cancers therapy. The literature is in depth for case in point, Robert Rogers e-book, The Fungal Pharmacy references legit, peer reviewed research indicating that these extracts “inhibit the proliferation of lymphoma and leukemic cells by apoptosis… “, “restore antibody (IgG) generation in mice with sarcoma a hundred and eighty… “, increase the 5 year survival rate of lung cancer patients by 400%, enhance the survival charges of colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, and breast most cancers sufferers. Rogers also writes that there ended up at minimum sixteen papers that have studied the extracts capacity to inhibit most cancers mobile proliferation, 40 that examined their capacity to inhibit tumor development, 13 that researched their ability to counteract the negative outcomes on the immune technique of cancer treatment method, and 24 that confirmed that PSK and PSP boost most cancers affected person survival costs. The wellness benefits of these extracts go on.

Anyways, 800$!!? About three quarters of T.versicolor is complex carbohydrates, and the only source I could discover stating exactly how a lot of it is PSK or PSP suggests that the mushroom is generally >40% PSK or PSP. So, we aren’t chatting about some supercharged, concentrated extract, we are chatting about taking out the, excess fat (1.7%), protein (11%) (Rogers), fibre, and probably the odd unwanted starch or standard sugar, leaving you with near to half of the mushroom by dried weight.

The very first retailer of Yun Zhi that pops up on a Google look for in which I am, sells a bottle of 500, 400mg capsules for 550$ This works out to 1248$per pound. Now observing as the extract is about fifty% of the mushroom, that implies that the unprocessed mushroom would be close to 624$ for every pound.

I will flatly point out that this is absurd, and that if you are acquiring this product, you are currently being taken edge of. A frequent mushroom that is very easily cultivated because it grows on wooden is not well worth 600$ a pound. For One Up Mushroom Bar , Pacific Rim Mushrooms sells dried wild picked morel mushrooms which cannot be commercially cultivated, for one hundred fifty$ a pound.

What is the moral of my tale? Know what you are purchasing. Mushrooms are mysterious, even much more so when they are bought with Chinese names, so locate out what the botanical or the English title is with a basic Google search. I did. I desired to discover a significantly less expensive yet trustworthy supply for Yun Zhi for my friend. Right after a extremely quick research, not for Yun Zhi, but for Turkey Tail extract, I found a internet site that charges forty four.96$ for 120 500mg capsules (340$ per pound). This is a lot much better. Despite the fact that, if I personally needed Yun Zhi, I would merely go for a lengthy stroll with a basket in hand.

I even found extract from a business in California for as reduced as one hundred seventy five$ for every pound.

Shop all around. See what else you can discover. Clearly the very best is not necessarily the most inexpensive, but maintain in head a few issues

There is no sign that Asian mushrooms are excellent to North American mushrooms, so for one thing like T. versicolor which grows world vast, truly feel totally free to get from Canadian and American growers or pickers.

Make sure you know if you are acquiring extract. There is question as to whether or not or not the polysaccharides can be digested in the raw form.
Do you have faith in the resource? Do you know in which it was developed and processed? Are you ready to shell out far more for organic and natural items?
Be confident you usually are not being taken benefit of. Use your road feeling are their statements of superiority substantiated by a reference, or a very good rationalization? Are they producing you frightened to use someone else’s solution just to influence you to acquire their very own?

There are massive benefits to mushrooms as medicine and food. A excellent e-book, internet site, or regional mushroom club is a wonderful place to understand about medicinal mushrooms.