Maitake Mushroom Health benefits
America is just now taking stock of the health benefits of the maitake mushroom. Japan used mushrooms and their byproduct for many years to treat a wide variety of disease and the maitake is one of four mushrooms often used for complementary treatment for cancer, immune disease, cardiovascular functioning, diabetes, liver and respiratory problems. Years of research show that the extracts from the mushroom help boost the immune system and give the body a better opportunity to fight these deadly ailments.
Maitake is the Japanese name for America's hen of the woods mushroom that grows on dying hardwood trees like oaks in the fall. The translation for maitake literally means dancing mushroom. It comes from the fact that those that lived off the land danced joyfully when they found the mushroom growing. The American name is a result of the mushroom's appearance. It looks like the ruffled feathers on the back of the hen. Its scientific name, however, is Grifola frondosa.
One of the active ingredients found in mushrooms is beta-glucan. This is a polysaccharide found in many different types of medicinal mushrooms. However, the maitake mushroom contains a special beta-glucan. Its name is D-fraction. Scientists believe that the D-fraction may be what gives the maitake its special health benefits.
Used in conjunction with traditional cancer treatment the maitake mushrooms showed great improvement in breast cancer patients. While one clinical trial for Japanese women with breast cancer was relatively small, it did show that close to 87 percent of the women improved with treatment. Not only did the supplement reduce the tumor size but it also resulted in improved blood tests and helped relieve the effects of the chemotherapy. Other tests done on the maitake mushroom, such as those done by an MD at the Sano Surgical Clinic in Japan, Dr. Kihachiro Takahara, showed that people with lung and liver cancer had significant improvement and increased the survival rate over a test group that didn't use the mushroom as a supplement.
One doctor in America uses the maitake mushroom to shrink fibroids in the uterus. In fact, some women scheduled for surgical removal of the tumors used of the maitake supplement and it made surgery unnecessary. There is also indication that it may help lower the blood pressure.
In the 1980's, researchers in Japan, Nanba, Kodama, Shar, and Turner used the extracts from the maitake mushroom to help enhance treatment for HIV patients. Because the active ingredients improve the body's immune system, the choice seemed logical. The maitake improved the T-cell count, boosted the body's immune system, helped fight opportunistic infection and improved overall health.
This amazing mushroom showed promise for those with high blood pressure and diabetes. Diabetes often has the forerunner of insulin resistance. The cells fail to recognize the insulin and require more to do same job. As the body calls for more, the output increases at the pancreatic level until, one day, it no longer can keep up with the demand and the person develops diabetes. The ingredients in the maitake mushroom help reduce the insulin resistance.
Other studies show the maitake is an effective tool to use for weight loss. A Japanese study showed that when 30 overweight patients supplemented their daily diet with maitake extracts but didn't change dietary habits or increase exercise; they had an average weight loss over two months of eleven to thirteen pounds.
The study of the benefits of mushrooms has long been part of the Japanese culture. America is now just catching up to the amazing health benefits of the maitake mushroom as well as some of the other medicinal mushrooms. Best of all, they really taste good. Often called the "vegetarian chicken" the maitake mushroom has a prominent place in both the world of the epicurean gourmet and the world of medicine.