Mad for Mushrooms the Magic of Mycology

Mad for Mushrooms:

the Magic of Mycology

Fungi are unique, their own category. They are neither plant nor animal, but some of the most ancient living organisms on the planet. And they are as popular as ever right now, not simply as a result of the Fantastic Fungi: The Magic Beneath Us documentary (2019), either.

A Moving Art production directed by Louie Schwartzberg, the essential premise of Fantastic Fungi is the general leitmotif of the entire environmental movement: oneness. We must accept that as humans, as an animal species, we are very much part of the ecosystem that is planet Earth. When we accept that, low and behold we start to care what happens to that ecosystem and the part we truly play in it.

Fungi offer “the wisdom of a billion years”, fossils of mycelium having been found in lava sediments in South Africa, thought to date back some 2.4 billion years. The film concentrates on the work of mycologist Paul Stamets, who owns the factory FUNGI PERFECT 1 in Washington state and who gave the TED Talk “6 Ways Mushrooms Can Save the World” (describing how oyster mushrooms turned an oil spill into an oasis). Stamets is utterly in awe of his specialism: “mushrooms represent rebirth, rejuvenation, regeneration […] Fungi generate soil that gives life”. Indeed, with regard to the environment at large, earth become deadened by years of chemical pesticides and fertilisers, fungi can return it to a nutrient-rich soil; they are “ecosystem engineers”. As for insecticides, there are bug-eating fungi out there, too (including cordyceps; see below).

Suffering from a terrible stutter as a boy, Stamets would stare at the ground in embarrassment – which is how he began finding mushrooms (and fossils). His mycological fascination is mirrored by food journalist and author, Eugenia Bone, who explains, “mushrooms were the window by which I came to understand nature in a deeper way”. She notes that, in contrast to Stamets’ focus on their life-giving qualities, mushrooms symbolise death for many, but that berries too can kill. In other words, fungi are both at the beginning and at the end of life; the unifier of the cycle of existence and interconnector of all beings. As Stamets says, “Mycelium is the mother of all of us”. Fungi varieties are myriad, but “mycodiversity is biodiversity”. Indeed, there are over 1.6 million species (six times the number of plants) and new species are being discovered on nearly a daily basis. However, only 20,000 of those produce mushrooms (the sexual organs of fungi, used to reproduce the spore of the fungus). It seems fruitless to list any, given the breadth, yet those of us who cook can note ceps or porcini (Boletus edulis) and chanterelle and girolle (Cantharellus cibarius); we can recognise enoki (Flammulina velutipes) and chestnut and common mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus); and we sometimes hunt down some shiitake (Lentinula edodes), maitake (Grifola frondosa), and oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) for an exotic healthy boost. We might not realise it, but there are sacrobes in our favourite wine, cheese, and beer, as well (sacrobes break down anything hydrocarbon based). Meanwhile, a penicillin mould runs through Roquefort and blue cheeses. Then, of course, there are truffles.

Often referred to as “black gold”, truffles are renowned (expensively) for their pungent, umami taste. From wild black or brown truffles (Tuber uncinatum, Tuber aestivum) to Black Périgord (Tuber melanosporum) and white or northern Italian (Tuber magnatum) – truffles are a foodie’s idea of heaven. Resulting from a fungus on tree roots (whether oak, beech, birch, or hazel or other arboreal species), a once thriving truffle industry – using dogs to sniff them out – was, erm, snuffed out by WWI and “dog tax”, as well as loss of biodiversity from modern farming land degradation, through woodland and hedgerow removal. Only a small amount of truffle is needed, though, in order to flavour incomparably-well a bowl of pasta or risotto; it can even simply be grated over tenderly cooked vegetables. Containing up to 30% protein, truffles benefit the gut microbiome (with the complexity of its microbial content) and also protect the liver, while providing anti-inflammatory benefits and immune system support. Worth the investment, in our opinion.

Culinary considerations aside, however, there are some mushrooms which are chosen for their medicinal properties, rather than as gastronomic delicacies:

Lion’s Mane

(Hericium erinaceus) Used primarily for healthy brain function and the regeneration of our neurons due to the NGF (nerve growth factor) content, lion’s mane mushrooms are rich in immunemodulating antioxidants, as well.

