Mushrooms and The Microbiome
From previous recent blogs we have been discussing the role of the microbiome in diseases There are some world microbiome researchers who have said that the single most important treatment for disease will be supporting the health of the microbiome. In the last blog we discussed the role of the common probiotics in today’s marketplace by way of the handout offered to subscribers on request These common probiotics are regarded bacteriologically as aerobes However last time we introduced another important player, the facultative anaerobe as prominent players in the microbiome Today we introduce the third player, mushrooms which as mycelia support the microbiome
Mycelia(this term is used interchangeably with mushrooms) have been used in the Traditional Oriental Tradition for thousands of years particularly the Reishi mushroom In Ayurveda mushrooms for balanced people are considered to slow the system down But for patients with significant diseases such as ICPBS mycelial therapy can be very important for healing the sick microbiome because it enhances agni
From an AY perspective agni is central to the disease process If one has a balanced agni then physiologic dis-ease cannot occur Due to our choices around diet(ahara), lifestyle(vihara) and medicines/supplements(dravya) gunas or qualities of the doshas of Vata, Pitta, and Kapha produce disturbance of the agni. The net result of this agni disturbance is the production of toxic load(ama) which clogs the energy channels and over time becomes hot(amavisha). This toxic load clogs the channels leading to blockage of energy
So the essence of treating physiologic dis-ease of any type is to restore balance to a disturbed agni. This takes time because there has to be a gradual release of the dosha qualities and the gradual elimination of stored up ama/amavisha or toxic load in the energy channels.
An aspect of agni in the physiology is represented by the gut microbiome(gut bacterial flora). Although agni has a pervasive physiologic impact throughout the entire mindbody, a healthy microbiome in the gut provides immense support to the mindbody’s health by improving agni since agni and the microbiome are one and the same
The first step in providing support to the gut agni is to alter the diet to one that is alkalanizing as we have discussed in the past with the green composite protein recipe. The second step is to begin to restore the microbiome with “good guys” and overwhelm the growth of the “bad guys” using mycelia
If you want to know more about which is the best probiotic to get started with email me at drbilldean@gmail.com
