Lentinula edodes (Lent-e.) = Shitake/= Oak. Mushroom/= Golden. Oaks.
Vergleich: Siehe: Fungi + Speisepilzen + adaptogen
Shiitake wird in Asien der „Gesundheitsbewahrer“ genannt, ein regelmäßiger Verzehr wird empfohlen.
In der makrobiotischen und vegetarischen Ernährung wird Shiitake als Ersatz für Fleisch geschätzt.
Allergien, Bronchitis, Asthma, Herz & Kreislauf, Unruhe, Schlaf, entzündungshemmend, Infekte, Erkältung/Grippe, Erschöpfung/Burn-out, Ateriosklerose,
Cholesterin, Bluthochdruck, Rheuma, Gicht, Arthritis, Magen/Darm, antiviral/antibakteriell, stark basenbildend
Arteriosklerose, Cholesterin
Bluthochdruck
Arthritis, Rheuma, Gicht
Grippe, Erkältung
Leberschutz
Zielorgane: Gefäße, Blut, Lunge, Leber
[Chetna Shukla]
* Saprophytic.
* Tough, pliant, as old leather.
* Prefers forest shade where cold water is nearby.
* Growth stimulated by vibration.
* Lowers level of total cholesterol.
* Shiitake dermatitis [flagellate skin lesions], resembling effects of
self-flagellation.
* Dermatitis < sunlight.
* Cap umbrella-shaped, dark reddish brown when young, becoming lighter
with age.
* Cap has fine white threadlike tufts or scales, especially toward the
edges.
* The dried cap becomes cracked, taking on the appearance of old
leather.
* Stalk short and very tough (name from lentus, tough or pliant)
centrally attached to cap.
* Gills off-white; spores pure white.
* Spring and fall.
* Saprophytic (wood decomposer); on dead or dying deciduous trees (oak,
maple, alder, chestnut, beech).
The family Tricholomataceae contains many edible species: Pleurotus
ostreatus (oyster mushroom), Tricholoma flavovirens (man-on-horseback),
Armillariella mellea
(honey mushroom), Armillaria ponderosa (matsutake), Marasmius oreades
(fairy ring mushroom), Clitocybe nuda (blewit), and Lentinula edodes.
* Shiitake has been bandied about in different genera; it has been
called Cortinellus edodes, Cortinellus shiitake, Armillaria shiitake, and
Tricholomopsis edodes,
but more recently it has been regarded as a Lentinula.
The name shii applies to an evergreen tree, Castanopsis cuspidata, on
which it grows; take means mushroom. Shiitake, named Xiang-gu in China, is
widely used in oriental cuisine and said to be the third most popular culinary
mushroom in the world (1. button mushroom = Agaricus bisporus/2. oyster
mushroom). For 2.000 years the Japanese
and Chinese have cultivated it by boring holes in recently cut logs of
oak, hornbeam or chestnut, soaked in water, and inoculating them with pieces of
wood decayed by
the fungus. The logs are hammered or vibrated from time to time to
stimulate mycelial growth, a practice known since the 14th century, when logs
were beaten with a club
to "wake up" the fungus. Between 6 - 18 months the fruiting
bodies appear.
Contains: K + Fe + Cu + stem: Mn + Zn
+ niacin + vitamins A and C and B [B1 (thiamine) + B2 (riboflavin) +
B12] + sun-dried: vitamin D; 4 or 5 mushrooms irradiated
with sunlight equal the daily recommended allowance of 400 international
units of vitamin D.
* In traditional Chinese
medicine, shiitake is used to treat high cholesterol, atherosclerosis, colds,
and flu.
Contemporary cases of colds being "cured" when shiitake is
taken are reportedly numerous in Japan. According to the late Kisaku Mori,
former head of the Mushroom Research Institute of Japan, shiitake was regarded
as a cure for colds during the Ming dynasty some six hundred years ago. But it
wasn’t until the 1960s that medical researchers began to ask why.
As early as 1966, Kenneth W. Cochran and colleagues at the University of
Michigan at Ann Arbor discovered that shiitake could produce a highly
significant level of protection against a type A influenza. Type A flu viruses
are the ones that create major outbreaks and can become epidemic and even
pandemic, spreading from continent to continent. With the injection of a
"crude" mushroom extract, the average number of lung lesions in mice
in the wake of flu infection decreased by 46%. The clinically proven
anti-influenza drug amantadine hydrochloride produced a comparable 40% score.
Later evidence showed the anti-influenza action could partly be attributable to
shiitake¹s spores. Made up into a water extract, the spores proved more active
than the mushroom. Besides the stem and cap, in smaller amounts, the
particle-sized spores also showed up in the mycelium, even after heat treatment
to 33° C (91° F.). This research was taken deeper when the active part of the
spores was isolated and it was found that they held "virus-like
particles" similar in structure to an influenza virus. The discovery that
these particles had induced the body’s own production of
interferon - a powerful protein component of the immune system that
literally interferes with viral reproduction - and in amounts sufficient to
protect against influenza, inspired much more intensive research.
When extractives from the virus-like particles consisting of
double-stranded RNA were used, anti-tumor effects were found as well. The
effect was stronger than that of an interferon-inducing drug known today as
Ampligen (polyribonucleotide), but the spore products were never developed into
a drug, probably because the amount of interferon induced by Ampligen is 4x
that of the mushroom RNA.
[Jones 1995]
* Reproducible effects of shiitake in lowering the level of total cholesterol
have been demonstrated.
*The use of a broth of shiitake stems as a cure for liver ailments and
diabetes by the ancient Chinese is probably attributable to the high zinc
content of the stems. Among the functions of zinc in the human body are insulin
activity and maintaining healthy liver function.
*Japanese and Chinese researchers claim that lentinan, a polysaccharide
isolated from the shiitake mushroom, is helpful in the treatment of cancer,
heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Modifying the activity of the
immune system, lentinan has been used successfully to treat stomach cancers.
Another well-studied preparation with proven pharmacological effects is LEM,
Lentinula edodes mycelium, which is harvested before the cap and stem grow. In
Japan, lentinan is classified as a drug, whereas LEM is considered a food
supplement.
*Laboratory tests seem to point to an important role of the
adrenal-pituitary axis and central-peripheral nervous system, including
serotonin, 5HT, histamine, and catecholamines in lentinan’s antitumour activity
(Maeda et al, 1974).
* In Japan, lentinan is often used to help support immune function in
cancer patients during chemotherapy (for instance cyclophosphamide), often
leading to increased survival times. It is well known that such
chemotherapeutic agents can lead to severe immune suppression.
