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FOOD OF THE WEEK
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A food delicacy with huge medical ramifications!
 
The food with benefits beyond medical comprehension that prevent the weight gain, nutrient depletion, death side effect from the manmade chemical prednisone yet with great natural healing powers just as powerful?
 
Because of it's great qualities a book could be written here about these delicacies, but I will try to hone it down to a rather large article! Studies have been released over the last year giving us the cancer preventing information on mushrooms so it's only fitting that this be our food of the week? It is also the season that mushrooms growing wild in many parts. Because a few wild mushrooms are deadly and many more are mildly poisonous, mushroom hunting is not a hobby for the careless or uninformed. On the other hand, neither is it necessarily the death-defying feat that many people imagine. There are a number of good edible mushrooms that are easy to recognize and hard to confuse with anything dangerously poisonous. (Poisonous mushrooms are often referred to as "toadstools," but this is a folk name that has no precise meaning. In this article, they will be called simply poisonous mushrooms.)
 
Because there are a myriad of mushrooms I am going to focus on my favorite of the mushroom world; Reishi. Their rich, smoky flavor have also endeared them to American taste buds and these exotic hearty mushrooms can now be found in supermarket shelves across the U.S. throughout the year. If your local store does not carry fresh reishi mushrooms, investigate the Asian food stores in your area as they oftentimes carry these specialty mushrooms.
 
Like other mushrooms, these specialty mushrooms are as mysteriously unique as they are delicious. While often thought of as a vegetable and prepared like one, mushrooms are actually a fungus, a special type of living organism that has no roots, leaves, flowers or seeds.
 
Reishi is the Japanese name for the Ganoderma family of mushrooms. In Chinese, they are called "ling-zhi." Reishi is a large, dark, mushroom with a glossy exterior. In traditional Chinese medicine, Reishi is in the most highly rated herb category in terms of multiple benefits, used as a medicinal herb, absent of side effects.
 
There are 6 different types of Reishi differentiated only by color: red, purple, blue, yellow, black, white, recorded in Chinese pharmacopoeia, are actually one species grown under different conditions.
 
 

History;

Reischi is believed to have been known since at least the reign of "Fuxi", a legendary ruler of that time known also as the first of the Three August Ones.
 
Seng Nong, the Holy farmer, who was the second of the Three August Ones, is said to have discovered the curative virtues of plants by tasting hundreds of species. "Seng Nong's Herbal Classic" is considered to be the earliest manuscript on Chinese materia medica and is still today the foundation of Traditional Chinese Medicine and in general all Oriental Medicine.
 
Reishi also contains ergosterols, complete proteins, unsaturated fatty acids, vitamins and minerals.
 
6 species of Ling-zhi, differentiated by colors, are mentioned in the Seng Nong classic. Li Shi Zhen, a famous medical scholar in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) introduced the indications of the 6 species concretely. The work of the latter was republished in 1956, and translated into several foreign languages including Japanese, English, French, German, Russian and Latin and is regarded as the cornerstone of Traditional Chinese medicine.
 
Today, an estimated 4,300 tons of reischi/ling-zhi is produced yearly in the world, with China producing 3,000 tons followed by Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, USA, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
 
Reishi, known in China as an "elixir of immortality," has been used for more than 3,000 years to rev up the immune system and heal chronic inflammatory conditions. Dozens of preliminary studies support its anti-inflammatory properties. One Chinese study found
that of the more than 2,000 people with chronic bronchitis who took reishi syrup for two weeks, 60% to 90% said they felt better.  (Reishi syrup is a long drawn out process.)
 
Reishi is the Prednisone of foods!
 
Prednisone, the corticosteroid used to treat a variety of inflammatory ailments -- arthritis, asthma, colitis and some cancers -- and to prevent rejection of transplanted organs. Its nasty side effects - from a swollen "moon face" to increased infections - are legendary. But what many people don't know is that this medicinal reishe mushroom could, in some cases, do as good a job without wreaking the prednisone havoc on the body.

The best part - its side effects are as minimal as those you might have from taking a placebo. The side effects, if any, will be less than one-quarter of those you might have with prednisone -- and the cost is less than one-tenth that of a drug prescription.
 
Medicinal Preparation in early times consisted of a long process of boiling the mushrooms for hours or let them soak in alcohol for weeks so as to be able to drink them after the ingredients were dissolved.

While prednisone has its place for short-term life-threatening conditions, it may save your life. But if you have an ongoing inflammatory condition, reishi may be the best first line of treatment. Recently, researchers at Shanghai Medical University, Shanghai Tumor Hospital, and Shanghai Chung San Hospital have independently isolated from the Reishi mushroom a few species of polysaccharides which have subsequently been shown in clinical studies to have anti-tumor activities.
 
Reishi has also been shown to exert:
*A positive effects in treatment of insomnia
*Preventive effects against high altitude sickness
*Cholesterol -lowering effects
*Therapeutic effects in chronic hepatitis
* Interrupt cancer cell growth
 
Available in some grocery stores and health-food stores, in its natural form or found in powder form, as well as, elixir, capsules and tablets. All observations show that Reishi has no side effects and can be consumed in high dosages and in parallel with other medications. Its main properties are the cleansing of blood, enhancement of the immune system and the lessening of nervous tension. These properties are conducive to normalizing and balancing the body and as a result preempt cure a multitude of diseases from within.
 
Tips for Preparing Mushrooms:
 
Mushrooms are very porous, so if they are exposed to too much water they will quickly absorb it and become soggy. Therefore, the best way to clean mushrooms without sacrificing their texture and taste is to clean them using minimal, if any, water. To do this, simply wipe them with a slightly damp paper towel or kitchen cloth. You could also use a mushroom brush, available at most kitchenware stores.
 
If the fresh mushrooms become dried out because of being stored for too long, soak them in water for thirty minutes.
 
Our favorite way of eating is sauteed alone or with stir fry vegetables and rice or in miso soup.
 
I simply clean, slice and saute' in butter flavored virgin olive oil. Or a handful in soups and casseroles.
 
For each two cups of sliced mushrooms use 1 Tablespoon of virgin olive oil (I do not use margarine for anything because of its poisonous fat and chemicals). Heat olive oil add mushrooms and saute' stirring until cooked (about 3 - 5 minutes). Add a dash of Bragg's Liquid Aminos for added flavor just before removing from heat. Serve with other stir fried vegetables over rice or alone over rice.
 
Enjoy our healthy shroom!
Lena

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 HEALTH TODAY
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