While many wellness influencers on Instagram are whipping up adaptogenic lattes chock-full of chaga and touting the benefits of mushrooms (with the added benefit of the #aesthetic for the ’gram), not many are considering what happens when the body consumes too much of anything—even the good things.
Used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine (certain mushrooms have been prescribed since the 1980s as adjunctive therapy for cancer patients in Japan under the name Krestin!), mushrooms are able to detect when things aren’t quite right in the body, then report back to the rest of the body to remain on high alert. Essentially, they behave as your body’s neighborhood watch.
These superfoods (rather, super-fungi) are chock-full of triterpenes, beta-glucans, and mushroom-specific compounds that can reverse harmful DNA transcription (helpful for combatting cancers and viruses), support myelin sheath formation (helpful in memory and cognition), inhibit cancerous and tumorous cell growth, promote tissue repair (great for anyone physically active), lower cholesterol, and of course, enhance the body’s immunity.
Interestingly, mushrooms enhance immunity through microaggressions on the immune system that prompt inflammation; the body recognizes the beta-glucans, terpenes, and other compounds as foreigners to be on guard for. It’s the exact same way the immune system is activated by bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other pathogens.
Inflammation is a good thing—it’s what activates the immune cells to fight off pathogens and/or remove damaged cells/debris. Inflammation is what recruits immune cells and blood flow which can help repair sites of injury.
What do mushrooms have to do with inflammation?
Special molecular bonds in the mushroom cell walls called beta glucans are recognized by immune cells and trigger an inflammatory response. When dosed correctly, all is well; however, an overactive immune system can cause more harm than good; chronic “overdoing” of immune boosting can negatively impact the immune system through chronic inflammation.
This immune overactivity isn’t something you’d tangibly notice on a day-by-day (or even week-by-week) basis; it tends to be a degradation of the body’s internal defense systems over time, as researchers and doctors are finding evident across multiple health problems in later age.
So what happens when the neighborhood watch is overactive – when chronic inflammation pervades the body?
Studies are continuing to find that excess inflammation destabilizes cholesterol deposits in the coronary arteries, leading to heart attacks and potentially even strokes. It chews up nerve cells in the brains of Alzheimer’s victims. It may even foster the proliferation of abnormal cells and facilitate their transformation into cancer. In other words, chronic inflammation may be the engine that drives many of the most feared illnesses of middle and old age (source: Time).
And this is why too many mushrooms can actually be a bad thing; just like any other supplement, they should be taken in balance with what’s right for your body. Mushroom Design’s founders recognized this when they started taking medicinal mushrooms on a daily basis—and in massive amounts that are actually marketed as the standard serving in the health food industry (they were putting a scoop in their coffee daily).
“My blood markers came back so off during my annual test that the nurse quite literally told me I could potentially have blood cancer, as everything else was completely normal,” cofounder Ashley says, “I was absolutely terrified—and even more worried when the hematologist had no answer either.”
It was only when her primary physician suggested she completely stop taking the mushroom supplements that the blood markers returned to normal.
“What was most terrifying of all was that I didn’t feel bad or as though anything was wrong – so if I was not constantly on top of my annual exams, I wouldn’t have noticed this at all.”
Knowing how beneficial medicinal mushrooms are, Mushroom Design’s founders decided to create a supplement that was dosed for daily immune support—but not immune stress—and to change the way mushrooms are so “overdosed.” The 9 medicinal mushrooms are combined with 9 essential daily vitamins for a vegan-friendly supplement that supports everyday well-being.
To learn more about Mushroom Design, visit www.mushroomdesign.com
