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Reishi, an adaptogen to support the Heart

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ganoderma_lucidum BPotD

Reishi is the Japanese name for Ganoderma lucidum, a mushroom known as Ling zhi in Chinese medicine. Similar species are found from the Amazon rain forest to the Arctic and have similar tonic uses. The mushroom is known to be powerful and features in myths about raising warriors from the dead. While it lacks that specific property, the mushroom is used for everything from increasing blood quality to treating cancer. Mycelial extracts done well on wooded substrates have similar to superior healing characteristics to those of the whole mushroom according to mycologist Paul Stamets. Nonetheless the mushroom itself excites users, with its antler or mushroom forms and red shiny surface.

The ganodermas (black G. lucidum, red G. lucidum, G. oregonense, G. tsuga, G. adspersum and G. applanatum) are tonic, immune strengthening, protect against cancer, have anti-tumor properties, calm the spirit, protect and clear heat from the central nervous system, open the heart, lower serum cholesterol and are good for adrenal fatigue and for depression and anxiety. They enter all five zang organs. They have anti-allergic effects, inhibiting histamine production and stabilizing immunoglobulin levels. They lower blood pressure, are antioxidant, antiviral and antibacterial. Combining with astragalus, atractylodes and Ren shen increase phagocytosis, promote immune globulin formation, promote lymphocyte transformation, and induce the generation of interferon. Chinese mountain climbers use Ling zhi to alleviate altitude sickness by oxygenating the blood.Hokkaido_Reishi's_Deer_Horn_Shape_Reishi

I learned from a Thai doctor with a cancer practice, Santi Rosswong, to make a water decoction of Ganoderma lucidum (Ling zhi) with 10% cordyceps [Dong chong xia cao] for stamina. But since the polysaccharides in ganoderma are quite long, it has been shown to be more effective if the decoction is taken with not less than 500 mg of vitamin C, and 5 mg of folic acid each time. (The vitamin C is based upon Japanese research by Morishige and the folic acid is based upon Santi’s clinical experience.) Take several tablespoons (or more) every three hours. The most important dose is just before retiring, which should be larger. Take the folic acid and vitamin C with each dose.

There are two types of tinctures. One uses a concentrated decoction and adds alcohol to stabilize it. When I make it, I learned from Chris Hobbs to shoot for 25% alcohol to protect the polysaccharides, to ensure that I got between 22% and 28%, the lower number for spoilage and the upper number being a maximum for the polysaccharide protection. This appears to be the best formulation for immune system effects. The other way is to use a high alcohol formation to get the triperetenes, but I understand that this destroys the polysaccharides and differs significantly from the constituents extracted in traditional uses or from powdered extracts. It may have stronger CNS effects however. I know several herbalists who make a high alcohol tincture and add it to the subsequently decocted marc to get the best of both (and they understand that the high alcohol just makes the polysaccharides clump together on the side of the tincturing vessel but does not destroy them). There is not a consensus.

Ling zhi has various steroidal compounds, long chain polysaccharides, bitter triperetenes such as ganodermic acid and some volatile oils. Unlike Echinacea which activates macrophages, ganoderma is not believed to stimulate the immune system directly. It is probably an immune regulator rather than an immune stimulant. Ling zhi mushrooms get to the bone marrow and induce the marrow to put on more nucleated marrow cell mass, according to Jia. The marrow then increases B-cell production, which in turn increases antibodies. The DNA and RNA made in the bone marrow increases production of lymphocytes. This very deep immune nourishing means that it may be appropriate for AIDS patients although the patient should not suffer from undue dampness. For cancer therapy, combined with other fu zheng herbs, Ling zhi can be quite useful, even for patients undergoing chemo and radiation. Hobbs recommends low dose decocted ganoderma with cinnamon bark and orange peel as a tonic drink (for those not suffering from undue dampness) and I find that preparation, with roasted dandelion or chicory, combines well with coffee, helping neutralize coffee’s negative effects.

(Karen S Vaughan, adapted from Chinese Herbal Academy post 8-26-2000)

Reishi on log
Reishi on log

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alternative-health

What is the Right Vitamin D Level?