* Lentinan does not attack cancer cells directly, but produces its
antitumour effect by activating different immune responses in the host. This
activation was at first thought to occur only in immune-compromised animals,
but not in healthy animals and was called an immunorestorative agent, but
recent work has uncovered a true immunopotentiating effect, by showing a
clearly augmenting effect on the proliferation of peripheral mononuclear cells
from healthy human donors, which is also supported by animal studies (Aoki,
1984).
* Lentinan works through both humoral and cell-mediated immune
mechanisms to support host defense against various cancers, bacteria
(tuberculosis), viruses (such as the AIDS virus), and parasites (Aoki, 1984;
Mizuno et al, 1992).
*Lentinan may also be useful in clinical practice for strengthening
immune and endocrine functions of elderly people and people who are run-down
from overwork, as well
as the prevention of cancer in high-risk individuals, both orally and by
injection (Aoki, 1984). In Japan, in the treatment of low natural killer cell
syndrome [LNKS], a disease that appears to be identical to chronic fatigue
syndrome in the West, lentinan was successful in reversing the symptoms of
remittent fever, persisting fatigue, and low NK cell activity (Aoki et al,
1987). (Hobbs 1995)
*No toxic effects have been reported, only "minor" side
effects or allergic reactions (due to its histamine-sensitizing properties)
including diarrhea and "numerous cases of shiitake dermatitis."
"In a phase II trial, only 17 of 185 patients with advanced cancer had
similar transitory side effects. Skin eruptions were noted in 7 cases, mild
oppression on the chest, 6 cases, and mild liver dysfunction, 4 cases. In a
follow-up phase III trial by the same researchers, 15 out of 275 patients
experienced nausea and vomiting (2), heaviness in the chest (4), heat sensation
(2), and one case each of face flushing, a rise in blood pressure, and
heaviness in the head." [Hobbs]
*People taking anticoagulant medicines are advised against consuming
Shiitake beyond occasional use in foods since the mushroom has been reported to
hinder blood coagulation.
* Shitake dermatitis is characterised by flagellate skin lesions, so
called because they resemble the effects of self-flagellation in medieval
people. The lesions consist of edematous, erythematous streaks occurring in a
centripetal distribution over the trunk and proximal extremities and have alternatively
been described as Œlinear streaks and Œzebra-like strope eruption.
Photosensitive skin lesions on exposed areas are an accompanying factor.
Analysis of the case histories of 94 Japanese patients with shiitake dermatitis
has shown that 47% also developed dermatitis on the skin exposed to sunlight.
It has been observed, in addition, that flagellate dermatitis is not rare as a
drug eruption following bleomycin therapy. (Bleomycin is an antibiotic, derived
from Streptomyces verticillus, used in the treatment of cancers. A side effect
of bleomycin is)
*The shiitake is a forest fungus that prefers shady places. It inhabits
cool temperate regions. The logs on which it is cultivated are left in shady
parts of the forest or shaded forest conditions are artificially simulated. Its
contents, particularly the lentinan, decrease markedly at temperatures higher
than 20° C. In this context it is striking that the dermatitis evoked by eating
shiitake, in sensitive persons, is aggravated by exposure to sunlight.
PROVER 1
(She is a homoeopath, 35 years. Having participated already in a few
provings. Her constitution is not known.)
She was the one who prepared the medicine on 11th day of June 2004
Day 1
While I was preparing the medicine I moved my neck to look for something
in the left and it clicked. After that I have a pain in the neck-it seems to be
starting from the base of the skull and the occipital prominence. The platysma
muscles got stiff. Every time I moved my neck to the left it clicked. The pain
also seems to be going to the vertex.
And every movement is painful and heavy.
The eyes started to burn, that was better washing with tap water. For a
while to relieve this stiffness I tried sleeping in the Jesus position
(straight on the back with arms stretched), but it didn’t help much-the relief
lasted only till I stayed in this position. While sitting up from this position
I felt the head very heavy on the shoulders.
It was as if it was an effort to lift it. It was as if the weight of the
head was more than I could carry. I was conscious that I was carrying my head
on my shoulders.
It was already shower time so I went for a shower. The pain continued
till I slept. No dreams in the night.
Day 2
When I woke up in the morning I had a feeling as if I had slept the whole
night in the right lateral position. I did not have the neck pain and cracking.
But in the morning I felt as if time was moving slowly. Saw patients
continuously from 10 – 16 h. without feeling hungry! And in the sun I walked
empty stomach without feeling weak. I ate my lunch at 5 p.m. and I didn’t feel
sleepy after lunch. At 7 h. started to feel the burning in the eyes again.
There was no head heaviness and neck pain. I realized that my skin of the face
on the cheeks was getting dry and peeling-the way it peels in winter or after
exposure to strong sun. I had to apply some cream as it felt very dry.
Day 3
I felt none of the symptoms I felt in the last two days. But in the
afternoon I realized that I developed a painful callosity on the undersurface
of the great toe of the left foot.
It was tender and painful even on soft touch. I had to walk with my
great toe extended up as even the touch of the footwear caused a knife like
pain. In the night at bedtime
I applied some cream.
Day 4
Sunday, I woke up very late. It was a nice day. No dreams during the
night. I went shopping for myself and to my surprise I bought floaters that
were of the design for men.
I liked them and felt I needed them for the trip to the Himalayas. In
the evening as usual our family was together and we had a nice time.
Day 5
In the morning I took the dose with the first prover who came to collect
the dose. The clinic was like usual. I came home had lunch. I did not feel like
having the mango today. I lay down in bed in the afternoon and I felt a
shortness of breath as if I would get an attack of asthma. I felt as if
something was stuck in the throat and felt tightness in the chest over the
sternal region. A burning sensation at the throat pit with a lump feeling. This
vanished as I sat up. In the evening I wore the floaters to get used to them
before wearing them on the trek. I didn’t like the look of them-they looked
very huge and manly to me today! But they were very comfortable. Than I told
myself “we have to set trends, whatever we wear will be fashion for us!” after
this I could walk comfortably without any embarrassment on the streets. The
callosity had vanished.
Day 6
I was woken up by the telephone ring at 8 but with the memory of the
dream that I had in the night.
Dream* the first sequence is that I am on the steps of a temple high up
on a rocky hill with barren land surrounding it. I see a couple in the scooter
with a sidecar in light pink clothes. Their clothes were flying in the air and
with the wind and I had a feeling that they were searching for me. But I did
not want to meet them; I was trying to avoid them, as I did not feel like
talking to them.
Any ways they could not see me as I was up on the steps.
The scene than changes, I see me shopping in the temple corridors. There
were on sale two skulls of hyenas, some musical instruments and other things. I
go to have a look
at these skulls. On closer look I realize that one of the skulls is of
the dog and it has been manipulated to look like that of the hyena. I tell the
shopkeeper-a lady- that the
skull is manipulated. She says if you want two than she can get it in
some days as one of the hyenas in the forest is dying so she can get it for me!
