Thursday, October 8, 2009

My Anti-Cancer Treatments: Maitake Mushrooms

It's autumn now, which means . . . . it's a good time to take a hike and gather up some maitake mushrooms!

Maitake mushrooms (a.k.a. "Hen of the Woods", beta-glucans, or Grifola frondosa) have very potent anti-cancer benefits.

Here in Connecticut, maitake can be found at the base of oak (and sometimes maple) trees from late August until late November.

Maitake mushrooms should be sauteed in butter or coconut oil (my preference), and never consumed raw.

They are absolutely delicious!!

If they are covered in the little honey button mushrooms you see above, those little mushrooms should be removed and boiled before sauteing or consuming (to remove toxins).

Anti-tumor effect of polysaccharide from Grifola frondosa (maitake) and its influence on immunological function:
When the polysaccharide from Grifola frondosa (PGF) was taken orally by S180 (sarcoma 180) bearing mice at the dosage of 50-150 mg/kg.d for 9 d, the inhibitory rate to S180 was 27.97%-38.46%. The PGF can also enhance thymus index, the ability of splenic lymphocyte proliferation and formation of antibody in splenic cells, and promote the production of IgM hemolysin significantly in S-180 bearing mice.
I have low IgM levels.

I am very grateful to live in an area of the world where these grow wild in the fall, as maitake mushrooms are very expensive.

:)

Mushrooms That Fight Cancer and Boost the Immune System

8 comments:

me said...

how ya feelin?

Dana Herbert said...

as long as i stay on track and keep up with the raw diet and exercise, vitamin d/sunshine, etc., i am stable and happy and life is good!!

Anonymous said...

mary anne faithful sang here last nite and I met her
at the afterparty at the big sur bakery. wish u were
here... henry miller library...

charkstudios said...

Love Maitake! I'm scared of picking my own, even though I have a field guide!

Great Post Dana!

Dana Herbert said...

Yeah, I was just telling a friend of mine that five years ago, I would have never imagined that I'd be eating fungus from the back yard and drinking curdled milk that has been left on the kitchen counter for 24 hours (kefir)!
But the deeper I go into these healing foods, the more insane it seems to shop for and eat packaged and processed foods!
I am fortunate to have an artist friend that is an expert in the field of mycology and if you show up at his home on a Wednesday night (pool night), you get to leave with fresh hand-picked mushrooms and a great education (even if you win at the pool table).

Anonymous said...

Hi Dana! Correction: Marianne Faithfull. Talk about rehab, she is a walking miracle. The drugs ruined her lilting voice but she expresses so much feeling when she sings that the old hippies at the bakery all gave wonderful reports of her performance. She's on Wikipedia. She came back from heroin hell on the streets of London three times and started recording again and finally made it!
What a lady! Mick Jagger and her wrote and sang a lot of songs together. You can hear her young voice in many Stones songs. You would really like her Dana!

Dana Herbert said...

Hi Mark,

I have been a big fan of Marianne's for years. I had her song "As Tears Go By" on my CSL playlist for a long time.

I just watched her most recent rendition of that song on YouTube a couple of weeks ago with friends.

Yes, her voice has changed quite a bit, but we still love her. Maybe even more now.

xoxo

Anonymous said...

Great coincidence, Dana! Her performance was a benefit for the library. Big Sur is an amazing community of artists, galleries, resorts, and nature. I escaped to Monterey for the storm but I'm heading back this weekend. Wish you were here! The paparazzi from L.A. took pictures of me with Marianne and other people at the bakery (actually a restaurant with great food) where all the library's afterparties are. Big Sur is 100% freedom and joy! Be well, Dana!