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Vitamin D
Vitamin D

The symptoms of low vitamin D levels are subtle and difficult to distinguish, given that receptors are found in most organ systems in the body and affect genetic transcription in cells. For chronic pain the Mayo clinic suggests that Vitamin D deficiency is the first thing that should be considered. Vitamin D deficiency contributes to depression, osteoporosis, osteopenia, osteomalacia, rickets, periodontal disease, seasonal affective disorder, increased susceptibility to colds and flu, colon cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, malignant melanoma, recurrence of all cancers, cardiomyopathy, cardiovascular disease, fibromyalgia, hypertension, asthma, psoriasis, MS, type 1 diabetes and it probably plays a role in type two diabetes as well.  At least 78% of Americans suffer from D hypovitaminosis.

People vary widely in their absorption and use of Vitamin D which is why there is no RDA.  It is more important to know how much is circulating in your blood.  Why?   If you are light skinned, live south of Atlanta and spend time out of doors during midday without sunscreen, you will need less supplementation than if you are dark skinned in the same situation.  People with dark skin need three times the sun exposure as people with light skin to get the same benefit.  If you are elderly you do not absorb or convert the vitamin as well and should take care to consume the vitamin with fat, magnesium and Vitamin K2. If you have celiac, IBS, Crohn’s or leaky gut, your absorption may be impaired. If you  lack a gallbladder or have impaired fat absorption you will absorb less orally supplemented Vitamin D and may need a dry form.   If you are overweight you need more because you will sequester Vitamin D in your fat, leaving less circulating in your blood.  If you have cancer, diabetes or autoimmune disease, you use your Vitamin D stores faster and need to supplement more.  So the best way to see if you have enough Vitamin D is to get the right blood test.

If your doctor isn’t up on the latest research, he may not be aware of which Vitamin D blood test to order.  There are two common tests, only one of which is useful.  The test you want is a 25 Hydroxy D test, also called 25 (OH)D.  This measures the active form circulating in your blood.  There is also a 125 Dihydroxy D test, also called a or 1,25(OH)(2)D. Studies show that the Vitamin D, 1,25 Dihydroxy level does not significantly change until the normal Vitamin D level, or 25(OH)D, drops to severely low levels.  If you get the wrong test, it will look like your levels are normal until you are severely deficient.

Then there are two ways to express the results of the test.  In the US, results are expressed as nanograms/mililiter.  In other countries the results are expressed in nanomoles/liter. 1 ng/ml = 2.5 nmol/L    25 hydroxy D lab ranges of 20-56 ng/ml are the equivalent of 50-140 nmol/L.

When you get your lab values back, they tend to have reference ranges labeled “high,” “medium,” and “low.”  Ignore those and ask for the number.  These are average ranges of people who are apparently in good health and get blood tests.  If you have a population where most people are deficient, the average reference ranges are too low. Based upon the newest research, you want levels that are at least 50ng/ml or 140 nmol/L.

According to vitamin D researcher Carole Baggerley, research shows that if we could get Americans to increase their Vitamin D3 levels to 50-80 ng/ml, we could virtually eliminate Type 1 diabetes, reduce breast and co-rectal cancer deaths by 75%, reduce psoriasis by 65%, significantly reduce MS, heart attacks, lymphoma, fibromyalgia and pain and a host of other diseases. This is based on research that did not even look at some of the higher levels indicated by newer research. As you can see in the chart below, only rickets is prevented by the relatively low amounts found in multivitamins.  (You can click on the picture to enlarge the chart.)

vitamin D Deficiency Diseases by Blood Level
Vitamin D Deficiency Diseases by Blood Level

Across the top are increasing blood levels of 25 Hydroxy D.   Down the rows are diseases that were shown to be affected by Vitamin D.  The vertical black line is 25ng/ml, which is the level at which most diseases show some improvement.  Most Americans have levels below 25,  far below those needed for cancer and autoimmune disease prevention on the right side of the line.  This will not protect you.

