Naturealm - News 2019-03-08T14:16:00-08:00 Naturealm 2019-03-08T14:16:00-08:00 2019-03-08T14:22:47-08:00 Lion's Mane is More Than Just A Nootropic Brandon Mcmahan Lion's Mane receives all of its enormous hype exclusively for being a nootropic and a brain health supplement, but science is showing it may be able to confer health benefits which extend beyond the brain.

The science is piling up that Lion's Mane is gastro-protective. In other words, it may be great for gut health!

A 2019 study found that a Lion's Mane extract inhibited the growth of H. pylori (the bacteria known for causing stomach ulcers):

A 2018 study found found a polysaccharide in Lion's Mane to have gastroprotective activity as well as anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties:

A 2016 study found a Lion's Mane extract got rid of ulcerative colitis in mice by suppressing inflammation:

These studies all say the same or similar things:

As an aside, do you notice anything about the names of the researchers in every single one of these studies? They're all Chinese. We still notice a lot of China-phobic people who don't understand its rich history of innovative medicinal mushroom use. They're the ones doing all the best mushroom-related research in the world. Their pride, ownership, and absolute expertise in cultivating the best mushrooms in the world is the foundation that all this great emerging research is built upon.

Getting back on track, an emerging theme is health science is the interconnection of the brain and gut. All kinds of psychological and neurological issues like depression and even neurodegenerative diseases are being linked to the gut microbiome.

Brain fog? That could be because you have a bacterial overgrowth. That bacteria is producing lactic acid which is creating inflammation and potentially causing disease, in addition to making it harder to think clearly.

Your gut is packed with neural tissue. It's how your stomach and your brain communicate to tell your stomach to secrete its acids to help you digest your food; or how hormones like leptin and ghrelin are sent between your brain and other tissues to regulate your appetite.

Gut health is absolutely critical to brain health. If one has issues, they probably both do. And conversely, if health is promoted in one, health is probably also promoted in the other; they are that interrelated. It's not a coincidence that Lion's Mane may have profound benefits on the health of both your brain and stomach.

]]> 2019-02-07T16:27:00-08:00 2019-02-07T16:27:24-08:00 A Serendipitous Mushroom Moment Brandon Mcmahan I ate tuna two days in a row, yesterday and today. I try not to eat fish too frequently, per general guidelines recommending against overconsumption because of concerns about metals such as mercury. Metals can accumulate in the tissues of fish (especially larger fish like tuna) and then accumulate in your body after you eat the fish.

So earlier today I’m eating tuna for the second day in a row and worrying to myself about toxic metals weighing me down when I have this fleeting thought of “Oh well. It’s okay. There’s probably some special compound in all the mushrooms I take that will help my body deal with the metal buildup anyway”. It was a lighthearted, half-serious thought, and I let it pass by as I went about my work.

Fast forward to a little while ago when I spontaneously decided to check Pub Med for new mushroom studies. Lo and behold, the first study that catches my eye is this one:

“A polysaccharide-peptide with mercury clearance activity from dried fruiting bodies of maitake mushroom Grifola frondosa.”

What? Get outta here! Did mushrooms also make me prophetic or something?!

This new December 2018 study states, “We found that the mushroom Grifola frondosa (maitake) exhibited mercury adsorption capacity”. It showed that the maitake accelerated the decline of blood mercury, and also promoted the elimination of it by the liver and kidneys.The study even used a hot water extraction of fruiting bodies, just like we use.


Heavy metal buildup can cause all kinds of awful symptoms like chronic lethargy, brain fog and cognitive problems, and even flu-like symptoms with higher toxicity. There are lots of “detox diet” foods, but few with actual research supporting their use for eliminating heavy metals. It’s great to have a tool with real science behind it like maitake mushroom to assist in eliminating mercury and potentially other metals from the body.

It felt so fortuitous to have a health concern and then immediately find a study suggesting that one of my favorite mushrooms may have merit in addressing it. As we learn again and again, mushrooms have a very wide scope of health-promoting benefits. They surely have countless applications which science hasn’t even uncovered yet.

]]> 2018-11-12T09:03:00-08:00 2019-01-23T14:08:30-08:00 Skincare tips - Can Chaga Help? Brandon Mcmahan Chaga is a very dense source of micronutrients and may help in the treatment of conditions like eczema and psoriasis, while also promoting overall skin health and appearance.




“The Skin is the Largest Organ”

That’s a common refrain heard from dermatologists, estheticians, and everyone else in skincare professions.

But it’s true. It’s undeniable that clear, radiant skin is the foundation of a healthy appearance. First impressions are often based upon appearances, and appearances can even go as far as to help or hinder our ability to succeed out in the world. The way you look can affect your confidence which can affect your performance. We all want to look and feel our best.

Many aspects of your appearance can’t be changed - your height, your eye color, your hair (for the most part), or your skin color. But you can change your overall skin health. You can improve its tone, its texture, and its glow.