There were no feeling attached to the dream sequence in the dream. But
on waking up I felt very different. Although there were no feelings attached it
was weird for me
to dream like this.
It was raining heavily and I felt like not going to work but I did go.
Clinic was as usual. In the afternoon I slept from 4 to 7 (unusual). When I had
cramps in the lower abdomen I realized that my menses that were due for the 10th
got delayed, I also did not have the breast heaviness that I have been getting
before menses since sometime.
In the night I felt the same suffocating feeling in the throat as if I
would get asthma.
Day 7
I observe a fast every Tuesday. Nothing unusual happened in this day. I
had promised to give these extra kilos of mushroom to a friend. But I called
him and said that my mother would like to try them as they have
anti-cholesterol properties (I read from the notes that you have sent to me.
They also have anti tumor properties and my mom has duct cell carcinoma of the
breast.)
Day 8
A dreamless night. Woke up with prayers for my mother “god heal her,
help her heal herself”. In lunch she served me the shiitake mushroom and I
hated the smell of it.
I could not gather any courage to put them in my mouth. My mother and
the rest of my family ate them gladly, but I could not.
I saw that I have developed blepharitis on my upper eyelids. The skin of
the cheeks got clear.
Day 9
My family and I noticed that I have developed a funny habit in the last
few days. For any decision I say let us throw chits. I told her that we will
decide while on the pilgrim by throwing two chits labeled ‘to go’ and ‘not to
go’ at the foot of the lord and than you chose one. I will follow accordingly!
They laughed at me and said this was very funny of me. I was not able to take
the step. All this while I was sure I will not go and now I wanted my destiny
to be decided by a piece of paper. The feeling behind this was that ‘God would
be deciding through my mother’, secondly ‘I had no responsibility of taking the
decision’ and this ‘would free me of the guilt I would have otherwise had
if I had to take this decision’.
Day 10
Today was the second day of menses and I had pain and cramps with rectal
tenesmus. Each time I got the cramp I had to crap (evacuate), the stools were
crumbling.
After evacuation I felt better in the cramp. The pain vanished by
evening. In the night I had a backache. It was a burning pain in the thoraco
lumbar region. This pain was better by extending backwards-the stretch relieved
the pain. I felt like applying balm, but I refrained.
I realized I have developed a callosity on the tip of the first finger
of my right hand. The right eye seemed to be developing a stye in the outer
canthii of the lower lid with pain every time I blinked.
Day 11
I developed a boil on the flexor aspect of the upper arm close to the
axilla. The shortness of breath still continues without any specific modality,
with this shortness I also feel
a lump in the throat. I also feel a pain in the sternal bone on
pressure. Backache still there.
Day 12
Today I noticed that I have been feeling an empty all gone sensation in
the stomach with a nausea that ends in the throat. But this has not affected my
appetite.
There is a boil developing on the olecranon process of my left clavicle.
It is painful with sharp knife like pains.
Day 13
The neck aches again. The head feels heavy for the shoulders. It is
difficult for me to carry my regular bag. I have to carry it like a baby, not
on my shoulders or carrying in
my hands. Eyes burn every evening.
Today I was fasting again. Mood was getting very hopeful in these days I
realized. I think since Sunday. I was travelling by train and (unlike me) I
started a conversation
with strangers (co passengers). And when one of them asked me what I do
I said, “I do nothing, I am a housewife”. I don’t know why I wanted to hide my
identity as a homoeopath.
Day 14
The neck is still hurting and the back too. But by morning the back gets
better. Most complaints I feel are worst in the night. Today morning the nausea
ended in a vomit. I could not retain the tea. The nausea was there till 5 h.
that is the time I ate my meal. Thereafter I slept from 6 till 7. The sleep was
very deep and I woke when the telephone ring awakened me. I felt as sudden lack
of power as I woke up-no power all over.
These days I also realized that I sit for minutes doing nothing, nothing
in fact-no thinking too. I am not lost, but I am just sitting still. It is a
state of no activity-in body and mind!
Day 15
In the preparation of the pilgrim I was not aware of what was happening.
But I had some dreams that I do not recollect. By now I realized that I had
developed an eczematous eruption on the skin over the medial aspect of the left
middle finger extending from the nail bed to the middle inter-phalangeal joint.
There was no itching at all.
From 26th June to the 15th July
During the trip I noticed that this eczema started to get better and
while I write this (15th July) it has completely cleared. It is as if there is
nothing now. I noticed that this got better after I had a dip in the ‘Taptkund’
(hot water spring-essentially Sulphur in it) at ‘Yamnotri’ (the origin of the
holy river ‘Yamuna’ that starts from the Himalayas) on the 2nd July.
I had three dreams during the trip…
On the 4th July…
* I was coming home from somewhere and I had to attend a conference
where all homoeopaths from world over were put up in a big, huge house. It was
a dormitory accommodation. While entering the building I meet my friend Katka,
I tell her I will put my bags and come and see you soon. But while searching
for my room my bag gets thrown around and it breaks, all my clothes get
scattered and I am trying to arrange them in the bag and now they do not fit in
the space available. I somehow manage with difficulty. I am searching for the
room but I get lost. Everything seems like chaos!
I could not find the room, I could not meet Katka, I could not arrange
the bag and I feel chaotic and lost in the vastness of this house.
On the night of 7th – 8th July when I was at
‘Kedarnath’ (the temple of Lord Shiva) and in the morning I had to go early (at
5 h.) for the pooja…
* I see my mother and me walking towards my clinic. The feeling is that
that both my brothers are dead. She decides not to come and goes back home. I
come to my clinic
and see everything under renovation. The tiles of the floor half done,
the walls being painted and a lot of patients sitting the waiting room waiting
to be attended by the locum doctor. I announce that I won’t be available for a
while. I feel lonely, left alone in this world without anyone. The feeling is
that my sister in law with my nephews will decide to go away to her maiden
house, now that she is a widow. I am all alone in this world without the
protection of my brothers. I wake up weeping. In the train while coming back on
the 13th July…
*I dream that I am watching a photo-frame hanging on the wall given to
me by my friend. It had three rats with large front teeth (incisors) arranged
in a triangle around
a flower with their mouths meeting in the center of the triangle where
lies the flower. It looks a bit scary. While I am watching I feel ‘what if they
come alive?’ and to my surprise in the next scene I see that I am trying to lay
a trap to drive away these wild rats out of the house which looks like a studio
apartment. There are no floor tiles but
only rough cement surfacing on the floor. I am closing all the windows
and leaving just the door open for them to leave. I put all the properties of
the house above the ground.
I am scared that they will bite into my body but it is also important to
drive them out of the house.