Various researchers have suggested different levels, although they seem to be climbing over time. Most just look at deficiency without suggesting optimal levels.  John Cannel of the Vitamin D Council suggests a 25 Hydroxy D level of 50-80 ng/ml.  Bruce Hollis defines deficiency under 32 ng/ml although he has suggested higher levels in recent speeches.  So does Ferrari Bishoff.   Dr. Mercola who is not a scientific researcher, suggests 50-65 ng/ml.  The lab reference range that some of my patients are bringing in is between 50-100ng/ml. No credible studies show danger with levels under 200ng/ml and toxicity is often much higher.

It should be noted that there is an innate conservatism about changing reference levels too fast from what most everyone realizes were grossly inadequate levels from the past. But too many people are suffering.

My recommendation, based on the 2007 chart and newer research is that you keep your blood levels of 25 Hydroxy D between 50 and 100 ng/ml ( 125-250 nM/L.)

The amount you would get from a day in the sun, a physiological dose is approximately 25,000 iu.  Because there is so much difference in absorption and use of stores, oral doses for adults can vary from 5,000 iu to 50,000 iu.  You probably need levels over 10,000 iu (under half of a physiological sun dose) to budge deficiency levels, but can taper off after your stores are built up. I personally found that 10,000 iu daily doses of Vitamin D3 in an oil form did not raise my levels above the mid 30s  so take 50,000 iu in the winter, at least until my goal of 60ng/ml can be reached.  Maintenance doses can be considerably lower so long as the person does not have a condition that increases use or impairs absorption into the blood stream. But that is why we test periodically.

Although there is a theoretical possibility of toxicity from a fat soluble vitamin, this is virtually never seen with Vitamin D in people without specific diseases.  You cannot overdose on Vitamin D from the sun because your body will break down the excess.  Aside from people who suffer from hyperparathyroidism, sarcoidosis, lupus or abnormal calcification, problems from too much Vitamin D are not found under levels of 200ng/ml.  (A single study which is widely believed implausible because it is out of range of other studies showed kidney stones at 150ng/ml, but most researchers disregard it.) And in one case where someone took a million iu per day because he had undiluted powder, a month of sunblock, a diuretic and ceasing the supplementation took him out of toxicity without lasting problems.  Researchers believe that Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) may be less likely to cause problems than D2 (ergocalciferol) in large doses.

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alternative-health, cancer, sunlight, vitamin-d

How To Get Vitamin D from the Sun

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How do you get enough Vitamin D from the sun?  If you can fulfill the following, you might get enough:vitamin-d

  1. You live south of Atlanta in the winter.
  2. You are in the sun from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm.
  3. Your body is mostly uncovered.
  4. You go without sunscreen for at least 15-20 minutes.
  5. You don’t use soap for 48 hours.
  6. You repeat the process in 72 hours.
  7. Your skin is not dark, either from genetics or suntanning. (You may need six times as much exposure if your skin is dark.)

Unless you fit all of these conditions, you need to supplement.  And a multi-vitamin or calcium plus D supplement will NOT have enough Vitamin D, nor will your milk.  You need to supplement with high iu Vitamin D3, preferably above 4000 iu.  If your blood 25 hydroxy D test is below 70 (ignore “high”, “medium” and “low” because that is based on the averages of a D-deficient population,) then supplement it.  The exception is if you have scleroderma or similar abnormal calcium metabolism.

Other ways to supplement:  frequent consumption of liver, preferably from organic animals.  Shitake or other mushrooms dried gill side up in the sun on a daily dose of about one ounce dry weight, cooked long and low.

Calculations from studies on Vitamin D show that, for every person who dies of skin cancer from UV overexposure, more than two hundred will die from other cancers, like lung, breast, prostate and colon, as a result of low vitamin D levels.

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Vitamin D Prevents Cancer, Type 1 Diabetes, MS, Heart Attack and Pain

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And more on Vitamin D

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This is a very funny and informative video on Vitamin D, with images that will stick with you.  (I especially liked his publication strategy to get new patients.)