A Cellular Approach to Skin Care

Skin cells are constantly cycling. They’re growing anew, getting old, sloughing off, and growing anew again. This is why, with external care, it’s always recommended to exfoliate once or twice a week. It cleans up old skin cells and makes way for the new ones. With our skin cells having such high turnover, we’re gifted an everlasting opportunity to improve our skin.

One very buzzworthy term you may have heard as of late is autophagy. Since Yoshinori Ohsumi won the Nobel prize for medicine in 2016 for his discoveries about the mechanisms of autophagy, the cellular process has garnered a lot of attention. The word autophagy translates from Greek as “self-eating” and is an important way the body cleans up cellular debris, wards off disease, and stays healthy overall. As a byproduct, activating autophagy is also a potent way to improve the skin. Habits such as fasting, protein cycling (having alternating low protein days), and vigorous exercise are all ways in which autophagy can be activated to drastically improve skin health.

Best Topical Skin Care Practices

The skin is incredibly porous and absorbs a lot of what is put on it. For this reason it’s really important to only use natural skin care. Ingredients like parabens and the dangerous oxybenzone (found in many sunscreens) can act as endocrine disruptors, cancer causers, and more. It’s best to use very gentle natural cleaners. New discoveries in skin care are showing us that a lot of acne might actually be caused by a imbalance of bad to good bacteria on the skin. Harsh cleansers can harm the skin’s delicate microbiome and cause all sorts of problems from dry skin to overactive sebaceous glands. Apart from using gentle, natural products, one can actually make an amazing mask from whole food ingredients. Mango, avocado, lemon juice, honey, and oatmeal can be blended together and applied to the face. This natural mask can be left on for a short period of time and rinsed off. The enzymes, fats, acids, and polyphenols will leave your skin brightened and refreshed. This is a cheap, effective, natural, fun way to care for your skin on a regular basis.

Exterior skin care is important, but one of the best ways to nurture the skin is from the inside out. You can use all of the most expensive cleansers, creams, and serums, but if your body doesn’t have the ability to repair the skin then it can’t look nice.

How to Care for Skin through Nutrition

Having great skin is clearly a complicated venture. If we want to assist the body’s internal processes of maintaining a radiant dermis, we should provide it with the best nutrients. Everyone knows they need to stay hydrated, and that’s step one. But how you choose to hydrate really affects the appearance of your skin. Consuming too much caffeine can be harmful to the skin’s appearance, and excessive sugar intake can really jump start the processes which create fine lines and wrinkles. If possible, stick to high quality purified water. Reverse osmosis (RO) water is a great choice. It generally maintains some minerals and tastes great in addition to being ultra pure. Many grocery stores have RO water on tap and you can bring a reusable glass or plastic jug to purchase it very inexpensively by the gallon.

Dialing in your diet is the next step. Vegetables, and especially leafy greens, are the foods people skip out on most often. These tend to be very high in a lot of different vitamins and minerals which nourish the skin, especially vitamin A and other carotenoids. These phytonutrients lend the skin a brightness and glow and help it look less dull. Chard is my very favorite leafy green for skin health. All varieties of chard are great, especially rainbow. Chard is delicious and incredibly healthy when lightly sauteed in butter, and it lacks the bitterness found in kale.

The Best Supplements for Skin Health

Assuming you exercise and your diet is accounted for, the final step in caring for your skin is looking into supplements.

If your diet lacks omega-3’s, supplementing with a high quality fish oil is one of the best things you can do for your skin. It’s been shown to improve eczema and psoriasis and reduce inflammation. EPA and DHA may also benefit cell membranes, helping to keep skin plump and hydrated. Just be extremely cautious about quality, as not all fish oils are created equally, and a low quality fish oil can actually do more harm than good.

Collagen is another great skin health supplement. Humans previously consumed much more meat and animal products in all forms - eyeballs, bone marrow, organ meats, fatty cuts, etc. These all contain tremendous amounts of collagen. A modern diet is severely lacking in collagen which our brains have coincidentally evolved to require more of as they’ve grown over the millennia. Collagen is really easy to supplement with because you can find it in a tasty powdered form. Find a chocolate collagen protein powder and add it to coffee and smoothies. You can expect a boost in the skin’s elasticity as well as improvements in overall appearance of skin, hair, and nails when supplementing with a collagen protein powder.

Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) is the third supplement we recommend (in a rather biased fashion) to support skin health. Chaga grows on Birch trees in cold Northern climates like Alaska and Russia. Chaga is a very dense source of micronutrients and may help in the treatment of conditions like eczema and psoriasis, while also promoting overall skin health and appearance.

Chaga is high in powerful compounds such as the anti-cancer triterpenoid betulinic acid and ultra antioxidant superoxide dismutase (SOD), which has an exceptionally high ORAC value (capacity for absorbing free radicals). Chaga has among the highest SOD concentration of any known natural source. It’s also very high in minerals like copper, zinc, magnesium, selenium, manganese, potassium, and iron, as well as B vitamins - all major players in the health of hair, skin, and nails. Interestingly, it’s also rich in melanin.

