Advisory Centre

For serious health problems, it’s advisable to consult an expert, who understands the effects of medicinal mushrooms – see Distributors. For less serious health problems or in the case of preventive use, you can choose a product yourself according to its description – see Herbarium or see Effects.

Gelatin capsules are of animal origin, vegetables capsules are made from cellulose. We have started to offer products packaged in  vegetable capsules to people who don’t want to eat meat or other animal products (vegans).

We don’t see any practical difference in use. Theoretically, gelatin capsules are better absorbed, but  this difference isn’t significant in practice.

Extracts can also&nbspbe poured out of the capsules easily and dissolved for example, in water.

It’s a common procedure of processing medicinal mushrooms. First, extraction is done with hot water and  because some substances are not water-soluble (e.g. triterpenes) in Reishi), a second "extraction" is performed with alcohol, the so-called condensation with alcohol.

Yes, and it’s very suitable. This increases their efficiency in particular  by strengthening the immune system. However, you need to choose according to your problem’s symptoms. In our doctor’s office, we often combine for example Cordyceps CS-4 (2cps in the morning) and Reishi (2cps in the evening). If you’re not sure, use our Advisory centre.

Yes, this is very suitable. For example, it’s great to perform preventive "mushroom treatments" every year for about three months. Especially for people at risk (oncological diseases in the family or you experienced an oncological disease yourself, etc.) or weakened people (long-term stress, overworked people, chronic diseases).

These mechanisms haven’t yet been fully described by Western science, however, we  can apparently see these effects in practice. There are a number of studies, which confirm both their stimulating and their reducing effects. Therefore, we can use them both in case of a weakened immune system and in the case of  problems such as allergies or autoimmune diseases.

Cancer is a very fast and aggressive disease. This is why Western medicine has developed relatively drastic treatment systems – chemotherapy and radiotherapy. It’s an attempt to eliminate cancerous growth by means of toxic substances or radioactivity, which is actually a great idea. The problem is that healthy cells are destroyed together with the cancerous cells. And this leads to an already weakened organism being weakened further (weakening Zheng Qi according to Chinese medicine). Therefore, the side effects of this treatment are fatigue, hair loss, nausea. And this is why cancers often recurs.

Using common herbs, we could alleviate these negative side effects. However, there is a risk of weakening the positive effects of chemotherapy or radiotherapy as well. And of course we don’t want that.

Therefore, it’s suitable to use medicinal mushrooms. They will support the immune system, strengthen the body for the further fight, and at the same time actively reduce multiplication or growth of cancer cells. And  on the other hand, they won’t weaken the effects of chemotherapy or radiotherapy. These attributes of medicinal mushrooms have been demonstrated by many scientific studies and also in many cases of clinical practice.

Recently, there have been many articles about the harmfulness of chemotherapy. About the reality, when patients aren’t destroyed by cancer, but by weakening their organism as a result of the drastic conventional treatment. In our opinion, the truth is somewhere in the middle.

This is why we think that synergic use of both drastic conventional treatment and mycotherapy, which harmonises the human organism, is meaningful. 

Complexes of polysaccharides are among the main active ingredients and for this reason people use medicinal mushrooms. Therefore, the optimal percentage of polysaccharides is important and every good producer should indicate it for each product. 

It’s important to mention that in addition to polysaccharides, mushrooms contain many other active substances. And this unique ratio is what differentiates the effects of one mushroom from the effects of another. This is why Reishi better harmonises the psyche and Coriolus destroys HPV more efficiently. And also products with higher concentrations may have their justification. For example, 73% betaglucan BIOcell is used  for acute conditions (virosis, colds, etc.)

 

Mushroom powder/biomass contains 0.5 to 3% polysaccharides, depending on the mushroom. Our extracts contain 30 % polysaccharides (except for Coriolus, which contains 40%). I.e. they are up to 30 times more concentrated than mushroom powder.
The polysaccharide content is the highest in the first ten days of mushroom growth. That’s why we use younger mushrooms for our production (for example in case of Reishi 6-9 months), because they have a high content of polysaccharides. If the mushroom is older, the price-performance ratio isn’t optimal - mushroom growing is cheaper, if you use older ones, because they’re heavier – you’ll have more weight for less money, but their quality will be much lower (less polysaccharides). 

So if you have an extract 1:10 of old mushrooms, their quality (efficiency) may be lower than in case of an extract 1:5 from young mushrooms. So concentration in medicinal mushrooms has no information value.

Some companies do tricks with mushrooms: they use starch to process polysaccharides. As starch is also a polysaccharide, it isn’t possible to identifiy it among other polysaccharides. We don’t use starch in MycoMedica products – all batches are tested for the amount of fungal polysaccharides in an independent German laboratory.

This is very individual. Some patients report improvement after a few days of use. On average,  significant improvements appear after two to three months of use in the case of chronic diseases. A general guideline of Chinese medicine says: "How many years the disease lasts, is how many months it takes to be cured." It’s important to also try and adjust your diet and overall lifestyle (if necessary).

We haven’t noticed any significant side effects in our practice nor in our colleagues' experience. Various clinical trials are still underway, but they don’t report any significant side effects with regard to medicinal mushrooms.

However, as our extracts are strong, mild digestive problems are sometimes reported in patients with  weakened digestion. E.g. softer stools, flatulence and pressure around the stomach. Usually, you can decrease the dosage in the first days of use and these problems will disappear. Or eat some light food after eating the mushrooms.

