The abundance of delicious forest mushrooms is a distinctive feature of Russia. But among them there are medicinal mushrooms, which have long been used in folk medicine. The industry cultivates the cultivation of such fruit bodies to obtain special healing substances. Trials of fungi against cancerous tumors continue.
Types of medicinal mushrooms
Photos and names of mushrooms
Types of medicinal mushrooms
Medicinal mushrooms are a conditional group. It includes species that are used to obtain substances beneficial to the body. The medicinal mushroom is not always edible, but it can be applied externally or in the form of tinctures. The direction in medicine, in which they are treated with drugs based on mushrooms, is called fungotherapy.
Types of medicinal mushrooms growing in Russia:
- smelly morel;
- oyster mushroom;
- giant head;
- pear-shaped raincoat;
- combed hedgehog;
- common chanterelle;
- mushroom;
- porcini;
- Polish mushroom;
- meadow champignon;
- matsutake;
- the row is gray;
- autumn honey agaric.
Cultivating and using inedible mushrooms on your own is extremely dangerous. Wrong technology is fraught with severe poisoning. Medicinal but inedible include:
- fly agaric;
- birch tinder fungus;
- chaga;
- hygrometric star gear;
- the pig is thin;
- honey mushroom is red-yellow.
The medicinal properties of a number of mushrooms are being used in research against oncology. Tests on the absorption of radioactive radiation by the fruiting bodies of fungi are carried out. At this stage, information on the effectiveness of forest gifts against cancer is only partially confirmed.
Mushroom preparations in traditional medicine
The production of medicines from mushrooms is popular in oriental medicine. The leader is Chinese production. Also, local authorities are developing non-traditional (mushroom) medicine in Vietnam.
Medicinal mushrooms contain substances with beneficial properties:
- Oyster mushroom: a source of digestible protein for diabetics.
- Giant bighead: its spores are used to obtain calvacin against blastoma and sarcoma.
- Pear-shaped raincoat: in the fruiting bodies of the species there are substances with a cytostatic (slowing down cell division) effect.
- Chanterelles: contains a natural anthelmintic agent, and is also a natural way to cleanse the intestines from toxins.
- Ryzhiki: lactrioviolin, isolated from these mushrooms, is considered an antibacterial agent that suppresses viruses and bacteria (there is evidence of tuberculosis).
- Porcini: extracts obtained on the basis of this mushroom tone the skin, they are used for frostbite.
The most valuable from the point of view of oriental medicine is crested hedgehog... In medicinal mushrooms of the species there are substances that help not only to strengthen the immune system, but also to stimulate the growth of nerve cells. An antiseptic is obtained from a barnacle and atrophic gastritis is treated.The species looks like a hedgehog due to the characteristic needle-like hymenophore. In natural conditions, it is rare, is on the verge of extinction, but it is cultivated industrially and at home.
Polypore has antiseptic properties
Of birch tinder fungus get useful substances that:
- have the potential to fight cancer (polysaccharides);
- used as an antiseptic (powder powder);
- fight against ulcers (extracts or extract);
- cleanse the gastrointestinal tract, promote weight loss (cooked pulp, food supplements based on the fruit).
Tinder-like chaga used as an antineoplastic agent. It looks like a black growth on the bark of a deciduous tree - birch. Hard to the touch, brown flesh inside. Chaga relieves inflammation, is a part of medicinal herbal teas.
Scientific use fly agaric not proven. However, it is used at your own peril and risk in folk recipes, making tinctures on its basis for external use.
The Chinese doctrine of health is applicable to hygrometric starlet. The species grows in the territory of the Russian Federation, but rarely, mainly in the East. It looks like a plant with 5 petals and a flower-core head. The color is marsh or gray-brown.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
Due to the presence of a special polysaccharide (AE2) in it, the ethyl extract of the star's beetle hygrometric is capable of:
- stop the growth of cancer cells of different lines;
- stimulate the growth and development of a specialized group of lymphocytes - macrophages, which have the ability to phagocytosis (absorption of solid particles);
- stimulate the growth and development of bone marrow cells;
- show a powerful anti-inflammatory effect comparable to that of diclofenac;
- maintain general immunostimulation.