I came home in the morning of 14th. While I was removing the covers from
the bed I saw the feaces (small balls) of the rat on the bed. I went into the
kitchen where I saw
the edges of the newspaper covering the utensils for use eaten at the
edges by a rat. With a little fear in me I told my family that I see signs of a
rat/s as a guest in our house. (The housekeeper must have left the windows open
by mistake when she came to clean the house before our arrival.) This brought
alive the dream in my mind. We laid a trap in the night but there was no rat in
the mousetrap and no other signs of his presence in the morning.
In the physicals…
1. Three days in a row- 29th to 1st July I bit my
cheeks in the left side while eating.
2. I had desquamation of the skin of the forehead (from 1st
to the 6th July).
3. I developed pimples in the left nostril (from 4th to the
12th July).
4. I did not feel tired at all despite a hectic schedule. I was fresh all
the time in the body.
5. I have developed pain in the left ankle and the left knee. The pain
in the left knee < squatting .The type of pain in the ankle and the knee is
sudden, sharp and pinching. I feel it like gout? The pain is not aggravated
walking…no other modality.
I also noticed one thing during the pilgrim I never told anyone that I
was a doctor. If I introspect, the reason was to avoid unnecessary questions
from people for remedies for their ailments-‘the Quickies’! I wanted to avoid
the explanations that I had to give to people about case taking and the
homoeopathic approach every time I said I was a homoeopath. Although I gave
first aid to two pilgrims during the trip (when I saw they needed it, I said I
was a doctor and could help them if they accepted it.) I also requested my
brothers not to proclaim to everyone that I was a doctor unless they were
really inquisitive. I also did not want to lie.
The days went by as a routine after the 15th July. I noticed
nothing new and different.
PROVER 2
(25-year homoeopath, her constitution not known. She had participated in
the proving of the Tiger’s urine and this was her second proving. She is very
much fond of surgery so assists a Cardio Thoracic surgeon from morning to
evening and practices homoeopathy in the evening. I met her first when my
mother was operated on her heart by this surgeon. I saw her very much dedicated
and sincere in her work. She is very lively and talkative.)
First report
Verbatim as given in writing…
Dose taken on 18. 06.04 in the night at 22.30 h.
19.06.04
Early morning at 2 h. sudden onset of throat pain, left pharyngeal wall.
A lumpy feeling that came on empty swallowing and better by drinking warm
water; pain in touching the throat from outside, with sneezing and nasal
discharge-whitish. This lasted for one day only. I also had increased frequency
of urination – 2x at night and 7x during the day.
20.06.04
Boil on the left breast 1cm x 1cm, below the nipple in the inferior
quadrant, sudden onset, painful, slight pus discharge. I noticed in the
evening. It disappeared on plucking it.
21.06.04
Leucorrhoea-profuse, thick and albuminous with sensation of wetness in
the vagina (since 19th it started), non-offensive, not staining.
All the three days I had a desire for rice- fried/seasoned/mutton pulao
(rice).
Second report
(Accident: She had sent to me these handwritten notes by courier. But I
have still not received them till date. We lost them. She got them delivered to
me through a common friend.)
In the last few days I developed acne on my face, more on the forehead.
They were pustular.
There has been profuse sweating, non offensive, non-delible. The sweat
on the face is oily and greasy. I have to wash my face 5-6x daily. Even after a
bath I feel oily I the face.
I had earache for one day, right ear. There was no cold no cough with
the ear pain. It was a dull ache.
This week I developed a boil on the right side on the chest, not the
breast, it was non pustular, small red and fiery. The next morning it started
to subside.
The desire for rice has gone.
I got ‘pissed off’ (angry) on my family when my grand mother got ill. I
felt all the responsibilities are ‘thrusted’ on me! I felt no one is there to
shoulder them. I felt only
I am doing anything. I need to be helped by them.
They waited for me to get her admitted. This at least they can do. It
can be done by anybody. This time I created a tantrum while she was to be
admitted. Finally my mother had to tell me to behave myself. I feel that I am
not capable of taking responsibility. If they did this much, it would be a
little less work.
I had one dream…
“ I see a small snake in the water tank with other inconspicuous fishes.
On its tip at the face end it had a sharp projection. It keeps hitting on the
lid of the tank-as if trying to open it. After several attempts it manages to
open the lid and comes out. It comes out of the tank and starts to follow me.
It is running after me. My grand mother tries to hit
it with a stick but it runs away. It hides behind the mattress on the
bed and tells me ‘main tujhe chodunga nahin’ (‘I won’t leave you’)”
In the dream I feel ‘surprised’ as to how this ‘chintu’ (tiny little
inconspicuous thing) manage to open the thick lid of the glass tank.
I got my periods two days earlier. This time they were very, very, very,
very painful. The bleeding started at 9 h. without pain and by 9.30 thee pain
started. By 10.30 the pain was so sever that everyone could see it on my face.
I had to come home. I had nausea with the pain all the way back home. I vomited
everything. I took a hot water bag on the abdomen and went to lie down in bed.
Never in my life I have vomited during menses.
In the evening I hired a rickshaw to go to the hospital. The driver
asked me while I was getting down if I were a doctor in this hospital. I said,
“No, I am not. I have come here to visit a patient” I hid my identity that I
was a doctor. I don’t know why?
I had one more horrible dream about a patient who is on bed 2/18 in the
I.C.U…
“In the hospital this patient is on bed no 2/15 and was operated on the
heart. In the dream I see him not feeling well. Sir says to get the wheel chair
or the deathbed and he is shifted on it and mobilize him.”
In reality this patient already got better and went home. But the next morning
a woman who was operated and was on this bed 2/15 was to be transferred to the
primary care out of the I.C.U. She was being transferred to the ward on the
wheel chair and suddenly she collapsed and died. It was the same sequence as in
the dream but with a different patient. I felt did I see it before it happened?
I also had throat pain with rawness. It was a sensation as if scraped
from inside on swallowing with greenish phlegm, and pain radiating to the right
ear.
I feel I pass more urine, profuse urine. I have to wake up in the night
to pass urine.
I had one more dream in which I saw you. I don’t know if it was my dream
or my imagination. I see that…
“ We are sitting facing each other across a table. I am telling you my
proving symptoms and suddenly your eyes turn bluish stone like. They are
shining. They become big and converge to become one. Now you have only on eye
in the middle. You look dreadful. But I am not afraid. I only think that you
are making me an ‘MTV Bakra’*
*In this programme there is a hidden
camera and one person is targeted (Bakra) and made a fool of. It is similar to
“Just for Laughs” program.
Third report
I again got a pimple on the right breast.
I have been getting a lot of dreams. One I remember, in it I was an
‘Aatma’ (spirit) and I was standing in a group with a lot of people and I am
not aware that I am an Aatma; someone makes me aware that I am one. It means
that I am dead. I also have been seeing a lot of dying scenes. I saw a dead
puppy, and a dead rat.