Wild-harvested Chaga has shown to be nutritionally superior to cultivated Chaga, but sustainability is an important concern for consumers. The environments in which it grows are delicate, and there is not an infinite amount.

Wrapping Up

Taking good care of your skin requires a multifaceted approach. It’s important to show it love both inside and out.  Doing things like exercising, sweating, and exfoliating are important to assist in cellular autophagy and the turnover of old skin cells. Replenishing with high quality moisturizers, masks, nutritious food, and supplements is also important to give skin what it needs to glow. However unfair it may be, genetics are also a huge part of how your skin looks. Some people don’t take any steps to take care of their skin and it still looks flawless. Others toil with every skin care measure under the sun still can’t escape a blemish. Just do the best with what you have and don’t get discouraged - everyone is uniquely beautiful!


]]> 2018-11-12T09:03:00-08:00 2018-11-12T09:03:10-08:00 Is Supplementing with Probiotics Bad for You? Brandon Mcmahan There has been a lot of buzz about gut health recently.

The health of your intestines is undoubtedly important - they make up an incredibly complex system that communicates with your brain, giving and receiving feedback, creating hormonal responses, and more. Gut health also has all kinds of correlations with disease. "Disease starts in the gut" is a phrase which is reverberating through the medical community.

As more science commentary and public discourse begin to highlight these concepts, more people are trying to somehow take advantage of this information to improve their own health.

This leads to using probiotic supplements. But it's possible that supplemental probiotic use isn't good for you, as found recently in a journal called Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology. It looks like a small study, but its results were upsetting. The bacteria in the probiotic supplements colonized the patients' small intestines TOO effectively.

Bacteria live by breaking down sugar and producing lactic acid. If there are too many bacteria living in the gut, they can produce a glut of lactic acid which can be toxic to brain cells, ultimately causing "brain fog". The patients in the study had way too much lactic acid in their blood and it was very clearly harming their cognitive function and ability to think clearly.

The article cautions against "excessive and indiscriminate use" of probiotics, which is wise. It notes there are times when supplemental probiotics are a great tool - like when one needs to replenish stomach flora from a strong course of antibiotics. But they should be treated more like a drug and less like a supplement.

We've seen supplement use play out this way time and time again. One isolated ingredient or compound is touted to have health benefits, everyone starts taking it, and later finds out it had more negative effects than positive effects.

At Naturealm we stand by our mushroom supplements because they're made directly from "superfoods" - whole fruiting body mushrooms. When supplements are food-based it's easier for the body to assimilate the nutrients because they're packaged as nature intended. Consuming large amounts of heavily isolated ingredients - like a specific strain of bacteria - can create imbalances like we see in this study. A much safer and more effective way to optimize gut health is to eat fermented foods like kimchi.  Just be very cautious with the supplements you take.

There is a lot of information out there, and what we know about health and nutrition is changing all the time. One of the safest approaches for your health is to eat a very balanced diet, exercise, and be very discerning about anything else. We care about you and your health. We're all in this together! 

]]> 2018-11-12T09:03:00-08:00 2019-01-18T14:28:41-08:00 What is Lion’s Mane Mushroom? Brandon Mcmahan  

Lion’s Mane - A Super-functional Medicinal Mushroom

Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceum) is an incredible mushroom which is as delicious as it is medicinal. It has traditionally been consumed as both a food and a medicine in East Asia. Now it’s finally getting recognition as a powerful functional food in the West. An absolute wealth of bioactive compounds have been identified in it including polysaccharides, erinacines, hericerins, hericenones, resorcinols, mono and diterpenes, and aroma compounds. Lion’s Mane is most commonly touted as a brain health mushroom, a sort of nootropic neuro-supercharger. While this may be true, we wanted to briefly explore what other health benefits the research suggests this mushroom may have.

Lion’s Mane and Bone Health

This 2017 study looked at 11 different compounds in Lion’s Mane. Three of the compounds had a strong cellular antioxidant effect, and four more compounds had strong anti-osteoporotic activity. “...results suggested that H. erinaceum could be utilized in the development of natural antioxidant and anti-osteoporotic nutraceuticals and functional foods”. So Lion’s Mane is an antioxidant - you could have guessed that - but it may actually improve bone health as well by interfering with some of the processes which cause osteoporosis (bone loss).

Lion’s Mane and Stomach Health - Treatment of Irritable Bowel Disease with Lion’s Mane Extract

This incredible 2016 study was done on mice with upset tummies. In fact, the mice had acute intestinal inflammation and bleeding. They were given a Lion’s Mane extract which drastically improved their stomachs. It reduced the build-up of bad stuff in their colons and improved the health of their mucous membranes and stomach linings, thereby reducing the inflammation and bleeding. The Lion’s Mane also seemed to fix the production of other compounds in the mice’s stomachs which naturally reduced oxidative stress. The study ultimately concluded that Lion’s Mane extract may be used as a protective agent against irritable bowel disease (IBD).

