You are receiving this email from Dr. Christina Chambreau because you are passionately committed to having health for your animals, yourself and the planet or because a friend thought you wanted to hear this information.

Last minute FREE on-line seminar on mushrooms
Monday, November 19, 8-9 PM eastern
Click here for more info and to register

Mushrooms – I have eaten them since a child and had no idea of their benefit until becoming a holistic veterinarian. Only in the last decade have I learned the incredible benefit to the world of fungi. The underground mycelium provide a network for trees to communicate with each other and even send nutrients to each other, help tree roots absorb nutrients, and even neutralize organic wastes into simple, easily absorbed nutrients. 

They can detoxify our dead bodies (which are full of polluting chemicals even before embalming), eat the plastic in the oceans, clean up oil spills…and help keep our animals healthy.

Mushrooms have been used most extensively in Chinese medicine for thousands of years, as well as by every wise woman and shaman in indigenous cultures.

Dr. Ihor Basko will be speaking this Monday night (November 19) for the Holistic Actions Academy weekly seminar. This wise veterinarian from Kauai (the Garden Isle of Hawaii) knows so much about mushrooms – their uses, their chemistry and most importantly their spirit. This is a not to be missed free seminar. 

In 2015 I was in awe as I listened to Dr. Cornelia Cho’s presentation on environmental mediation abilities of mushrooms at the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Conference.

Mushroom are in the Fungi Kingdom of fungi, also called fungus kingdom, is filled with over 100,000 edible, hallucinogenic, poisonous and medicinal mushrooms.  Over 700 are used for food and as medicine. . They are easily administered with little or no side effects.

Medical mushrooms contain polysaccharides, lysozymes, and triterpenes, which have anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-tumor properties; many different vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, protein, and sterols

Most are well known for their anti cancer effects. They modulate tumorigenesis and carcinogenesis at different stages.

Some mushrooms contain compounds that stimulate the immune system, and assist healing of the liver, kidneys, and heart tissues. edema, diarrhea, urinary tract infections, uterine infections, prostate problems, diseases of the kidneys, and inflammation.

Before we get into the details of the mushrooms, I want to quote Dr. Basko about the “spirit of mushrooms”.  True for plants as well, it is very important to learn “the personality of the plant by experiencing it in its natural form and environment. Growing medicinal plants or mushrooms in your garden, or looking for them in the wild, will give you a greater understanding and appreciation of their nature.”  When hunting for mushrooms, remember that they thrive in moist, damp forests with lots of dead organic matter.

Even more details and learning about the spirit of mushrooms are in any writing by Paul Stamets. I love Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Save the World (2005).

In general, mushroom products are useful for any health challenges/stress and to build general immunity. Definitely they need to be researched it your pet has cancer. It may help young animals build the needed immune system to live in our stressful and polluted world.

Now some mushroom benefits.

Button mushrooms - Agaricus Bisphorus
I grew up thinking these were the only mushrooms around, and they are the most common cultivated ones. They mature into Crimini, then into Portobello mushrooms? All three have antioxidants, B vitamins (except Vitamin B12), copper, phosphorus, potassium and selenium, and L-ergothioneine, an antioxidant that isn’t destroyed by cooking.

Maitake mushrooms have been used medicinally for 3,000 years in China and Japan for an incredible range of healing powers. Called “dancing mushroom” in Japan, we call them chicken of the woods (or hen of the woods) as they look like a dirty white chicken sitting on the side of the tree.

The high amount of β-glucans may make it more effective than the Turkey Tail mushroom in its antitumor effects that derive from enhancing the immune system response through activation of macrophages, T cells, and NK cells.

Maitake is also high in phospholipids and certain lectins, thus supporting brain function, nerve function, and regeneration.

It lowers blood pressure, decreases cholesterol (through mevinolin, a secondary metabolite found in many fungi), is hepatoprotective, lowers blood glucose and is anti-diabetic, and boosts immunity to fight infections.

Reishi mushrooms are identified by color – black, blue, white, yellow, purple, red (most commonly cultivated variety) and called “Grass of Heaven”, “Herb of Immortality” and “Emperor of Mushrooms”.

Reishi is rich in polysaccharides, polypeptides, and 16 types of amino acids, coumarin, organic acids. Lysosomal enzymes, triterpenes and microelements.

Shiitake mushrooms are the second most cultivated mushrooms in the world, considered one of the world’s healthiest foods. They are a symbol of longevity in China, the elixir of life in Japan.

They are a rich source of protein and contain vitamins A, B6 and C as well as copper, folate, iron, magnesium, manganese, niacin, pantothenic acid, potassium, riboflavin, selenium, thiamin, zinc and dietary fiber.

The 50 plus enzymes aid digestion.  

They enhance vital energy, reduce blood pressure, decrease blood cholesterol levels, prevent heart disease, and fight cancer.

By stimulating white blood cell production, antibodies, and interferon; and inhibiting prostaglandins, it has antibiotic and antiviral effects that can help resolve upper respiratory and problems and other “infections”.