I had a spotty pain in the right arm, very tender to touch.
I was fighting a lot with my sister and my mother. My mood is horrible.
I have no fights as such and after the fights I didn’t even go to patch up. I
did not talk to my sister for 4 days. I felt ‘go to hell, why should I go to
patch up?’
I have also been making a lot of mistakes in writing. I had to write
‘Bombay’ and I wrote ‘Dombay’. Many such mistakes in writing and in speaking
too.
Belated report…
I had thought that it had all stopped but the other day when I SMS you I
got urticaria since morning. It got aggravated after bathing. It got better but
in the evening it was worse between 3-4. The next day it again got worse in the
morning on waking up, it got worse after bathing. Than in the evening I felt
ice application would help and it relieved immediately. This lasted for 7 days
and than it was better.
I keep having dreams of …
*‘Atma’. I see my
mother floating in the air like a spirit.
These are not my dreams. I also had one strange dream-sexual…
* There is this uncle (whom I respect very much) wanted to have oral sex
with me. My grandmother is also there in the room. She expects me to say a yes.
I keep saying a no but than I give in to the demand. Suddenly I feel what am I
doing?
I also noticed a spotty pain; it is tender in this spot that is over the
right deltoid. It was for 3-4 days.
PROVER 3
(A 31-year female homoeopath. She receives Calc-brom as her constitution
from her homoeopath. She is married with a child aged 4. Since the marriage she
has stopped to practice as her husband had a travelling job. Her parents always
wanted her to continue work but she could not gather any courage to take
permission from her in laws and her husband. She had already reconciled with
this fact until this proving…)
First meeting
I took the dose on the morning of 14th July.
“ When you contacted me for the proving I felt I wanted to do it. I told
my husband that I am doing a proving. I did not feel that I need to take his
consent, I just informed him. I never was in two minds like always-should I ask
him permission, ask him for a yes or no to do it, take his opinion whether to
do it or not. I took the dose and I told him that I am participating in the
proving with you!
He said a no and I said whether you say a no or a yes, I will be doing
it. I have already taken the dose. He also did not say anything and there were
no issues.
Now I can easily leave my son (4 years) with my mother in law everyday.
I would normally feel how will she manage, she is old and felt guilty. Now I
feel he is 4 and he can manage on his own, she just has to be around and it is
not going to stress he. I could reason this without any guilt feelings.
Every time my mother in law would ask me to drop her somewhere by car I
could not say a no. I would feel pity, guilty telling her a no. This time I
said a ‘no’ without feeling bad.
I have developed a pain in the right foot from the 17th June with
swelling of the great toe. I don’t know why there was pain and a little redness
too. I had no injury too.
On the 18th my moods were very depressed. I felt a constant feeling of
boredom. I did not know what I wanted. I feel sometimes like this before
menses, but I was not even due for them.
On the 19th moods were normal, no pain in the foot.
I dream but I do not remember them.
On the 22nd I had a dream…
* I was going somewhere with my husband. It was a crowded place. There
were some boys and girls. It seemed like a college place. They misbehave, or
pass some comment
on the principal. I tell him not to tell the names of these students to
the principal, because if us their lives / future will be spoiled if they are
rusticated by the principal.
He does not tell their names and some students are listening our
conversation. When we come out they shake hands with us and are happy.
In this dream my husband listens to me (in reality I am the way I am the
way he wants!)
Second meeting
I keep feeling that I have no value. I must get independent. I must be independent
enough to decide what I want to wear (clothes), what I want to shop, what I
must do in life. I never decide, everything is according to his choice.
I also have a lot of arguments with him these days. I used to do it
before too but now there is anger –as a feeling within and also demonstrated.
The other day while I was working in the kitchen he came to help me
saying come I will help you cut vegetables and peel potatoes. I said ‘No’,
sternly with anger.
I said ‘I don’t need help for these minor things, I need your support
for other things’. Here what I meant was getting independent. I don’t want to
depend on anybody.
I feel that I don’t just get time for myself, for what I want to do, to
do what I am capable of, to do what I am qualified for. I am only doing things
for my husband and my son and I don’t get time for myself. I don’t mean that I
will neglect house but as a doctor I need to put my qualifications to use, and
certain odd jobs that I am doing can be done by others (without qualifications,
I mean employ servants). They like it when others daughter in law are working
and pursuing a career. But when it comes to their daughter in law they don’t
like he going out!
A lot of times I was grumbling and irritated and told everyone to ‘mind
your own business’.
I have been thinking to join someone to get update with the advancements
in medicine and homoeopathy. I have left it since the last 6 years. I keep
feeling that now my son will go to school from 9 - 4, what will I do at home?
I must start working with someone. I know they will not like it but
eventually they will get used to it. (Smiles!) It is not that I want to avoid
or run away from housework,
but it is the feeling to put my qualifications and intellectual
capabilities to good use!
I feel I have become strong…(thinks) no, assertive is the right word!
Physicals…the sweat smelled. It was not offensive but some sort of a
sweaty smell. My son said mom you smell. It was for 4 days and than it got
better.
Hunger increased for spicy food and sweets. I feel like having something
sweet in my mouth. I ate a lot of cream biscuits, bourbon biscuits and other
Indian sweets.
My regular onion eating is gone down (I used to love onions and garlic.
I ate everyday one raw onion before, now I don’t)
PROVER 4
(A male prover 39 years successful in his own business. He had
participated in the Rudraksh proving with me. His constitution is unknown to
me.)
I have not maintained day-to-day account of the notes but I will tell
you what changes I have noticed in myself. I have become very regular and
consistent with all my responsibilities towards myself. I was always the kind
who would do something with enthusiasm for few days and than forget about it
totally. But since the last 3 weeks
I am daily doing my Yoga exercises early in the morning. However late I
have slept in the night I wake up and do the exercises and only than start my
day. I feel committed
to myself.
I always felt “I don’t know how my business is running, it is all God’s
grace, I have never been regular in work but everything goes well. I go
whenever I felt like” but now
I feel I must do it with commitment, fix a time for my attendance in the
office. I always used to wonder how I became such a good professional. Nowadays
I feel I am good in my work and I do it well and that is why everything is
going well. I do feel bored when alone but than some one comes along and time
passes well.
Even with people I feel I can recognize their intentions. For me
everyone was good. Even if somebody did harm to me I would think his point of
view and give “benefit of doubt”. The next time I would meet him I would have
forgotten about the incidence. Now I can see through the intentions of people.
I would always feel that the opposite person is right but now I can understand
without getting overwhelmed by them. The other day I realized the intention
behind my friend telling me something and I did not say anything, I did not
divulge some information. He was not straight enough to ask me directly, so I
was not straight with him too.