Another study in rodents showed that Lion’s Mane reduced the severity of ulcers in a significant way. Again, it protected the mucosa, an important part of the stomach, and the study declared that compounds in Lion’s Mane extract may have gastroprotective activity.

Lion’s Mane and Obesity

Metabolic diseases are finally becoming better understood. Many experts believe cancer is actually a metabolic disease. Diabetes is another metabolic disease, as is obesity. Obesity is the culmination of many factors. However, like many diseases, inflammation in the affected tissues is the underlying cause of obesity. In the case of obesity, the adipose tissue is actually what gets inflamed. This study from 2015 looked at the effects of Lion’s Mane extract on adipocytes, or fat cells. The study concludes, “ Our findings indicate the possibility that H. erinaceus [Lion’s Mane] exerts anti-inflammatory effects...and prevents or ameliorates adipose tissue inflammation associated with obesity”. So, we have to go there... Lion’s Mane extract may just help with fat loss.

Lion’s Mane and Cancer

Another 2015 study identified two new compounds in Lion’s Mane and looked at five others with regard for their anticancer activities. It found that one of the newly identified compounds called Hericerin A, along with with previously recognized heracerin, may both be useful as potential cancer treatments.

Another study looked at Lion’s Mane and its ability to stave off lung cancer in mice. The mushroom extract had a number of very positive effects including eliciting cancer cell death and preventing metastasis, or growth of the cancer.

This study found that Lion’s Mane may help fight leukemia, again by causing apoptosis (cell death) of the cancer cells. It went on to conclude that “The results indicate that H. erinaceus [Lion’s Mane] mushrooms may have therapeutic potential against human leukemia”.

Lion’s Mane and Neuro Benefits

Lion’s Mane is an oft-purported nootropic - that’s arguably its main claim to fame since being introduced to the West as a dietary supplement. Since the brain is such a complex, dynamic organ, there are countless ways a nootropic could improve it. Therefore the term nootropic is actually quite vague. One way Lion’s Mane does appear to improve the brain is through neurogenesis. Compounds like hericenones and erinacines in Lion’s Mane appear to stimulate Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) which can promote the growth of nerve cells. One study found this to be the case, as it identified NGF synthesis in cells as a result of administering Lion’s Mane extract. While the mushroom showed nerve growth effects, it failed to yield neuroprotective benefits in cells exposed to oxidative stress. Still, the neurotrophic (growth) properties produced in the study are positive.

Clearly lions mane does some incredible things. Another study wrote “The reported health-promoting properties of the mushroom fruit bodies, mycelia, and bioactive pure compounds include antibiotic, anticarcinogenic, antidiabetic, antifatigue, antihypertensive, antihyperlipodemic, antisenescence, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, nephroprotective, and neuroprotective properties and improvement of anxiety, cognitive function, and depression. The described anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, and immunostimulating properties in cells, animals, and humans seem to be responsible for the multiple health-promoting properties.” There is no more thorough way we could have elucidated the breadth of possible health benefits of Lion’s Mane mushroom. 

All the studies referenced here used different amount of Lion’s Mane, different extracts, in different situations, with countless different variables that may or may not replicate the same way when you or I take our medicinal mushroom supplement in the morning. But the fact that it has shown to do all these things means that the effects will happen on a meta scale even with a lower dose. We believe a lot of the health benefits highlighted in the studies are tangible, and that Lion’s Mane mushroom is one of the most incredible functional foods in the world.


]]> 2018-11-12T09:03:00-08:00 2019-01-23T14:11:57-08:00 Benefits of Reishi Mushroom - Emerging Reishi Research Brandon Mcmahan Reishi (ganoderma lucidum)

Reishi (or Lingzhi) mushroom is one of the oldest known health foods, with its use dating back to 300 B.C. in China. Reishi is a true panacea, with hundreds of bioactive compounds identified in scientific literature. Outlining every potential benefit of Reishi would look almost unbelievable; it really appears to be that powerful. Research suggests it can do everything from fighting cancer to improving sleep. Since touting every possible benefit of Reishi is beyond the scope of this article, we want to instead highlight just a few new pieces of research.

A 2017 study found evidence that Reishi suppresses breast cancer cell growth. It found that Reishi suppressed a certain signaling pathway called Wnt/β-catenin which is responsible for many types of cancer, including breast cancer. The study ultimately indicated that supplemental Reishi could be a potent inhibitor of breast cancer. 

