Thoughts

My passion for naturopathic medicine began with botanicals and medicinal mushrooms. Prior to practicing medicine,  I channeled that passion into writing and teaching about these subjects. As my practice now takes up most of my time, my writing has been limited, but here is a space where you can find a number of different writings about naturopathic medicine, botanical medicine, and of course, medicinal mushrooms. 

MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS – GOING VIRAL

Mushrooms have been used as both food and medicine since antiquity. One of my favorite poems, discovered in an ancient Egyptian temple, illustrates this history: “Without leaves, without buds, without flowers, yet from fruit; as food, as tonic, as medicine: the entire creation is precious.” At a time when viral epidemics are inevitable and the current COVID-19 pandemic has presented in most of the world, antiviral therapies are possibly being investigated now more than ever before.  This paper explores the use of medicinal mushrooms as antivirals in in vivo (human and animal) and in vitro (petri dish) experiments and how these experiments may inform us on the utilization of these fungi as antiviral therapies. Read More

ERGOTHIONEINE: THE ELUSIVE AMINO ACID

Ergothioneine is a water soluble compound that is most abundant in Oyster mushrooms. There are transporters on different tissues in the body that are highly specific to ergothioneine. Ergothioneine is readily absorbed into the blood after consumption of mushrooms and stored in tissues for up to 1 month. In times of excessive oxidative stress, ergothioneine is taken up by those tissues and used as an antioxidant. Of note: there are transporters on the blood brain barrier and there is an association with low ergothioneine and age-related cognitive decline. In a world full of environmental toxins that are mostly impossible to escape, we might as well eat more mushrooms and get some extra protection. Read More

CONCENTRATED MUSHROOM EXTRACT

A 5:1 concentrated extract or sometimes called a solid extract simply means there is an equivalent of 5 grams of original substance per 1 mL of final liquid extract Read More

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