Cordyceps

(Cordyceps militaris) Otherwise known as caterpillar fungus, cordyceps is lauded for its energy promoting benefits. Increasing ATP via adenosine and cordycepin stimulation, in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) cordyceps is used for asthma and lung-related issues. The most expensive mushroom in the world is cordyceps sinensis, selling at $20,000 [c. £15,088] per kilogram in Asia…

Reishi

(Ganoderma lingzhi) Historically believed some 2,000 years ago to promote “immortality”, the mushroom’s polysaccharides are thought to provide immunity support, as well as aid sleep and reduce stress and related fatigue. Taoist monks have long used reishi for calm in meditation.

Chaga

(Inonotus obliquus) Not technically a mushroom, chaga is nonetheless praised for its digestive and skin-clearing properties. Rich in antioxidants, it is thought to help immune function and provide liver support and even increase longevity. Actually a woody canker (or “sclerotium”), chaga is commonly found in the northern hemisphere on birch trees. First used medically in Russia in the 16th century (as a tea for stomach complaints and as described in Solzhenitsyn’s Cancer Ward), it is thought that the main part of chaga is not actually mycelium, but birch wood fibre (including the betulin and betulinic acid).

Turkey Tail

(Trametes versicolor) The mushroom that is believed to have beaten Stamets’ mother’s breast cancer, turkey tail mushrooms stimulate cytokine production, which increases the number of our body’s natural killer cells. One of the most well-researched mushroom, turkey tail has one of the highest concentrations of beta-glucans of all mushrooms.

Shiitake

(Lentinula edodes) Superb for cardiovascular health, shiitake mushrooms also assist liver function and immunity. Great in cooking, the Ming Dynasty in China considered this mushroom “the elixir of life”. Replete with B vitamins, shiitake grow on beech and oak trees and are believed to promote longevity, too.

Maitake

(Grifola frondosa) Most suitable for lowering blood pressure, maitake also bolster the immune system by stimulating lymphocyte production (such as t-helper cells).

The Portsmouth News recently reported that, by 2026, mushrooms will play a key role in matters of immunity, whether eaten, taken as supplements, or powdered into drinks. They’re also due to assist us in plastic riddance and the “smart farming revolution”. Considered “brain boosters”, it is perhaps the vitamin D factor that has captured, um, minds most recently, in the fight against Covid. Marks & Spencer even released “functional mushrooms”, enriched with vitamin B6 to reduce fatigue, in addition to a higher than usual vitamin D content.

In the words of the UK and Ireland Mushroom Producers, “nature has been our pharmacist for thousands of years”. They are, quite literally, a superfood. From anticarcinogenic properties to lowering bad cholesterol and even oral health – if you’re not mad for mushrooms right now, then you need to catch up. Naturally rich in selenium (beneficial for not just immunity, but healthy thyroid function), mushrooms possess that sought-after umami flavour which means those on a low-sodium diet can still feel as if their dishes are flavourful and not lacking in the taste stakes. And the plant-based alternative scene is looking into fungi-based vegan options for prawns, sushi, and calamari according to Vegconomist. Chicago-based start-up Aqua Culture Foods, for instance, uses microbial fermentation technology to create its whole-muscle seeming seafood products. At the same time, London Nootropics released its range of three all-natural adaptogenic coffees in 2020, blending adaptogenic mushrooms with other adaptogens, such as rhodiola, Siberian ginseng, and ashwagandha. Meanwhile, Fungtn (the Fungtional Brew Company) has produced the first adaptogenic alcohol-free and vegan beer, using – you guessed it – functional mushrooms. Founded by Zoey Henderson, they predominantly use Reishi, Lion’s Mane, and Chaga mushrooms for their brews. Essential for both cognitive and neuronal health, BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) is particularly stimulated by the erinacines and hericenones in Lion’s Mane. All these mushrooms, though, as well as Cordyceps, have been found in animal studies to improve BDNF and potentially lessen depressive symptoms and stress markers. Chaga is also replete with antioxidants such as triterpenes, polyphenols, and superoxide dismutase.

Henderson, certainly, is self-descriptively excited by “the future of fungi”. As she says, “mushrooms and mycelium are coming back into the light”: where research into medicinal mushrooms might take us in the healing practices of tomorrow will no doubt be illuminating. The not-so-magical side of all this (depending on how you look at it), then, is medical mycology, an “area of urgent medical need, with more than 1.5 million deaths worldwide each year caused by fungal infections”, according to the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology at the University of Exeter. That’s a higher fatality than malaria. This is because “of all microbial pathogens of humans, fungi are the least well studied and understood”.