A brand new study looked at immunoglobulin A (IgA) secretion in rats after they had taken Reishi powder. IgA helps mediate a number of the body’s protective functions, and is an important antibody that acts as the immune system’s first line of defense. It is secreted in large part by mucous membranes in different parts of the digestive track. The digestive system is often the first point of contact for pathogens, and its reaction often dictates whether or not the body gets overtaken and becomes sick from the pathogens. The study found that Reishi increased IgA secretion in the small intestines of the rats. Overall it concluded that Reishi might reduce the risk of intestinal infection.

Yet another study found that Reishi polysaccharides may have neuroprotective effects. It found that the polysaccharides down-regulated pro-inflammatory cytokines and promoted anti-inflammatory expressions in microglia (an important type of cell that’s prevalent in the brain and spinal cord). Many neurodegenerative diseases are caused in part by inflammation. This study is exciting because it suggests that Reishi may have some ability to protect the nervous system by decreasing inflammation.

Inspiring research continues to be published about the therapeutic potential of Reishi. There are many recurring trends in the research about its anti-cancer, immunomodulating, and neuroprotective properties. Reishi is historically regarded highly as a superfood for good reason. Hopefully more research about the mushroom continues to make its way into the mainstream so that more people can benefit from all it has to offer.


]]> 2018-11-12T09:03:00-08:00 2019-01-18T14:30:59-08:00 Best Quality Mushroom Supplements - Mycelium vs. Fruiting Bodies Brandon Mcmahan Mushroom supplements are finally becoming popular for their vast array of health benefits. But not all mushroom supplements are created equally. To understand what makes a high quality mushroom supplement, we should first look at a mushroom’s life cycle.


                                              Mushroom life cycle 


The actual mushroom itself is called the fruit (or fruiting) body. It produces spores, the spores germinate and create a network of mycelium (almost like roots). The mycelium eventually produces a pinhead (or primordium), which grows into a new whole mushroom, and the cycle of life continues.

                                           Reishi fruiting body


How can we relate this to the nutritional merit of mushroom supplements? It should be obvious that for the most nutritional value we want the whole mushroom. After all, it is the fruit. It is the organism’s final form. It contains the sum of all of the healthy compounds like beta glucans which the organism worked so hard to produce.

The mycelium are like the roots of the mushroom. They are very light, thin, wispy, almost like spider webs. While they may contain trace amounts of the beneficial compounds like beta-glucans, their mass is too slight to contain any significant nutritional value. Their purpose is to channel their collective resources into producing an actual mushroom. The fruiting body is the final culmination of these resources, and that’s why it actually is a significant source of nutrition and active compounds.


Myceliated Grain (Grain Spawn)

Mycelium are typically implanted on sterilized rice or grain in a lab. The grain has mostly been colonized and now could be called grain spawn. However, if this jar pictured were were shaken up, the mycelium would mostly fall away and reveal that the vast majority of the mass of the grain spawn is in fact just grain. Shockingly, many supplement companies grind this grain spawn into a powder and sell it as a medicinal mushroom supplement. These products often taste slightly sweet or salty, like a very plain bran cereal. They do not taste like mushrooms because they’re devoid of both the fruiting bodies and their active compounds.

These supplements are often marketed as “full spectrum”, but this is empty marketing jargon and these products will always be a very high percentage of grains by weight. There is no way to separate the ultra thin, wispy, low density mycelium from the substrate (the grain) it's growing on. Almost all studies about the efficacy of mushroom supplements use whole fruiting bodies. Grain spawn isn’t used in studies because scientists know it won’t produce results of any statistical significance.

study published in June, 2017 tested 19 batches of Ganoderma lucidum purchased in the U.S., mostly from Amazon and Ebay. They used a very comprehensive toolkit of scientific testing methods to determine the quality consistency of the samples. Of the 19 samples, only 5 (26.3%) tested in accordance with their labels. “In accordance with their labels” basically means that they were identifiably Reishi. The main way to identify the sample as actually being Reishi is to test for the active compounds. 1,3-β-D-glucan, arguably the most important for health benefits and certainly the most touted compound in G. lucidum, was only detected in 5 out 19 tested products. Many of these products were likely mycelium based. This study concluded that, overall, the quality consistency of U.S. Reishi supplements is extremely poor.


This is usually how the supplement facts panel of a mycelium-based product will appear. They should disclose the fact that it is mycelium and not whole fruiting bodies. However, other companies are more deceptive and simply list the names of the mushroom species without clarifying whether they are fruiting bodies or mycelium. It is important to be a discerning consumer and do your research. If the company isn’t clearly stating that their product is made from whole fruiting bodies, and what percentage is such, they are likely composed of mostly grain dust.


Things to look for in a medicinal mushroom supplement:

  • Make sure the product is stated to be 100% whole fruiting bodies. If it’s stated that it’s “full spectrum”,  or some combination of mycelium and fruiting bodies, then it’s impossible to know the ratio. The product could be 99% grain and 1% mushrooms. Make sure the product is clear and specific about its ingredients, and not simply listing mushroom species without listing their origins.
  • Check the color of the product. Mushrooms blends (depending on which species they contain) should be a rich, dark color. Reishi and Chaga specifically are dark in color. A very lightly colored or tan product may be a sign that it’s grain based.
  • Smell and taste the product. Bitterness is usually a good thing in a mushroom supplement. Just like certain dark leafy greens taste bitter, so do mushrooms. It’s evidence of a wealth of active compounds.