These days I have decided not to help everyone. I help only if I am
asked to help. I also don’t go out of my way to help others. I only help what
is within my capacity. I refuse for donations that I used to give freely
(without thinking whether they really deserve or not?).
I also bought a laptop. I wanted it with the previous old programmes
(Windows 98 and not XP and these days all are with XP). This time I did not pay
him the full amount.
I said come to my office show me that everything is working well,
operate all the ports in my clinic and than I will pay you the full amount. He
had to come and spend two hours. I found out two problems, got it corrected and
than restarted it, verified the functions and than paid him. I felt I am
learning the ways of life. Once they get the money and the laptop is yours they
do not attend to you well with the same enthusiasm. Normally I would believe in
his word and than get irritated that they are not professional and crib
afterwards. I hope this lasts… (laughing)! (In the Rudraksh proving I was happy
after the dream where I accept my mother’s death, I learnt to accept that
mothers could also die. I was before that not able to think my life without
her.)
But this itching when in company irritates me. I used to have it before.
It has come back, these are eruptions on the back side (dorsum) of the hand and
they itch. It looks bad. I feel better by washing in water, just wetting it.
I also have them on my feet. I remove my shoes and they start to itch. I
feel it looks bad especially when I am writing on the desk it can be seen by
others. I cannot hide it.
But these days I feel people find me more charming. Thrice I have
received this compliment.
I get negative thoughts in the morning on waking up. I feel always I cannot
do it. I don’t feel like waking up. I feel tired and want to sleep still. I get
thoughts about this work I won’t be able to do. This project will not come
through. Than I feel confident about myself. The day goes well.
I love to eat only fruits in the evening. I skip the meal and eat only
fruits, the ones in season…mangoes, peaches, pears, plums and bananas. In the
mornings for breakfast I feel like having bread and butter these days instead
of roti’s.
My sweat in the armpits smells these days.
I had one dream that I remember the others are long about day-to-day
events but I just do not remember. There has not been a single night without a
dream but I don’t remember them. This dream that I remember…
* I see me in the shop of my grandfather and suddenly there are riots
outside. I try to pull down the shutters from inside to protect myself. But I
am not able to latch it in time and the rioters try to come in. To protect
myself I get bricks and am hitting them. I hit them in a way being careful that
they are not killed. I keep hitting them with bricks feeling I don’t want to
hit them but I have to because I have to protect myself. If I don’t hit than I
will be no more. And I manage to get out of this scene unhurt and without
killing anybody.
I get a lot of dreams but I don’t remember them.
Do you also feel I look charming?
(I would agree there was an unusual glow on his face. He has always had
a pleasant personality, but there was something unusual about him. His wife (a
homoeopath) was happy with the change in him. She only hoped that it lasted!)
The intelligence of the Shiitake …
Intellect dissects, analyzes. It is the instrument of science.
Intelligence is the instrument of spirituality; it joins together. Hence the
greatest science of spirituality we have called Yoga (Yuj is union). Yoga means
the methodology to join. Yoga means to put things together. God is the greatest
totality; all things put together. God is not a person. God is a presence, the
presence when the total is functioning in a great harmony-the trees and the
birds and the earth and the stars and the moon and the sun and the rivers and
the oceans- all together. If you dissect you will never find God.
Dissect a man; you cannot find the presence that was making him alive.
Dissect the world; you cannot find the presence that is God.
Intelligence is the method to join things together. An intelligent
person is very synthetical. He always looks for a higher whole, because the
meaning is always in the higher whole. He always looks for something higher in
which the lower is dissolved and functions as a part, functions as a whole in
the harmony of the whole, gives its own contribution to the orchestra of the
whole but is not separate from it. Intelligence moves upwards, intellect moves
downward. Intellect goes to the cause; intelligence goes to the goal.”
Meanwhile I read Paulo Rosenbaum (Brazil) …
“Homoeopaths deal with fragments that do not make sense as wholes;
provings are compilations of many different individuals’ experiences. Most of
these fragments are mere links of some lost unity; therefore we must create a
qualitative synthesis in order to make the technique operative.”
Responsibility/ No Responsibility-
Neck, Shoulders, soles
• I had no responsibility of taking the decision’ and this ‘would free
me of the guilt I would have otherwise had if I had to take this decision.
• I do nothing, I am a housewife”. I don’t know why I wanted to hide my
identity as a homoeopath.
• I felt all the responsibilities are ‘thrusted’ on me! I felt no one is
there to shoulder them. I felt only I am doing anything.
• I feel that I am not capable of taking responsibility.
• I sit for minutes doing nothing, nothing in fact-no thinking too. I am
not lost, but I am just sitting still. It is a state of no activity-in body and
mind!
• It is not that I want to avoid or run away from housework, but it is
the feeling to put my qualifications and intellectual capabilities to good use!
• I have become very regular and consistent with all my responsibilities
towards myself.
• I feel I am good in my work and I do it well and that is why
everything is going well.
Physical representation:
1. Painful callosity on the surface beneath the great toe of the left
foot (the great toe area is the pressure bearing area in the sole-taking the
responsibility of bearing the weight of the whole body of the organism)
2. It was as if the weight of the head was more than I could carry. I
was conscious that I was carrying my head on my shoulders. The head feels heavy
for the shoulders
(an expression of too much responsibility.)
3. I realized I have developed a callosity on the tip of the first
finger of my right hand.
Indecisive/ Decision
• For any decision I say let us throw chits. I told her that we will
decide while on the pilgrim by throwing two chits labeled ‘to go’ and ‘not to
go’ at the foot of the lord and than you chose one.
• I never was in two minds like always-should I ask him permission, ask
him for a yes or no to do it, take his opinion whether to do it or not. I took
the dose and I told him
that I am participating in the proving with you!
Confidence self /
Assertiveness-Onions
• I told my husband that I am doing I proving. He said a no and I said
whether you say a no or a yes, I will be doing it.
• I could not say a no, I would feel pity, guilty telling her a no. This
time I said a ‘no’ without feeling bad.
• In this dream my husband listens to me (in reality I am the way I am
the way he wants!)
• I must get independent. I must be independent enough to decide.
• I found out two problems, got it corrected and than restarted it,
verified the functions and than paid him.
• I feel people find me more charming.
• Than I told myself “we have to set trends, whatever we wear will be
fashion for us!” after this I could walk comfortably without any embarrassment
on the streets.
Physical representation: My regular onion eating is gone down (I used to
love onions and garlic. I ate everyday one raw onion before, now I don’t.)
Author: This I classify as and in under confidence as I see food modalities
in the totality. Onions and Garlic are classified in Ayurveda as ‘Tamas’ or
Tamasic food.
These kinds of food increase the aggression in the system.