Indeed, Covid highlighted the lack of research even more, in severe cases the “invasive pulmonary aspergillosis” become a complication of the virus when Patients were in intensive care units, a worldwide occurrence in fact. The situation was the worst in India, headlines reading “Deadly black fungus threatening India’s Covid-19 patients”. Research has since found that the coronavirus does increase risk of susceptibility to mucormycosis, “referred to as Covid-19 associated mucormycosis (CAM)”. Nonetheless, a study published in 2021 in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal had found that 82.5% of patients with reported CAM were diabetes sufferers (one of the most prevalent conditions in India). In comparison, only 34% of those who had invasive pulmonary aspergillosis had diabetes.

A study published in the journal Nutrients last year looked at the impact of the beta-glucan content of mushrooms on human health, finding that on a cellular level fungi extract could be of use in the treatment of “recurrent infections of the respiratory tract or complications of major surgery”. Furthermore, in addition to “promising application of beta-glucans [..] on cancer”, researchers would like further opportunity to undertake human studies specifically in the betaglucans of mushrooms, in comparison to those of oat and barley. It is believed there could be protection offered to the cardiovascular system, also, due to mushrooms’ “bioactive phenolic compounds, vitamins, and mineral elements”.

In Fantastic Fungi, the medical mycological focus is on psilocybin, that area of psychedelic research shut down during Richard Nixon’s war on drugs. The files not reopened until 1999, it is hoped now that studies into psilocybin’s benefits to cancer patients and those with debilitating depression can be advanced, as trialled at John Hopkins University. What psilocybin permits is a gateway to the infinite and a loss of the fear of death for patients. The “stoned ape hypothesis” having been proposed by ethnomycologist Dr Dennis McKenna and his brother, Charles, Dennis explains that “two million years is nothing when it comes to evolution” and that “language is essentially synaesthesia”, prompted by a trip on mushrooms. After all, mycelium networks are basically memory membranes and the brain’s plasticity provides possibilities of neurogenesis. The Mayans, that ancient mycophillic culture, even had mushroom stones to worship. Ethnomycology looks at the historic and sociological uses of fungi, notably psilocybin. Pioneered as a serious field of study by Robert Gordon Wasson in the late 1950s, the McKennas furthered Wasson’s research. Yet, mycelium is also being used to craft furniture and coffins and even “create habitats in lunar missions”. Sci-Fi fans amongst our readership are probably right now thinking, “Well, yes: Space is the final frontier, after all”… But to return to Fantastic Fungi, Michael Pollan, author of This Is Your Mind on Plants, and also author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma (as well as he of the muchrepeated mantra “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants”), finds himself explaining that “if we didn’t have fungi, we would have a blanket of plant matter that would choke the Earth”. The Omnivore’s Dilemma was critiqued back in 2006 upon its release, by Tyler Cowen for The Slate. However, rather than dive too deep into Pollan’s exploration of the use of fossil fuels to process corn to feed livestock (as well as humans), instead of utilising the sun to grow grass to feed the livestock in the “supply chain” or how when transportation costs are taken into account imported Chilean grape consumption becomes the equivalent of petroleum drinking – it is in his more recent The Botany of Desire (2001) in which he discusses the concept of “co-evolution”, how humans have a historic and ongoing evolutionary relationship with four plants in particular: apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes, fitting – respectively – our appetite for sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control. Where, then, does fungi fit in?

In one breath, 10 fungal spores can be inhaled without us knowing. Certainly, biomimicry inventor, Jay Harman believes mycelium are the dominant species. Stating that mycelium have “more networks than our brain has neural pathways”, similarly working with electrolytes and electrical pulses along a network design that rivals the intricacy of the internet, Dr Suzanne Simard of the University of British Colombia adds that plants put 70% of the carbon dioxide they ingest below the surface, where once stable it can be stored for thousands of years – what lay underneath our feet is another world, absolutely full of potential. For one thing, research is beginning to show that plants can recognise their own kin…

In fact, the IUCN together with Re:Wild has called for fungi to be recognised as “critical to protecting and restoring Earth”, focussing initial efforts on the situation in Chile. Stating that fungi need to be worked into conservation strategies, that “there would be no life […] without fungi”, the IUCN and Re:Wild have identified “yeast, moulds, and mushrooms [as being] critical to decomposition and forest regeneration, mammalian digestion, carbon sequestration, the global nutrient cycle, antibiotic medicine, and the bread, beer, and chocolate we consume.”

In short, without mycelium, we would not be the species we are today. We split from mycelium some 650 million years ago, dividing into fungi and animals. Now, as a higher-consciousness being, isn’t it time we returned to our interconnected roots and reintegrated the marvellous mysteries of fungi and mushrooms into all that we do today and, importantly, tomorrow?