]]> 2018-11-12T09:03:00-08:00 2018-11-12T09:03:09-08:00 What is Maitake (Grifola frondosa)? - All About The Incredible Dancing Mushroom Brandon Mcmahan















Maitake comes from the combination of two Japanese words - Mai (meaning dance) and Take (meaning mushroom). This may be a description of the fruiting bodies and how they overlap and appear to be in rhythm with one another. It’s also referred to as “Hen of the woods”, perhaps both for its appearance and its poultry-like characteristics when eaten. There is rich lore depicting times in Feudal Japan where Maitake was worth its weight in silver. The distinct locations where Maitake was prevalent were treated as fiercely guarded secrets, often passed down through generations.

Maitake has traditionally been coveted for culinary reasons - both its taste and texture are excellent. However only more recently has its nutritional merit been discovered in a more scientific way.


Certain polysaccharides like beta-glucans may be referred to as biological response modifiers, or even more loosely, adaptogens. These plant compounds work in stride with the body’s natural cellular defense systems to boost the immune system and fight cancers and tumor growth.

Maitake compounds don’t appear kill cancer or tumor cells directly, but they bolster the cellular systems which do. They also seemed to protect healthy cells from becoming cancerous by suppressing the systems which foster cancer growth.

These properties could make medicinal mushrooms an excellent complement to the traditional Western approaches to fighting cancer. Maitake extracts may work in conjunction with chemotherapy to preserve cellular integrity and reduce the damage it causes to healthy cells.

A very recent rodent study showed that the antioxidant capacity of polysaccharides in Maitake actually improved the rats’ brains. After supplementing with Maitake for 8 weeks, these older rats showed significant memory improvement on a standard test called the Morris Water Maze test. The study mentions superoxide dismutase, a powerful antioxidant enzyme, citing that its increase (among other antioxidants present in the mushroom) was consistent with the rats’ improved performance. This is exciting because it draws the conclusion that there may be real neuroprotective and brain-enhancing benefits to supplementing with Maitake.

Maitake’s history of immense value through the ages, coupled with all of the amazing emerging scientific literature, made it a no brainer for us to include in Sacred 7. We personally love taking it. We feel great when we do, and we think you will too. Treat yourself to great health - you deserve it!


Enjoy some of the research for yourself!

Masuda Y, Inoue H, Ohta H, Miyake A, Konishi M, Nanba H.”Oral administration of soluble β-glucans extracted from Grifola frondosa induces systemic antitumor immune response and decreases immunosuppression in tumor-bearing mice”. Int J Cancer. 2013 Jul;133(1):108-19. doi: 10.1002/ijc.27999. Epub 2013 Feb 15. <>

Chen Z, Tang Y, Liu A, Jin X, Zhu J, Lu X. “Oral administration of Grifola frondosa polysaccharides improves memory impairment in aged rats via antioxidant action”. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2017 Jul 28. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.201700313. <>

]]> 2018-11-12T09:02:59-08:00 2018-11-12T09:03:08-08:00 What is Rhodiola Rosea? 5 Benefits of Rhodiola, The Golden Adaptogen Brandon Mcmahan

Rhodiola rosea is quite literally legendary. It was used by the ancient Greeks and the mythological Argonauts - rhodiola was probably Hercules’ supplement of choice. The vikings, the Mongols, and Chinese emperors are all rumored to have derived great power from rhodiola rosea.

Rhodiola has a pleasant aroma and a striking yellow flower. It’s an herb that grows in extremely harsh conditions - on the edges of cliffs just below the snow line. Just like we see in other holistic herbs like cordyceps, the ability to withstand such radical environments often correlates with the presence of a wealth of powerful compounds contained in the herb. 

Rhodiola rosea got its name in 1725 from the famous Swedish botanist, Carl Linnaeus, who advocated its use for a number of ailments. Much of the early modern day research with Rhodiola was done by Cold War era Soviets. They were searching for an alternative to amphetamines, which proved to be very damaging to the body long-term.

In 1948 a man named Dr. Lazarev headed a team of researchers at the Siberian Academy of Sciences who were to find a more sustainable drug for the Soviets to replace amphetamines. They tested over 150 different herbal concoctions. During the process of testing and analyzing extracts they noticed that some of the extracts they created promoted “a state of nonspecific increased resistance”. From these observations, Lazarev first coined the now popular term “adaptogen”.

