While the majority of articles about supporting a healthy immune function tend to focus on nutrients and botanicals that directly affect the immune system, what is often overlooked is the significant impact that immune stressors have on immunity. Immune stressors are lifestyles or foods that interfere or suppress a healthy and balanced immune response. In part II we went into…

The U.S spends more on “health care” per capita than any other country, and yet, out of eleven economically advanced countries examined, the health-adjusted life expectancy for the U.S. comes in last. Clearly something is not working with our current system and perspective. As I mentioned in Part I, the most promising approach to health, vitality, and particularly immune health…

There’s a saying, “May you live in interesting times”. The message behind this is that while it looks like it is something of a blessing, it turns out to not actually be well wishes, rather it’s something of a curse. While it is said to have originated in ancient China, it turns out it is a modern contrivance, regardless, it…

We all want and expect quality products. If it says vitamin C on the label, we want it to be vitamin C in the product. If it says Echinacea flower then it should be Echinacea flower, not root or anything else. And the same of course goes for mushrooms, if the product says it is Reishi mushroom then it should…

Ever wonder how our long-ago ancestors knew what herbs were safe to use? Or what they were good for? There are several theories, watching animals, looking at how and where they grow (doctrine of signatures), or even trial-and-error. None of these seem to explain it all. For instance, estimates have been made that the trial-and-error method simply doesn’t make sense…

Webster’s defines “extract” as “to draw forth”, or “to pull out”, and this is precisely what we are trying to do when extracting our mushrooms. The goal is to draw forth as many of the mushroom’s “goodies” (bio-active constituents) as we can with the process. Extraction is simply the process of freeing up the active compounds from the inert structural…

Fruiting body vs mycelium In Part One we delineated the two primary parts of a fungi, the fruiting body, aka the mushrooms, and the mycelium, the “roots” of the fungi. For a more detailed look at anatomy of a mushroom see the diagram below) Why is this delineation so important when it comes to mushroom supplements? And why does Mushroom…

Fruiting body vs. Mycelium We certainly live in interesting times… this is especially true for us mushroom lovers. While humans have been using mushrooms for thousands of years, associating them with everything from fairies to gods to immortality to health supporting allies, we are fortunate today to be experiencing a renaissance of sorts for mushrooms. Modern science and traditional wisdom…

Over the last 5 years, we are finally awakening to the wonderful health supporting gifts of functional mushrooms and have seen a growing awareness and interest in their use here in the U.S. While new to us, mushrooms have been highly prized in Asia for hundreds of years, several of which are considered to be the highest level of remedies,…