“In the primordial soup of the creation of life — in the proto-ocean, perhaps a billion years ago — lived the predecessors of (single-celled) fungi. The history of life on Earth is, in the fullest sense, their history too: without fungi life could neither emerge nor be sustained or developed.

Only fungi and bacteria break down the organic matter of dead plants and animal into inorganic matter. They are, therefore, the eldest of ecologists. Without them there would be no humus; no fertile, cultivatable soil. Our daily bread, wine and beer would not be possible without yeast. And in our modern times fungi, which make up the third great kingdom, alongside the plant and animal kingdoms, continue to grow in significance in agriculture, industry, medicine..

The production of medications in the modern world is unthinkable without the lower fungi, moulds in particular – including penicillin and many other antibiotics. On the other hand, the medicinal qualities of some of the higher fungi, above all those of the class Basidiomycetes, and the possibilities of their medicinal application, remain a virtually unknown territory to official pharmacology and Western medicine.

While phytotherapy, scientifically tested, has long been recognized, and is even back in fashion, mycotherapy – taken in its broadest sense as the empirically and scientifically founded practice of preserving human health, the prevention of the emergence and development of disease, and direct expert healing using fungi and fungal products, especially of diseases that official medicine is not even close to resolving (malignant, viral, chronic…) – continues to face anonymity, suspicion, fear and disbelief.

And yet, behind the knowledge and use of the medicinal qualities of some types of mushrooms, there are thousands of years of experience of traditional medicine, thousands of cases of precise scientific research, published clinical and other experts’ works, hundreds of patents and a number of registered medications (e.g. in Japan, lentinan and PSK have been registered cancer fighting medications since the mid 1980s and are, in terms of market placement, among the top 10 anti-tumor preparations on that market, with sales in excess of 400 million dollars a year). Far from the charlatanic negation of the customary preparations and methods of medical science, the mycological segments of traditional medicine and modern scientific research seriously and responsibly collaborate and contribute to the struggle for healthier human life, both of the individual and the community.

Mushrooms contain both antibiotics and immunostimulants, substances effective in combating tumors and viruses, substances that reduce cholesterol, prevent the clotting of blood vessels, regulate blood pressure, improve blood flow, balance blood sugar levels, regulate digestion, improve the work of respiratory organs, act as anti-rheumatics and anti-allergic, stimulate or calm the central nervous system in a harmless fashion, improve sexual function, improve physical strength and endurance, slow the ageing process…

The ancient knowledge of these qualities of mushrooms and the thousand year tradition and experience in their use have been reviewed and tested by numerous teams of eminent scientists using modern research methods, for at least fifty years, nowadays applying the cutting edge of technology.”

-Ivan Jakopovich, PhD., renowned mycotherapy expert and researcher