  • Infant chimps, which we have already seen need similar Vitamin D to humans can take 5000 iu per day.
  • Collagen without sufficient Vitamin D is like putting Jello in water- it gets softer and can’t support the bones.
  • Iguana owners have a better idea of Vitamin D needs than most doctors. (And the pictures of Vitamin D deficient iguanas will stick with you.)
  • Vitamin D is responsible for regulating the blood pressure hormone rennin, and for combating elevated levels of C-reactive protein in your body.
  • Malignant melanoma usually appears in areas without exposure to sun, and working out of doors lowers your malignant melanoma rate.
  • Squamous cell skin cancer is the only cancer that occurs more in sunbathers, the ones that will kill you are lower.
  • Vitamin D toxicity occurred in a Florida lawyer who was taking 1 million iu of Vitamin D for two years due to a manufacturing accident.  When they gave him a diuretic and kept him out of the sun for a month, it reversed.
  • While tanning bed enthusiasts get more cancer, they also have higher bone density.

Lots more and hard information:

See Related Posts:

Vitamin D Regulates the Immune System

Nursing Mothers, Infants and Vitamin D

How to Get Vitamin D from the Sun

Vitamin D Prevents Cancer, Type 1 Diabetes, MS, Heart Attack and Pain

alternative-health, diabetes, flu, pregnancy, vitamin-d

Vitamin D Prevents Cancer, Type 1 Diabetes, MS, Heart Attack and Pain

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Watching this You-Tube video from the University of California at San Diego might be one of the best things you can do for your health. It explains clearly and in detail which levels of vitamin D3 are necessary to prevent a great variety of diseases. Rickets, the disease our woefully inadequate RDA was designed to prevent, needs very little Vitamin D.    Cancers, diabetes, heart attack, falls, fractures, hypertension, neurological impairment, even pain will be prevented by raising your blood Vitamin D levels to the recommended range.

I have been taking 10,000 iu of Vitamin D3 daily for the last year and am only in the low end of the recommended range.

You can find the charts shown in the video at http://www.grassrootshealth.net

A blood level of Vitamin D (have your doctor test it) should be 40-60 ng/ml, which is likely higher than the reference range of the test. You would need to reach 200 ng/ml to suffer from toxicity. The amount you need to supplement will vary, but is way way higher than you find in any multi.  Unless you seek out a special high concentration vitamin D supplement, you are not getting enough, at least above the Mason-Dixon line (and usually below as well.)

This video puts together the Vitamin D research and offers a public health program designed to raise Vitamin D3 and calcium to levels that would prevent 58,000 new cases of breast cancer and 49,000 new cases of colorectal cancer annually in the US and Canada within the next five years. The researchers model also predicted that 75% of deaths from these cancers could be prevented with adequate intake of vitamin D3 and calcium.

In Finland, in the 1960s, mothers gave babies 4500 iu of Vitamin D daily.  When the dosage was lowered to 2000 iu, type 1 diabetes rates began to rise and when the dosage was lowered to 400 iu, the level we usually find in a US multi-vitamin, type 1 diabetes skyrocketed.   With sufficient supplementation during pregnancy and early childhood you can prevent 8/10 cases of type 1 diabetes.  You will rarely find the higher level of Vitamin D recommended for children in the US because we have only focused on the association of Vitamin D and rickets.

Vitamin D helps maintain tight junctions between cells so that signaling is better and viruses or other infectious agents cannot get in between the cells.  Some of those agents will trigger autoimmune reactions.

The chart linked below shows why higher doses are needed for cancer, type 1 diabetes, MS, and a variety of other diseases than rickets- the MDR was based on preventing rickets which responds well enough to low doses of vitamin D.  Note that 35% of all cancers were prevented with at a level of 1000 iu daily, giving a blood level of 38 that is below the recommended range -perhaps much higher prevention would be found if they had tested higher ranges.  Most disease tested were prevented in the 40-60 range, with toxicity not found below 200.   It is all based upon good research:

Disease Incidence Chart

See Related Posts:

Vitamin D Regulates the Immune System

Nursing Mothers, Infants and Vitamin D

How to Get Vitamin D from the Sun

And More On Vitamin D