Are you being ripped off by medicinal herb suppliers?
Final week a pal of mine known as me up as a result of she was on the lookout for a sure medicinal mushroom. She had been ordering it from Hong Kong for her aunt due to its medicinal properties; nevertheless, for some purpose, the provider had ceased to export mushrooms to Canada.
The mushroom she was on the lookout for is known as Yun Zhi in China, and my pal was paying round 800$ per bottle for it. Yun Zhi, what’s that? You would possibly suppose that 800$ would possibly pay for a label with a botanical identify on it so individuals exterior of China know what they’re actually shopping for. I needed to cross reference Chinese language mushroom names to scientific names to find that Yun Zhi is actually Trametes versicolor.
My jaw hit the ground. 800$ for Trametes versicolor!!? (Aka. Coriolus versicolor / Turkey Tail). If you’re a mushroom picker, you’ll in all probability be considering both that you just gotta’ begin selecting and promoting these items, or that my pal was being completely ripped off. “Ripped off” as a result of T. versicolor is a typical mushroom in each temperate zone on the planet. If in case you have walked within the forest ever in your life, there’s a half respectable likelihood that you’ve seen this mushroom.improve the 5 12 months survival fee of lung most cancers sufferers by 400%.
I needed to look extra into it. The precise product that my pal was shopping for was a polysaccharide extract. Relying on which mushroom pressure it comes from, these extracts are both known as PSK or PSP, and there may be vital proof for his or her use in most cancers remedy. The literature is intensive; for instance, Robert Rogers guide, The Fungal Pharmacy references legit, peer reviewed research indicating that these extracts “inhibit the proliferation of lymphoma and leukemic cells by apoptosis… “, “restore antibody (IgG) manufacturing in mice with sarcoma 180… “, improve the 5 12 months survival fee of lung most cancers sufferers by 400%, improve the survival charges of colorectal most cancers, gastric most cancers, and breast most cancers sufferers. Rogers additionally writes that there have been not less than 16 papers which have studied the extracts capability to inhibit most cancers cell proliferation, 40 that studied their capability to inhibit tumor development, 13 that studied their capability to counteract the damaging results on the immune system of most cancers remedy, and 24 that confirmed that PSK and PSP improve most cancers affected person survival charges. The well being advantages of those extracts go on.
In any case, 800$!!? About three quarters of T.versicolor is advanced carbohydrates, and the one supply I might discover stating precisely how a lot of it’s PSK or PSP says that the mushroom is normally >40% PSK or PSP. So, we aren’t speaking about some supercharged, concentrated extract, we’re speaking about taking out the, fats (1.7%), protein (11%) (Rogers), fibre, and perhaps the odd undesirable starch or primary sugar, leaving you with near half of the mushroom by dried weight.
The primary retailer of Yun Zhi that pops up on a Google search the place I’m, sells a bottle of 500, 400mg capsules for 550$ This works out to 1248$per pound. Now seeing because the extract is about 50% of the mushroom, that signifies that the unprocessed mushroom could be round 624$ per pound.
I’ll flatly state that that is ridiculous, and that if you’re shopping for this product, you might be being taken benefit of. A typical mushroom that’s simply cultivated as a result of it grows on wooden just isn’t price 600$ a pound. For comparability, Pacific Rim Mushrooms sells dried wild picked morel mushrooms which can’t be commercially cultivated, for 150$ a pound.
What’s the ethical of my story? Know what you might be shopping for. Mushrooms are mysterious, much more so when they’re bought with Chinese language names, so discover out what the botanical or the English identify is with a easy Google search. I did. I needed to discover a inexpensive but dependable supply for Yun Zhi for my pal. After a really brief search, not for Yun Zhi, however for Turkey Tail extract, I discovered a web site that fees 44.96$ for 120 500mg capsules (340$ per pound). That is significantly better. Though, if I personally needed Yun Zhi, I’d merely go for a protracted stroll with a basket in hand.
I even discovered extract from an organization in California for as little as 175$ per pound.
Store round. See what else you’ll find. Clearly the perfect is not essentially the most affordable, however be mindful a pair issues
There isn’t a indication that Asian mushrooms are superior to North American lion’s mane mushroom powder, so for one thing like T. versicolor which grows world large, be at liberty to purchase from Canadian and American growers or pickers.
- Be sure you know if you’re shopping for extract. There’s query as as to if or not the polysaccharides may be digested within the uncooked kind.
- Do you belief the supply? Have you learnt the place it was grown and processed? Are you prepared to pay extra for natural merchandise?
Be certain you are not being taken benefit of. Use your road sense; are their claims of superiority substantiated by a reference, or an excellent clarification? Are they making you afraid to make use of another person’s product simply to affect you to purchase their very own?
There are monumental advantages to mushrooms as medication and meals. A great guide, web site, or native mushroom membership is a superb place to study medicinal mushrooms.