There are many different herbs which have been subsequently labeled adaptogens: 


To gain the acclaimed title of adaptogen, an herb must meet some unique criteria: 

  1. Nonspecific resistance. The herb must increase the body’s general resistance to different stressors including physical, chemical, and biological stressors. This includes regulating the body's stress response. 
  2. Normalizing action. The herb must lead the body towards homeostasis if there are any imbalances in the organs, hormones, blood, etc.
  3. Innocuous effects. The herb’s use should be sustainable with no toxicity or other ability to cause physiological harm. 

All of the herbs above have tremendous use as holistic adaptogenic supplements. But a particular wealth of different compounds have been identified within rhodiola rosea:


 Here are five potential health benefits of rhodiola rosea:

1. Treatment of Depression. Depression is often very difficult to treat. Sometimes drugs can help, but the side effects can often be as debilitating as the depression itself. This study found that while the rhodiola rosea extract had less antidepressant effect compared to sertraline (Zoloft), it was better tolerated with significantly less side effects. Rhodiola may be have a better risk to benefit ratio for individuals suffering from mild to moderate depression. A main hardship for depression sufferers is a complete lack of energy and a drained feeling. Rhodiola might be able to help with this too.

2. Energy Production and Prevention of Fatigue. Working as an antioxidant, Rhodiola may protect the cells' mitochondria from damage, in turn leading to higher caliber energy production. Rhodiola may also increase ATP and CP (creatine phosphate) production, both of which lead to increased exercise performance

3. Neurological and Brain Health. Neurological deterioration is behind some of the worst degenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Rhodiola's potent antioxidant effect may be neuroprotective and assist in repairing damages that eventually lead to degenerative diseases. Rhodiola may be able to help save injured neurons. In healthy individuals, rhodiola rosea could be a useful nootropic. In one study, rhodiola elicited was significant improvement in cognitive functioning for a group of healthy physicians who were consistently on night shifts.

We are also learning that inflammation has a huge correlation (if not a cause) with neurological diseases. Rhodiola might have the ability to help control systemic inflammation and stave off the progression of some of these age-related diseases.

4. Fat Loss. This study linked rhodiola rosea extract to lipolytic and anti-adipogenetic activity in humans. If we're projecting, this means that rhodiola could help with both the breakdown of fat and the prevention of fat storage. Perhaps rhodiola could even be an accompaniment to a ketogenic diet if it continues to show promise in assisting with fat burning and counteracting fat storage.

5. Use as a SERM. A study showed that rhodiola could potentially help older women combat the adverse effects of menopause by acting as a SERM (selective estrogen receptor modulator). It could lessen some of the deleterious effects of menopause like bone loss, psychological effects, and cardiovascular effects. 

These are just five quick uses for rhodiola rosea. Its potential benefits actually span much wider.  

The research has shown an impressive array of physiological actions and uses for rhodiola rosea. Adaptogens as a whole are a very interesting class of holistic herbal supplements. Their ability to optimize many different systems of the body can produce a strong network effect which supports overall wellness. 


Our research for this article drew heavily from the following book. It's a fantastic resource on rhodiola and adaptogens as a whole. Check it out!

Brown, Richard P.  M.D.; Gerbarg, Patricia L. M.D. "The Rhodiola Revolution: Transform Your Health with the Herbal Breakthrough of the 21st Century". Rodale, 2005.

]]> 2018-11-12T09:02:59-08:00 2018-11-12T09:03:08-08:00 What is Cordyceps Mushroom? Brandon Mcmahan Cordyceps is one of the most fabled medicinal mushrooms, and its history of use is colorful. There are old tales of Tibetan herders who noticed their livestock were stronger, more exuberant, and more reproductively sound during the time of year when they grazed on cordyceps. These native Tibetans began using it for themselves and noticed similar effects. They would put it in hot milk or water to create a tonic. Cordyceps stromas (the body of the mushroom) were even given as gifts by Tibetans. The native folk healers used cordyceps for the treatment of a total of 21 different ailments. This is a great reference about the traditional use of cordyceps.

The 21 traditional uses for cordyceps sinensis.  © Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine


They supplement with cordyceps to make a high-altitude trudge look easy.


So what is cordyceps? Cordyceps bodies are fairly small, almost resembling a chili pepper, except dark orange, brown, or even black. And the hearsay is true - it is a parasitic fungus and it does overtake a host insect’s (usually a caterpillar) body and grow out of it in a very alien way! This happens only at high altitudes under a number of other special conditions.


It is possible to cultivate cordyceps without a host insect from which to grow out of. Naturealm’s cordyceps are actually grown on a mixture of substrates, one of them being a moth protein powder. This ensures a growing environment with similar conditions to the wild. It provides the cordyceps with some of the same nutrients they require to produce the beneficial compounds like cordycepin. It’s also possible to grow cordyceps on solely rice or grain, but we don’t believe that would yield the same quality or the same concentration of beneficial compounds.

