Dried Organic Maitake Mushroom, Powdered & Liquid Extracts

MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS - MAITAKE

Maitake (Grifola frondosa) - also known as Hen-of-the-Woods and Sheep's Head
Synonyms - Boletus frondosus, Polyporus frondosus

Composition

Polysaccharides such as a-D-glucans and b-D-glucans, grifolan, grifolin-LE, 5¢-nucleotides, octadecanoic acid, octadecadienoic acid, ergosterol, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylserine, and other phopholipids. The most important constituent is the D fraction containing a 1,3 branched 1,6 b-glucan and a 1,6 branched 1,3 b-glucan combined with about 30% protein.

Studies with Rats

Maitake reduced blood pressure and serum cholesterol in studies on rats. A Maitake extract showed Hepatoprotective (liver protecting) effects in hepatitis-induced rats. Genetically diabetic rats had their blood glucose levels lowered when fed Maitake or given a Maitake extract. Tumor-bearing mice had a 86% tumor growth inhibition when fed powdered Maitake, due to the enhancement of macrophages, N-killer cells, and cytotoxic T-cells.

Studies with Humans

Studies have shown Maitake to be effective against breast, prostate, colorectal, lung, stomach, cervical, and hepatocellular (liver) cancers. It has not shown much effectiveness against bone, blood, and brain cancers. Patients with advanced cancer recovered from severe side effects of chemotherapies when given the “D” fraction of Maitake. There have been reports of improvement of patients with Kaposi’s sarcoma and other symptoms of AIDS. Human studies have also shown a mean decrease in blood pressure (14 mm Hg systolic and 8 mm Hg diastolic) in humans. Hepatitis B patients also showed improvement with an extract of Maitake.

Safety

Extremely safe. Because Maitake acts as an immune modulator, it should be avoided or used under the supervision of a health practitioner when the patient has had an organ transplant and is using immunosuppressive agents.