It’s recommended to eat the mushrooms “on an empty stomach”. The minimum interval is 30 minutes before a meal or 60 minutes after a meal. This means that you don’t have to eat mushrooms strictly before breakfast, but perhaps an hour after it.

MycoMedica products are made of extracts from medicinal mushrooms. Our suppliers use special hot water extraction procedures to preserve the full spectrum of the active ingredients found in  a raw mushroom. 

There are two benefits of the extract - the active substances’ bioavailability and  their higher concentration in the final product. The advantage of the fungal powder is its naturalness and maintaining the proportion of all substances. On the other hand, people don’t use medicinal mushrooms for the vitamins, but more so because of the polysaccharides. The cell wall of the mushroom, which contains the active substances, is composed of chitin. And  as humans don’t have the necessary enzymes for digesting chitin, they can’t release the active substances from the cell wall of the mushroom  during digestion and their organism discharges them.

Extraction using hot water can break the chitin barrier and extract the maximum amount of the effective substances from the mushroom. Thanks to extraction, the proportion of active substances increases up to 30 times.
The disadvantage of extracts is their higher price compared with mushroom powder, since much more biomass is consumed during their production. Still, we manage to keep MycoMedica medicinal mushrooms at a very affordable price level.

This is very individual. Mushrooms can be used for a long time.

However, using mushrooms for some health problem for a year without anything changing makes no sense. This is a good strategy for some sellers. We think some effect should be seen within 2-3 months at most. If we see progress, then we can use the mushroom for a year or even longer.

 

For oncological diseases, we recommend using medicinal mushrooms for the duration of conventional treatment (chemotherapy, radiotherapy, biological treatment and surgery) and then for about 2 months after it ended. In the last month of use, we continue to reduce the dosage until it reaches zero. After being cured, you should use preventive mushroom treatment every year for about 3 months.

 

It’s also advisable to use the 5 day use rule, 2 days of pause for most health problems. In case of long-term use we recommend that you always take a seven-day break after three months.

Yes. All batches of MycoMedica medicinal mushrooms are controlled by Agrolab, an independent German laboratory. Tests are carried out on about 500 harmful substances - pesticides, heavy metals and micro-organisms. Together with our German colleagues, we test all the mushrooms’ raw ingredients, so that they contain only high-quality mushroom polysaccharides.

And the most importantly, we are in a direct contact with Chinese growers and we only select long-established ones. 

Classic tests conducted by the German lab. Agrolab have now been expanded with testing for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which have carcinogenic effects that can affect fetal development, and they are also linked to cardiovascular diseases. See here.

High quality is really important in mushrooms.

Unlike traditional Chinese medicinal products (which usually improve the side effects of chemotherapy but at the same time weaken its aggressive effect on the destruction of cancer cells), medicinal mushrooms are very suitable for use during chemotherapy. It’s advisable to start taking medicinal mushrooms before starting chemotherapy. Many clinical trials have already been performed, as well as  studies, which have demonstrated the synergistic effect of chemotherapy and medicinal mushrooms. They both alleviate the side effects of chemotherapy and intensify the overall treatment effect. The same applies to radiotherapy. We recommend consulting the use of medicinal mushrooms during chemotherapy or radiotherapy with the attending physican!

Observe the recommended daily dose for each mushroom. If you take medicinal mushrooms for any particular health problem, it’s best to consult with a doctor or a Chinese medicine practitioner – see Distributors.

It’s unlikely. Nevertheless, observe the recommended dosage. Arbitrarily increasing the dose isn’t effective, as the body won’t absorb more of the active substance and it’s then excreted from the body. According to our experience, it makes no sense to use more than 5g of extracts per day.

Yes, but it’s necessary to administer doses proportionately to age. E.g. children between the ages of seven and ten they should only use half the recommended daily dose.

On the contrary. Active substances such as polysaccharides and  other bioactive substances are contained in the mushroom in its cell walls, which are protected by chitin. Humans have no enzymes to digest chitin. Gentle extraction with hot water must be carried out in order to achieve extraction of all bioactive substances. Tests are carried out on all batches of MycoMedica products with regard to the amount of polysaccharides contained in the extract – this amount is indicated on each product.

We are not aware of any negative interactions between medicinal mushrooms and drugs/other dietary supplements. However, it is generally suitable to observe the principle of eating mushrooms “on an empty stomach” even with regard to drugs/other dietary supplements.

Only Auricularia mushroom should not be eaten together with  blood thinning medicines (e.g. with  Warfarin).

Yes, but it’s generally suitable to observe the principle of eating mushrooms “on an empty stomach” even with regard to drugs/other dietary supplements.

No. Medicines can only be discontinued with the consent of the doctor, who prescribed them for you.

No. All capsules are under strict control and we have the appropriate certificates for all batches.

No. Due to stringent cultivation conditions, MycoMedica products cannot contain heavy metals or any other unsuitable substances. Some manufacturers expose mushrooms to radiation to destroy micro-organisms. However, MycoMedica medicinal mushrooms are not exposed to radioactive radiation in any production phase. Tests are performed on each batch in the Agrolab independent German laboratory. Can I take medicinal mushrooms together with conventional treatment? Yes, since no negative interactions with drugs have been observed. However, it’s advisable to consult your doctor or medicinal mushroom specialist in advance – see Distributors.

You can pour the extract out of the capsule and administer it without the capsule. The extract can also be dissolved in a liquid or mixed with a meal – tea, juice or snack...