Maitake

grifola frondosa

Maitake
grifola frondosa

Used parts and where it grows: Maitake mushroom is a very large (like basketball) which grows in the mountains of northeastern Japan as well as in North America and Europe. Famous for its taste and renowned medicinal properties, Maitake is also known as the "mushroom dancer" 1 The legend holds that those who found the rare mushroom started dancing for joy. Others attribute the name to the manner in which the bodies of the mushroom fruity are mounted on each other, resembling butterflies dancing.

Maitake is extremely sensitive to environmental change, which has posed many problems for cultivating this mushroom. Only recently have been successful Japanese farmers to produce organic mushroom Maitake high quality, thus enabling a wider availability in Japan and the United States. The fruity body and the mycelium of Maitake are used medicinally.

Maitake has been used in connection with the following conditions (refer to individual medical uses for complete information)

Medicinal use:

Help in chemotherapy, Help HIV, you can extend the immune function, recommended in Infection.

Historical or traditional use (may or may not be backed by scientific studies) Historically, Maitake has been used as a tonic and adaptogens. Along with other mushrooms "medicinal", such as shiitake and anisci, the Maitake was used as a food to help promote health and vitality. Traditionally, the consumption of the mushroom was thought to prevent high blood pressure and cancer - two applications that have been the focal point of modern research.

Active components: A common denominator among mushroom and herbal adaptogens is the presence of complex polysaccharides in their structure. These active components have the ability to act as immunomoduladores and, as such, are investigating its potential role in cancer and AIDS treatment. Polysaccharides present in Maitake have a unique structure and are among the most powerful to be studied to date. 2 The primary polysaccharide, beta - D - glucoside, is absorbed very well when taken orally and is currently under study for the prevention and treatment of cancer and as a support tool for HIV infection. 3 4 This research is still preliminary and require confirmation.

How much should I take? Maitake can be used as a food or tea. Maitake is also available as a capsule or tablet containing the body of the whole Maitake fruitful. In Maitake, the body of the fruit is higher in polysaccharides that the mycelium, which is why it is recommended. The normally takes 3 - 7 grams of daily supplements of Maitake.

There are side effects or interactions? Used as recommended above, there have been no reports of any side effects with Maitake.

The information on the effects of a supplement or an herb determined for a given condition has been described in terms of methodology or the data source of support (for example: clinical, double - blind, meta - analysis, or use Traditional) For the convenience of the reader, the information in the vector that lists the supplements for certain conditions are also categorized. The criteria for the rankings are: "primary" indicates that there is relatively reliable and scientific data that show a constant support in the disease. "Secondary" indicates that there is conflict, little or only preliminary studies suggest that aid in disease or aid in the disease is minimal. "Other" indicates that there is little scientific support and / or minimal aid in the disease.

References:

1. Hobbs C. Medicinal Mushrooms. Santa Cruz, CA: Botanica Press, 1995, 110 - 15.

2. Nanba M, Hamaguchi AM, H. Kuroda The chemical structure of an antitumor polysaccharide in fruit bodies of Grifola frondosa (Maitake) Chem Pharm Bull 1987; 35: 1162 - 68.

3. Yamada Y, H Nanba, H. Kuroda Antitumor Effect of orally administered extracts from fruit body of Grifola frondosa (Maitake) Chemotherapy 1990; 38: 790 - 96.

4. Nanba H. Immunostimulant activity in - vivo and anti - HIV activity in vitro of 3 branched b - 1 - 6 - glucans extracted from Maitake mushrooms (Grifola frondosa) VIII International Conference on AIDS, Amsterdam, 1992.

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