Our ancestors have used mushrooms for thousands of years and have served an integral component of a medicinal practices across diverse cultures. (1).

China serves as the birthplace of Mycotherapy, where medicinal mushrooms have been utilized since time immemorial. They were formally described, systematized, and organized in the first herbal treatise, the Pen Tsao King, written around 200 BCE. Chinese pharmacopeia includes 270 species of medicinal mushrooms, with most of their uses and therapeutic properties outlined in the Compendium of Materia Medica (Pen Tsao Kang Mu) from 1575 (2).

Strangely, knowledge of the therapeutic virtues of mushrooms in the West likely dates back as far as in China. Despite relatively limited knowledge of the therapeutic properties of mushrooms in Europe, occasionally, surprises emerge that challenge the notion that mushrooms were neglected centuries ago. (2)

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, the action of mushrooms is typically gradual, working from the innermost layers to the superficial levels of Qi (vital energy) from the internal organ systems to the conduit bodies/meridians.(3)

Despite this rich historical backdrop, it is only in recent times that modern science has rediscovered and substantiated the profound medicinal potential harboured within mushrooms, validating the ancestral wisdom that has long revered them as potent sources of therapeutic compounds (1).

1. Stamets P, Zwickey H. Medicinal Mushrooms: Ancient Remedies Meet Modern Science. Integr Med (Encinitas). 2014;13(1):46-7.
2. Gavalda J, Portela C. 12 medicinal Mushrooms for your health: Hifas da terra.
3. Aung SK. The clinical use of mushrooms from a Traditional Chinese Medical perspective. Int J Med Mushrooms. 2005;7(3).