MycoHerb
Pioneers in Nutritive Mushroom Preparation

Western medicine celebrated the development of the single most valuable botanical of this century, penicillin, obtained in 1928 from a fungus. This spawned the entire class of life-saving antibiotics. There are over 100,000 species within the broad category of fungi, of which the penicillin mold is one, and there are 38,000 species of mushrooms. Clinical research today continues to document the health benefits of select fungi.

These fungi survive and thrive upon the decay of the forest floor through their dual power of self-protection and self-transformation. Over millions of years, mushrooms have successfully adapted to an environment replete with threatening microbial agents by developing natural substances that prevent bacteria and viruses from replicating inside their cells. Unlike other plants that, dazzling green with chlorophyll, synthesize nutrients from the radiant sun, crimson, tawny, and inky mushrooms flourish by a different mechanism.

While plants absorb carbon dioxide and liberate oxygen, mushrooms mimic human respiration, captivating oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide. In keeping with the forest ecology, plants then reuse this carbon dioxide to manufacture their food. By discharging enzymes into the matter upon which they feed, fungi break down complex carbohydrates and proteins into simpler compounds. This process of decomposition enriches the soil and makes essential substances available to plants in a form they can absorb. But unlike humans, who need light and fresh food, mushrooms feed on moist, rotted organic matter in deep shade - they are grand recyclers. Within the body, a few medical mushrooms seem able to transmute metabolic waste and neutralize toxic accumulation without provoking eliminative catharsis as a consequence.

In China, mushrooms are used as part of Fu zheng therapy,that benefits the entire organism In traditional terms these herbs would be said to support defensive Qi, the Wei. In modern language, this translates as herbs that strengthen immunity.

The MycoHerb Story: Pioneers in Mycological Extraction

One of the most dramatic and unusual accomplishments at MycoHerb is the taming of a rare strain of wild Cordyceps sinensis, originating from sites as distant as the Himalayas. This revered fungus, dong chong xia cao, or "winter worm, summer grass," ordinarily only grows upon a particular insect larvae, but has been encouraged over several years to grow on an organic, whole grain substrate.

How do MycoHerb extracts made from the live mycelia and fruiting stages of these fungi differ from the dried varieties found in a traditional Chinese herb shop?

What we recognize as a mushroom is called the "fruiting body," the final stage in the lifecycle that produces the stem, crown, and spores. The spores are encased in a hard shell which makes then indigestible. The mycelium, a dense, complex web of thin threads that gives rise to the fruiting body, is the part of the fungus richest in polysaccharides.

Mushrooms are sensitive, fragile fungi that absorb their medium. Often they grow on logs that have been chemically fertilized, treated with pesticides, and easily contaminated. Because mushrooms suffer damage from weevils and other insects they are treated with fumigants before reaching the marketplace. MycoHerb grows mushrooms on a substrate of organic grain under controlled, hygienic, chemical and yeast- free conditions, harvesting cultures fresh, at the peak of their vigor.

Taste the difference!

Experience the clarity and pure flavor of a MycoHerb product yourself, and compare it to any other. Most other mushroom products use ordinary strains of dried mushrooms that have been grown in sawdust. Greater care is taken in the MycoHerb process: superior strains are cultivated over many years and extracted with advanced technology. The mushrooms are grown until they start fruiting. At this stage of development, the mycelium is the densest and nutrient levels their highest; polysaccharides are peaking at up to 15% of the composition.

A two fold, temperature - specific water and alcohol technology extracts complex sugars like polysaccharides that are soluble in water as well as oils such as triterpenoids and other resins that are soluble in alcohol. Products extracted through both water and alcohol are more nutritionally complete and active.