The non-attraction to the same in this prover who is now assertive is
proof enough that the system does not need outside help to pep up its
confidence! An assertive person needs no aggression!
Fight desire to/
Aggression-Boils, Abscesses, Throat affections of
(This is put as a theme after being highlighted by Frans)
• This time I created a tantrum.
• I got ‘pissed off’ (angry) on my family.
• I was grumbling and irritated and told everyone to ‘mind your own
business’.
• I also have a lot of arguments with him these days. I used to do it
before too but now there is anger –as a feeling within and also demonstrated.
• I said ‘No’, sternly with anger.
• Dream: To protect myself I get bricks and am hitting them. I hit them
in a way being careful that they are not killed. I keep hitting them with
bricks feeling I don’t want
to hit them but I have to because I have to protect
myself. If I don’t hit than I will
be no more.
• I would always feel that the opposite person is right but now I can
understand without getting overwhelmed by them.
• I refuse for donations that I used to give freely.
• Dream: Skull of Hyenas.
• Dream: (three rats with large front teeth (incisors)) I am scared that
they will bite into my body but it is also important to drive them out of the
house.
Physical representation: Having pustular boils also is an expression of
aggression, the expression of the fighting capacity (over fighting=pus) of the
gross mind (the body.)
Boil on the flexor aspect of the upper arm close to the axilla/ Boil
developing on the olecranon process of my left clavicle/Pimples in the left
nostril/ Boil on the left breast
1cm x 1cm, below the nipple in the inferior quadrant, sudden onset,
painful, slight pus discharge/
Acne on my face, more on the forehead. They were pustular.
Sphere of Action: Throat. It is an expression of verbal
communication-voice, “being able to voice one’s opinion” is one phrase that
expresses the body-mind unit.
Sensitivity, Society- Skin affections of
In these provers the sequence of narration of different symptoms/
weaving of different symptoms mean much more than what the words express. Within
the sequence lies another story…
* Prover 1: Dream: I had a feeling that they were searching for me. But
I did not want to meet them; I was trying to avoid them, as I did not feel like
talking to them.
* Prover 3: I feel I have become strong…(thinks) no, assertive is the
right word!
Physicals…the sweat smelled. It was not offensive but some sort of a
sweaty smell. My son said mom you smell. It was for 4 days and than it got
better.
* Prover 4: But this itching when in company irritates me. I used to have
it before. It has come back, these are eruptions on the back side (dorsum) of
the hand and they itch.
It looks bad. I feel it looks bad especially when I
am writing on the desk it can be seen by others. I cannot hide it. But
these days I feel people find me more charming. Thrice I have received this
compliment.
My sweat in the armpits smells these days.
* Prover 2: I also had increased frequency of urination-2 times in the
night and 7 times during the day.
All the three days I had a desire for rice- fried/seasoned/mutton pulao
(rice).
Author: In Chinese medicine Rice helps in replenishing the energies of
the kidneys that has to do with relationship with the outside.
Sphere of action: Skin is the largest human organ. It fullfills many
functions of which one is ‘separation and protection’ (the others are
respiration, perspiration, temperature regulation, expression, contact.)
Company/ Alone- Skin affections of
• Dream: I had a feeling that they were searching for me. But I did not
want to meet them; I was trying to avoid them, as I did not feel like talking
to them.
• Dream: I could not meet Katka, I could not arrange the bag and I feel
chaotic and lost in the vastness of this house.
• Dream: I am all-alone in this world without the protection of my
brothers. I wake up weeping.
• I don’t get time for myself.
• I do feel bored when alone but than some one comes along and time
passes well.
• But these days I feel people find me more charming. Thrice I have
received this compliment.
Skin, eruptions, itching: ‘But this itching when in company irritates
me’.
Menses/Feminity-
Self-surrender
Menses is an expression of female feminity, and self- surrender is a
central quality of female feminity. In Shiitake we see the following symptoms
in the female sphere…
* I had pain and cramps with rectal tenesmus. Each time I got the cramp
I had to crap (evacuate), the stools were crumbling. After evacuation I felt
better in the cramp.
* This time they were very, very, very, very painful. The bleeding
started at 9 h. without pain and by 9.30 thee pain started. By 10.30 the pain
was so severe that everyone could see it on my face. I had to come home. I had
nausea with the pain all the way back home. I vomited everything. (Prover 2)
* I felt ‘go to hell, why should I go to patch up?’(Prover 2)
The process of self-surrender involves a willingness to sacrifice a part
of one’s ego. The process of menstruation, we must not overlook, is also an
expression of the female’s sexual life. Menses is the throwing off of the dead
endometrium. Self-surrender is also a mini death of the ego.
What is seen in the proving is a development of the ego, confidence, and
assertion-a desire to be independent, and wanting other’s to mind their own
business. And the menstrual symptoms are the bodily expression of the same mini
death of the ego.
We see the same theme in the male prover as in the symptom…
‘These days I have decided not to help everyone. I help only if I am
asked to help. I also don’t go out of my way to help others. I only help what
is within my capacity.
I refuse for donations that I used to give freely (without thinking
whether they really deserve or not?)’.
[Shiitake - Lentinula edodes - König der Pilze]
Der Shiitake vereint 2 Eigenschaften in sich: zum einen hat er es nach dem Champignon auf Platz 2 der weltweit begehrtesten Speisepilze geschafft, zum anderen fasziniert
er Wissenschaftler aufgrund seines breiten Wirkungsspektrums.
In TCM sind die außerordentlich komplexen Wirkungen der Vitalpilze seit Jahrtausenden bekannt und hoch geschätzt. In der Volksrepublik China lassen sich derzeit ca. 40% aller Patienten mit traditioneller chinesischer Medizin behandeln. Die Entwicklung auf Naturstoffen basierender Pharmakologie ist dort in der Verfassung festgeschrieben.
In Japan wenden fast die Hälfte aller praktizierender Ärzte Medikamente der TCM an und betrachten den Shiitake als Gesundheitsbewahrer.
Inhaltsstoffe und Wirkungsweisen
In den letzten Jahren wurden die Aussagen asiatischer Erfahrungsmedizin bezüglich der Wirkungsweise des Shiitake nach wissenschaftlichen Testmethoden untersucht.
Es stellte sich heraus, dass der Shiitake viele Biovitalstoffe enthält. Dazu gehören Vitamine wie z.B. Folsäure, Niacin und Provitamin D, sowie Mineralstoffe, z.B. Eisen, Kalzium, Kalium und Zink. Darüber hinaus beinhaltet
er eine Vielzahl organischer Substanzen wie Glutamin-Verbindungen, Nukleotide (Moleküle, die lebensnotwendige regulatorische Funktionen in Zellen haben), essenzielle Aminosäuren, Peptide, organische Säuren und Glyconährstoffe. Aufgrund ihrer pharmakologischen Wirkung sind vor allem das Polysaccharid Lentinan sowie das Alkaloid Eritadenin von besonderer Bedeutung.
