I was up north all weekend in Haliburton on a David Wolfe retreat. David Wolfe is the worlds leading authority on raw food nutrition. He did a lecture on Saturday then he led a nature walk through the private property we all stayed on.  David's big thing nowadays is medicinal mushrooms. HE explains that medicinal mushrooms are the worlds best immune system builders, besides the most obvious options for immune systems enhancers such as aged garlic, echinacea, or neem.

Side Note: Did you also know that Neem oil can remove ALL the plaque on your teeth? Dentists are you listening? You can create your own neem oil line and sell it to your patients ! Read more about neem here.

Back on Topic
There are two kinds of mushrooms
 1.) the ones that grow on trees or dead logs
 2.) the ones that grow on the ground

He explains we can eat all the mushrooms grown on trees except for the ones that glow in the dark. And you can not consume any mushroom that grow on the ground. I believe many of the ones that grow on the ground are poisonous.


He also explains that medicinal mushrooms are some of the best anti candida, anti fungal products on the market, next to pau darco, horsetail and cats claw, and it is a fallacy that you cannot consume mushrooms if you have fungal problems. He said the mushrooms that grow on trees are not similar to the ones that grow on the ground in terms of their healing properties. However, people with fungal problems should avoid consuming mushrooms that grow on the ground. The kinds of mushrooms found on trees that you can consume are:

1.) reishi
2.) chaga
3.) maitake
4.) shiitake


David as well as many health experts feel that for any chronic condition including cancer, taking medicinal mushrooms daily is a must DO. He says that these mushrooms will rebuild your immune system back to optimal efficiency, if you can be consistent and persistent and take it daily. Once that occurs we can be so healthy as to laugh at swine flu, bird flu, sars, and lama flu (did that one come out yet?) or any other barn yard animal that might get us. Not to mention if we do get sick then our recovery time is going to be so much better, and faster. For the individual benefits of each mushroom click on the text of the mushroom you wish to know about above.

Where can we purchase these medicinal mushrooms? In health food stores the prices are exuberant, and deflate anyones desire for better health. Did you know that you can get a box full of reishi mushroom in Toronto for the fraction of the price in health food stores, and it will last you months?

You can purchase them at the Herb Depot on Spadina in Toronto. All you have to do is brew it as a tea. Chaga can be found on any birch tree, thats where they grow. So if you can find birch then you can find free chaga.  You can easily find a years worth of chaga on birch! On the retreat during the walk with David Wolfe they located chaga on a birch about the size of a watermelon. We all ripped pieces off of it and ate it. I am going up to a friends property this weekend to pick chaga off his birchtrees! To see what chaga looks like go to the chaga link above. Shiitake and maitake can be bought fresh and whole at farmers markets for the fraction of the price at healh food stores, as well.

But for the lazy type that must have the pricey supplement , then a really good one is Host Defense by New Chapters.

Related Articles: The Food Source That Has All 99 Minerals the Body Needs

Lindsay Tietz, BSc, HD
Owner Intention to Heal
Homeopathic Medicine Practitioner and Holistic Nutrition Expert
Proudly Serving The Toronto Danforth Area Directly 

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