For medical purposes, young and mature (opened with the formation of "legs" and a central "sac") fruiting bodies are used. Young mushrooms are used to prepare tinctures, while mature ones use the contents of the "bag" - the spore mass is used to make ointments.
The essence of treatment with a starfish based on Chinese teachings is to stop the blood and treat external wounds with raw, crushed fruit bodies. This mushroom removes the effects of frostbite, old scars are treated with it. An ointment against burns is prepared from spore powder. The active steroid substances isolated from its fresh fruit bodies have high biological activity.
Ethyl extracts from the pulp of the species stimulate the growth of nerve cells and immunity, and also improve brain function.
In medicinal Polish mushrooms there is theanine, which possesses:
- calming effect;
- the ability to lower blood pressure;
- the ability to reduce weight;
- inhibitory action against caffeine.
Of chemical compounds autumn mushroom synthesized a drug against eclampsia. This disease can occur during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. It is characterized by such high pressure that there is an immediate threat to the health of the mother and child.
The use of an aqueous extract from autumn honey agaric is being developed to saturate the body with oxygen. Protein is obtained from the cords of mycelium (rhizomorphs), which is used to make dietary bread for diabetic patients. Honey mushrooms themselves are a dietary product.
Meadow mushrooms are rich in agaridoxin, a potent antibiotic. Extracts from fruit bodies are used in the treatment of festering wounds, tuberculosis, typhoid. The mushroom pulp contains folic acid, which is useful for the reproductive system of women.
Anticancer agents that inhibit the growth of malignant cells are found in fruiting bodies:
- matsutake;
- rows of gray;
- honey mushroom red-yellow;
- thin pig;
- fragrant talkers;
- soiling the cobweb;
- russula (golden, blood red, marsh, sardonyx);
- leafy tremors;
- ryadovok (sulfur-yellow, scorched).
Most of the research dates back to 1970-1980, but their truth or fallacy is still being proven. Substances obtained from mushrooms are analyzed and tested on several generations of experimental animals.
Folk recipes
Mushroom tinctures are popular
The household use of tinctures, ointments, extracts based on mushrooms is considered to be folk methods. The effectiveness of science has not been proven, but the funds are in demand among the population.
In folk medicine, autumn honey is used as a remedy for migraines. An ointment made from it is considered a good remedy for joints. Tinctures of smelly morel are used for abdominal pain, they treat gout and kidney disease.
Amanita muscaria preparations are a remedy against parasites, viruses and bacteria. The poisonous fruiting body supplements the diet of elk, bears and squirrels. A scientific explanation for this fact has not yet been found.
Various tinctures from birch tinder fungus are popularly used as a means capable of:
- reduce appetite;
- cleanse the body by removing fluids and toxins;
- strengthen immunity during the cold season;
- be a natural antidepressant.
An ointment based on pork interior fat is prepared from chaga. It is used to treat burns and open wounds. The base of the ointment is an infusion of vodka (1:10 alcohol component). The infusion is added to a water bath to the fat, melted, stirred until smooth and only then cooled.
Common chanterelles are dried in the sun or ground into powder. Then 20 g of raw materials are poured with 100 ml of alcohol and insisted in a dark place for 2 weeks. To strengthen the immune system, drink 5 ml before breakfast for 3 weeks.
Contraindications for use
Medicinal mushrooms are used only as an additional course or food supplement during the course of treatment. It is impossible to treat chronic diseases, acute conditions, serious illnesses without traditional therapy with folk methods and fugno therapy.
Before starting the course, a consultation with a specialized doctor is required. You cannot take foreign food additives with mushrooms on your own if you are not sure about the composition. Also fugnotherapy is contraindicated:
- children;
- pregnant and lactating women;
- To old people;
- people with diseases of the stomach, intestines, heart, nervous system;
- allergy sufferers.
Negative symptoms are a sign of drug resistance. If they appear, you must immediately stop using and consult a doctor.
Conclusion
Now mushrooms are cultivated not only for use in cooking. Some types of tinder fungus and cordyceps are grown abroad only for medical purposes. In Russia, traditional medicine is more common, which uses many types of edible fruit bodies of mushrooms.