Am besten untersucht ist inzwischen das im Fruchtkörper und im Myzel vorkommende Polysaccharid Lentinan, das zu den „biological response modifiers“ gehört.
Diese bioaktiven Beta-Glucan-Fraktionen gelten als effiziente Stimulatoren des Immunsystems und verbessern die Ausschüttung von Immunglobulin IgA auf der Schleimhautoberfläche, erhöhen die Bildung von monozytenspezifischen T-Zellen und intensivieren die zytotoxische Wirkung der Makrophagen gegenüber Bakterien und Viren. Durch eine gesteigerte Immuntätigkeit konnten in verschiedenen Versuchen auch eine Verbesserung der körpereigenen Tumorabwehr und eine signifikante Verminderung bei der Tumorbildung nachgewiesen werden. Die Anti-Tumorwirkung ist auf die Induktion der Cytokine Interleukin-1a, Interleukin-2, Interferon-y und Tumornekrosefaktor alpha zurückzuführen. Durch die zusätzliche Einnahme von Shiitake bzw. daraus hergestellten Zubereitungen findet außerdem eine vermehrte Bildung spezieller Antikörper statt, wodurch sich ein zusätzlicher spezifischer immunologischer Schutz aufbauen kann. Positive Ergebnisse konnten auch bei HIV-infizierten Patienten erzielt werden. Lentinan wird beispielsweise in Japan zur unterstützenden Behandlung von Tumorpatienten eingesetzt und ist in den USA als Krebsmedikament zugelassen.
Dank des im Shiitake enthaltenen Lentinan wirkt der Pilz stark antiviral. Die Widerstandsfähigkeit gegenüber Virusinfektionen (z.B. Grippe) wird durch die tägliche Einnahme stark erhöht. Auch seine antibakterielle Wirkung gegen in Lebensmitteln vorkommende toxinbildende Bakterien konnte in In-vitro-Versuchen nachgewiesen werden.
Neben der Immunstimulierung hat der Shiitake einen positiven Einfluss auf den Lipidspiegel bzw. die Regulation des Cholersterinspiegels. Klinische Versuche zeigten, dass die Einnahme von Shiitakepilzen – frisch, getrocknet oder auch in pulverisierter Form – schon nach einer Woche den Gesamtserumcholersterolgehalt sowie den Gehalt an freiem Cholesterol signifikant senkte. Zudem zeigte sich, dass sie zur deutlichen Senkung des Spiegels an VLDL- und LDL-Cholesterol und zur Blutdrucksenkung beitrug.
Für den Einfluss auf den Lipidspiegel wird in erster Linie der Inhaltsstoff Eritadenin verantwortlich gemacht. Anders als die in Arzneimitteln verwendeten Statine, ist Eritadenin kein Hemmstoff der Cholesterolbiosynthese. Es aktiviert z.B. Lipoproteinrezeptoren in Leberzellen und fördert die Aufnahme von LDL in die Leber. Durch den Verzehr von Shiitake bzw. daraus hergestellten Präparaten besteht die Möglichkeit, dass Patienten mit Hyperlipidämien die Dosis von Statin reduzieren können und damit eine Minderung möglicher Nebenwirkungen von Statinen erreichen. Eritadenin verhindert zudem den Anstieg des Homocysteinspiegels. Da ein erhöhter Homocysteinspiegel einen Risikofaktor für Arteriosklerose darstellt, kann durch die Einnahme des Shiitake dieses Risiko gesenkt werden. Erstaunlich ist auch die Leberschutzfunktion des Shiitake: Versuche haben gezeigt, dass leberschädigende Substanzen die Leber weit weniger angriffen, wenn diese mit Extrakten aus Lentinula edodes behandelt wurden. Insbesondere konnte eine krankhafte Vermehrung des Bindegewebes in der Leber (Fibrose) verhindert werden.
Nicht weniger beeindruckend sind die Ergebnisse einer Studie, die den positiven Einfluss von Shiitake-Extrakten auf die Darmflora dokumentiert: Das Wachstum von probiotischen Bifidobakterien und Laktobakterien wird gesteigert. Gleichzeitig zeigt sich bei Fehlbesiedelungen des Darms, beispielsweise durch Candida albicans, ein ausgeprägter antifungizider Effekt. Eine ausgeglichene Darmflora ist wesentliche Voraussetzung für den Erhalt der Gesundheit. Neben den Inhaltsstoffen Lentinan und Eritadenin sind zudem die im Shiitake enthaltenen essenziellen Aminosäuren erwähnenswert. Bei ausgewogener Ernährung ist die Zufuhr aller essenziellen Aminosäuren grundsätzlich gewährleistet. Eine rein pflanzliche Kost bzw. ein hoher Anteil von Fleisch bei gleichzeitiger Vernachlässigung pflanzlicher Kost bedeutet jedoch eine unzureichende Zufuhr der jeweils vorwiegend in pflanzlichen oder tierischen Lebensmitteln vorkommenden Aminosäuren. Vorteil des Shiitake ist sein hoher Gehalt an allen essenziellen Aminosäuren in einem für die menschliche Ernährung idealen Verhältnis (Cheung 2008).
Typische Anwendungsgebiete:
Immunschwäche
Erkältung, Grippe
Infektionskrankheiten (bakteriell und viral)
Regulation des Fettstoffwechsels
Osteoporose
Gicht
Arthritis, Fibromyalgie
begleitend in der Krebstherapie
Aufbau der Darmflora
Besonderes Interesse verdienen auch die im Shiitake vorkommenden Vitamine, insbesondere die der B-Gruppe sowie Vitamin D und seine Provitamine. Folgen eines Vitamin-D-Mangels sind z.B. Osteomalazie, gesteigertes Osteoporoserisiko und sogar die Entwicklung einer Herzinsuffizienz. Pilze, insbesondere der Shiitake, besitzen beachtliche Mengen an Vitamin D bzw. seinen Vorstufen.
Pilze leben in der untersten biologischen Schicht. Sie sind die besten Überlebensspezialisten und auch die Haupt-Recycler organischer Materialien. Sie machen ca. 25% der gesamten Biomasse aus und verhindern, dass die Erde zu einer riesigen Müllhalde verkommt. Heilpilze sind ein wahres Geschenk der Natur, sie helfen uns, widerstandsfähiger, energetisch ausgeglichener und von Krankheiten besser kuriert zu werden. Der Shiitake nimmt bei den Vitalpilzen einen wichtigen Platz ein und verdient nicht zuletzt deshalb seinen Status als König der Pilze.