Shiitake as a Medicinal Mushroom
In Europe and America, “mushrooms” in a recipe usually refers to button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus), which were first cultivated in France in the 1600’s. In Far East Asia, the equivalent is Shiitake, which has long been the cultivated “food mushroom” of choice. Only in the past few decades has Shiitake become a household name in western cuisine.
Originating in China, wild Shiitake is also commonly known as Black Mushroom and Chinese Mushroom. The name Shiitake comes from the Chinese Shii Tree, which is the most common host tree. But it can also grow on beeches and oaks. The cultivation of Shiitake in China and Japan goes back at least 1000 years.
Although most westerners are now familiar with Shiitake as a food mushroom, few know that it’s also the most researched medicinal mushroom in Asia. As with other medicinal mushrooms, the research has largely focused on applications against cancer, [94] but also on its anti-viral properties. [93]
When it comes to medicinal use of Shiitake, the preferred part to use is the mycelium (the “roots”) not the fruit body (”mushroom”). The mycelium contains a higher concentration of medicinal compounds, some of which may not be found at all in the fruit body.
In fact, the most commonly researched Shiitake extract is known as Lentinula Edodes Mycelia extract, or LEM for short. (Lentinula edodes is the Latin name for Shiitake.) LEM has been reported in various research papers as being anti-bacterial, [98, 99] boosting the immune system, [95, 96, 97] and being anti-tumoral. [100] A study on melanoma found that it killed the mutated melanoma cells but caused no harm to cells that were healthy. [101]
Lentinan is the name of another much researched compound isolated from Shiitake, named after the Latin genus name Lentinula. Lentinan is a polysaccharide that has been found to stimulate the human immune system to combat cancer. [102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110] It is currently used in Asia as an intravenous cancer drug.
When rice is fermented with Shiitake mycelium, another group of medicinal compounds result. Known as arabinoxylanes, these compounds show great promise against viruses. [111, 112, 113]
Two viruses in particular that have been studied with promising results are herpes simplex type 1 [114] and HIV [115, 116, 117]. It should be mentioned, however, that the previously mentioned Lentinan as an isolated compound does not appear to affect HIV replication. [25]
Other studies worth a brief mention have reported positive findings in the use of Shiitake extract to prevent septic shock, [120] and to treat Candida [118] and chronic fatigue syndrome. [119]
And last but not least, in his book Mycelium Running, foremost U.S. medicinal mushroom expert Paul Stamets also lists the following areas where Shiitake has been reported as having a therapeutic effect: Blood sugar; blood pressure; kidney support; cholesterol; liver health; stress; sexual dysfunction; breast cancer; prostate cancer; liver cancer. [134]
Note: The statements on this page have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Never use any herb (or mushroom) except as advised by a licensed medical practitioner.
Credits: Thank you, Paul Stamets, for research references.