The secret life of mushrooms and their healing power

The secret life of mushrooms and their healing power

There's more to it than meets the eye

As a human being, what do you imagine when you think of something “like you”?

In 2000, Dr. Michael Hathaway, professor of anthropology at Simon Fraser University, with elephants. He conducted anthropological research in a village in southern China where people and animals shared a rainforest.

The elephants were powerful, with complex social dynamics and behaviors that evolved over time. They rebelled against the help of a local conservation project that was supposed to protect them. The elephants were also big fans of rice. Many turned down plentiful food in the forest to face villagers banging pots and pans and trying to protect their rice fields from their thick-skinned neighbors.

Years later, Hathaway challenged the human-centered dogma of anthropology and wrote a piece in which he viewed these elephants as agentic beings who had the power to shape their own lives. From there his research was limited to mushrooms. Although more understated than rice-hungry elephants, could mushrooms also be seen as agents that influence their own world? And as we learn more about the incredible potential of mushrooms to benefit our health and our environment, how can we ensure we use them sustainably?

What do we have in common with mushrooms?

More than you might think. Mushrooms breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. Their skin is made of chitin, the same material found in the hard shell of a beetle or the scales of a fish. They decide whether, when and where to germinate, and plant-dependent spores decide which plant to fuse with. Mushrooms will actively search for their food and carnivorous fungi will even use special methods to search for nematodes. When faced with a multiple-choice decision, a mushroom doesn't always follow the same path.

“We can learn a lot from mushrooms,” says Yarrow Willard, a clinical herbalist. “Their mycelial networks share information and space with each other more freely than we humans often do.”

Hathaway agrees. “Mushrooms have relationships,” he says. “A human-centered perspective on life will always limit our understanding of the world around us.”

In 2010, when oats were arranged in the pattern of Japanese cities around Tokyo, a fungus-like mold built a network of nutrient sewer pipes that engineers thought was more efficient than the layout of Japan's rail system.

Fungi play a role in environmental transformation

Building on their complex manifestations in the world, fungi play a crucial role in ecosystems: they are strong decomposers. Scientists have found that enzymes in fungi can break down toxins in water, including in wastewater treatment plants, and eliminate toxins in soil. Mycelial fungi can also neutralize endocrine-disrupting plastics found in many commercial and industrial products, preventing them from entering the environment and the human body.

These properties mean that mushrooms offer opportunities for radical redesign. In 2018, a group of University of British Columbia students won first place in a biology design challenge for the creation of a mycelium-based single toilet that they designed for use in refugee camps.

The reason we don't hear more about mushrooms' potential to change our environment so radically is because of challenges related to consumer awareness, says Willard. “We need to demand government laws – for example, taxing waste streams – that provide a financial incentive for large companies to get on board,” he says. “In the meantime, mycelium waste remediation is an excellent option for the small farmer.”

Seeing with new eyes is good for mushrooms and for our world

The first step to appreciating the hidden life of fungi is to think more deeply about the unique role they play in ecosystems.

“When we view fungi as world-changing organisms, we gain a new appreciation for the network of fungi, plants, bacteria and animals that depend on their existence,” says Hathaway.

Of course, this new perspective on mushrooms may be in tension with our desire to reap their positive benefits. Is it possible to reconcile this, and if so, how?

Hathaway says one answer lies in First Nations principles of reverence, humility and reciprocity. These principles celebrate the social, ecological and spiritual interconnectedness between humans, animals and spirit. When you practice them, you take only what you need, know how to take it, and value what you have been given to ensure that future generations are not put in harm's way.

“When you approach a mushroom, be curious about its vibrancy,” says Hathaway. “Imagine its aliveness as important as our own, in ways more complex than we can imagine.”

In Switzerland, the national constitution protects the “dignity of all living things” – including plants.

The healing power of mushrooms

To support strong immune function, especially during a global health crisis, clinical herbalist Yarrow Willard recommends using a blend of three to five mushrooms. Here are his top five tips.

• Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) kann dazu beitragen, unsere Abwehrkräfte gegen Viren und Bakterien aufzubauen und das Wachstum von Krebszellen zu unterdrücken.
• Cordyceps (Cordyceps sinensis) wird verwendet, um das Immunsystem zu stärken, die aerobe Ausdauer zu erhöhen und die Atmungsfunktion zu verbessern.
• Löwenmähne (Hericium erinaceus) fördert die gesunde Nerven- und Nervenfunktion und lindert gleichzeitig Angstzustände und Depressionen.
• Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) wird verwendet, um das Energieniveau zu erhöhen und die Heilung zu unterstützen.
• Der Truthahnschwanz (Coriolus versicolor) kann die Reaktion unseres Körpers auf oxidativen Stress beruhigen und vor neurodegenerativen Erkrankungen schützen.

What is mycelium?

Mycelium is the root system of a fungus that collects and absorbs nutrients, while the fruiting bodies of the mycelium are what we call mushrooms.

Ethical harvesting practices

If you take a mushroom supplement, be sure to choose an ethical supplier. When it comes to revered Chaga mushrooms, for example, large-scale commercial harvesting would quickly decimate native populations. Willard's plant medicine company uses chaga extract from Siberia, where producers designate and protect large areas of forest for chaga cultivation.

While Willard encourages learning more about mushrooms, he is concerned that the newfound popularity of mushroom hunting is leading to inappropriate harvesting practices. To avoid damage to trees and delicate forest ecosystems, foragers should only harvest the fruiting body of the fungus and leave the bark layer intact. Willard also recommends growing some varieties of mushrooms at home, using old coffee grounds as a base.

“Mushrooms are regenerative and that’s a great metaphor for how we can live our own lives,” says Willard. “How do we take our waste and turn it into something valuable?”