There are around 400 different identified species of cordyceps. The two main species which are used for nutritional supplementation are militaris and sinensis. We don’t know every difference between the two, nor all the ways they affect the body differently, but for all intents and purposes they are similar and can be used interchangeably. One study found that militaris had higher amounts of cordycepin and exopolysaccharides (EPS) than sinensis. This may lead to militaris being the superior species of cordyceps for performance, but the overall picture is likely much more complex than the amounts of just two compounds. A rich spectrum of amino acids, peptides, polysaccharides, nucleotides, fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals have all been identified in cordyceps!


Chemical constituents of natural cordyceps. © Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine


In the mid 1990’s there was speculation that supplementing with cordyceps helped propel Chinese athletes including Wang Junxia and others to crush a number of world records for distance running. Unfortunately the role of the cordyceps in setting those records became unclear as the coach of those athletes, Ma Junren, became known for forcibly doping his athletes. He stated that the incredible abilities of his athletes were due in part to turtle’s blood and caterpillar mushroom, but that was likely an alibi to cover up the doping.

﻿                        Wang at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta


So does cordyceps actually improve athletic performance?﻿

There are many different conclusions. 

This paper's title blatantly states that supplementation does not improve exercise performance. However, upon digging in, the paper still says that cordyceps sinensis has been shown to have a blood pressure lowering effect and an effect on hepatic energy balance. The latter is consistent with this study, which also concluded that cordyceps cicadae, a different species, could be useful in combating kidney disease. The former paper also mentions that cordyceps appeared to lower plasma triglycerides and cholesterol, as well as improving glucose disposal, both huge positives for overall health, if not for exercise performance. Effective glucose disposal can help increase insulin sensitivity, regulate blood sugar, and ultimately fight things like diabetes and obesity. In spite of the paper's dismissive title, it does agree that the findings suggest cordyceps did influence cardiovascular and metabolic systems; the effects just didn't necessarily point to any improvement in athletic performance.


Major pharmacological functions of Cordyceps sinensis. © Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine


This is a detailed, wide-ranging study. The sample size was relatively small, but it reasons that higher doses of cordyceps militaris (over 4g per day) over longer periods of time (weeks) may lead to those elusive exercise performance benefits. Neither we nor they are recommending that as a dose, and the study states that future studies should be seeking an acceptable dose for the desired benefits. 

This study was conducted over 12 weeks and found that cordyceps improved exercise performance and may promote wellness in healthy older adults.

Cordyceps also improved skeletal muscle in rats as evidenced here. It interestingly concludes that cordyceps improves endurance capacity with or without exercise, and it called cordyceps a potent exercise “mimetic”. Does cordyceps give the benefits of exercise in supplement form? Probably not entirely, but it’s interesting to consider the possibility of being able to improve certain systems without exercise.

Another study was done with humans at the Beijing Medical University Sports Research Institute. This study found cordyceps helped buffer lactic acid, thereby increasing anaerobic performance. Cordyceps could improve the body's capacity for strength training in this manner.

Cordyceps and its associated compounds show much more benefit than just exercise performance. Cordyceps is also a potent antioxidant as declared here.

This powerful antioxidant effect may also carry over into helping memory impairment as seen here.

Looking more at cordyceps and mental health, cordyceps had an antidepressant-like effect on mice who were subjected to mild chronic stress in this study. Perhaps it may work like other adaptogenic herbs in terms of promoting a healthy stress response and a general sense of well-being.

Many people look to herbs and alternative medicine for sexual dysfunction. This paper claims that cordyceps may be a healthy natural alternative to Viagra. It cites three different Chinese studies, all double-blind, placebo-controlled, with over 200 men who suffered from various sexual dysfunctions. 64% of the men who were given cordyceps reported significant improvements in their conditions at the end of the study, compared to only 24% of the men who were given the placebo. There was a similar, albeit smaller, study with women, and 90% reported improvements. The paper suggests vasodilation and enhanced blood flow are the main mechanisms for the success in these studies. 

Cordyceps may also increase testosterone. This study found a significant stimulation of testosterone production in mice, and says that the results may apply to the treatment of problems caused by low testosterone in human males. 


Cordyceps mushrooms are a beautiful representation of form follows function in the natural environment. They typically grow at high altitudes where oxygen is very scarce. In such a harsh environment, all forms of life must create adaptations in order to survive. The compounds in cordyceps could represent a byproduct of the ways in which the organism copes with its harsh environment. Is it a coincidence that compounds in cordyceps may have a host of incredible effects on biological systems when those effects are exactly what’s essential to survive in such a climate?

Cordyceps and its rich composition appear to have enormous pharmacological merit. It appears to, at the very least, promote wellness in a number of impressive ways. We believe it’s well worth supplementing with, based on both its vibrant history as folk medicine and all of the continually emerging research. Its newly widespread adoption as an ergogenic aid in the West is not without good reason. But, alas, whether or not cordyceps will propel you to break any Olympic world records, the jury is still out on that one.