herbalchemy

MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS & LICHEN   Some of the most potent herb medicines come from medicinal mushrooms & algae; I use many of these in my work as a herbalist, combining them with other herbs depending on the individual and the condition treated. My favourite fungi include:  Cordyceps (from Tibet), Coriolus (turkey tail fungus) & Reishi ganoderma. My favourite lichen is Usnea Longissima which I use as a main ingredient in my immune formula Usnea Gold.

 

CORDYCEPS SINENSIS (Dong Chong Xia Cao)

Highly valued in Chinese herbalism since 250 BC, cordyceps was used excusively in the Emperor's court as an aphrodisiac tonic (The Classic of the Divine Farmer - circa 200 AD).

Cordyceps is used traditionally to support both lungs and adrenals; a modern application of this herb exemplified this historical use when a Chinese sports coach confessed to using it with his athletics team who subsequently broke no less than nine world records in the 1993 Chinese National Games.

Aknowledgements: Herbal Roots 2004 - The Newsletter of the URHP

COREOLUS VERSICOLOR ('turkey tail fungus)

Early work on the anti cancer properties of mushrooms led researchers to the realisation that even commonly used edible mushrooms such as Shitake, taken in high medicinal doses for prolonged periods, could lead to a certain degree of toxicity*; whereas coreolus was found to be more effective with fewer side effects.

In the 1970's active ingredients of coreolus were used in the manufacture of such anti-cancer drugs as PSK and Krestin.

Aknowledgements: Mycology News, Volume 1, Edition 3.

* Translation of Cancer Immunotherapy, 1977, Tokyo Metropolitan Komagome Hospital.

REISHI GANODERMA ('The Mushroom of Immortality')

The use of Reishi Mushrooms in Chinese Herbal Medicine dates back approximately four thousand years.

The first herbal paper on longevity was written on Reishi, a mushroom known in China as 'tens of thousand years fungus'.

Research on reishi has shown it to have anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-oxidant and anti-tumour properties, it has also been found useful in the treatment of lung conditions such as asthma and bronchitis.

Aknowledgements: Hobbs, Christopher - Medicinal Mushrooms, Botanica Press. 1986

 GINSENGS

TIENCHI: (San Qi -Radix Notoginseng)

Another herb from the South West of China is Tienchi, sometimes known as SanQi (or ‘Blood ginseng’).

Tienchi is an anti-inflammatory herb, which promotes and regulates circulation, it is quite specific for blood clotting, bruises and acute bleeding, so much so that it is the major ingredient in the Chinese formula ‘yunnan bai yao’ used in both powder and liquid forms to treat gunshot and stab wounds and general injuries involving trauma.

Tienchi is considered to be the richest of the ginsengs in ginsenosides and is specific for the heart, liver, stomach and colon. As with other ginsengs, Tienchi can vary greatly in quality, is becoming quite rare and is often falsified. Best quality Tienchi is often a rich, black colour, although boot polish might be used, by indiscriminate dealers, to improve the look of low-grade roots.