Maitake mushroom holds great therapeutic potential in various disorders, ranging from benefiting the immune system to weight control. It is greatly sought after, at Wegman's I have found the price to be around $12.99 /lb and the flavor to be mimicing meat, primarily due to Umami, yet whose texture cooked is that of noodles, making it an ideal candidate for soup. Since medicinal mushrooms is a particular interest of mine, I hope I can catalog fully the assortment of potential within its use.
List of Benefits
- Cancer
- Diabetes
- Blood pressure
- Cholesterol and Triglycerides
- Liver Ailments
- Weight Control
Maitake researchers have identified several ways maitake can counter cancer:(17-25 of reference article 1)
- By protecting healthy cells from becoming cancerous
- By helping to prevent cancer metastasis
- By slowing or stopping the growth of tumors[1]
"This year, a phase I/II human trial, conducted by Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center, showed Maitake could stimulate the immune systems of breast cancer patients. Small experiments with human cancer patients, have shown Maitake can stimulate immune system cells, like NK cells. In vitro research has also shown Maitake can stimulate immune system cells. An in vivo experiment showed that Maitake could stimulate both the innate immune system and adaptive immune system.
In vitro research has shown Maitake can induce apoptosis in cancer cell lines (human prostatic cancer cells, Hep 3B cells, SGC-7901 cells, murine skin carcinoma cells) as well as inhibit the growth of various types of cancer cells (canine cancer cells, bladder cancer cells). Small studies with human cancer patients, revealed a portion of the Maitake mushroom, known as the "Maitake D-fraction", possess anti-cancer activity. In vitro research demonstrated the mushroom has potential anti-metastatic properties. In 1997, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an Investigational New Drug Application for a portion of the mushroom.
Maitake contains antioxidants and may partially inhibit the enzyme cyclooxygenase. An experiment showed that an extract of Maitake inhibited angiogenesis via inhibition of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)."[2]
Diabetes
"At least two studies have suggested antidiabetic effects for maitake. In one, Japanese researchers fed genetically diabetic mice a diet containing 20-percent whole maitake powder for eight weeks. The maitake was shown to inhibit a rise in blood glucose. The researchers also observed glucose-lowering activity in the X-fraction. They concluded that their findings suggest maitake is effective at lowering blood sugar in diabetic animals. A subsequent study by Kubo and Nanba, also done on genetically diabetic mice, sought to identify the active material and examine its mechanism. Again, maitake inhibited significant blood glucose increase, with the antidiabetic mechanism of maitake or the X-fraction being directly associated with insulin receptors. According to the researchers, their results suggest maitake could increase insulin sensitivity."[1]
"Research has shown Maitake has a hypoglycemic effect, and may be beneficial for the management of diabetes. The reason Maitake lowers blood sugar is due to the fact the mushroom naturally contains a alpha glucosidase inhibitor."[2]
Blood pressure
"Powdered whole maitake has been shown in animal studies to lower blood pressure and to prevent blood pressure increase. For example, the blood pressure of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) was significantly reduced by maitake powder feeding (5 percent of the diet) for nine weeks. A similar feeding protocol over eight weeks, beginning when the rats were 10 weeks old and had well established high blood pressure, was also successful. The researchers concluded the results support the contention that maitake not only suppresses the development of hypertension, but also lowers already elevated blood pressure.40 In a third study by some of the same researchers, spontaneously hypertensive rats were fed a five-percent maitake powder diet for nine weeks and compared to control and shiitake-fed rats. Adverse histological changes, including necrosis of the medial smooth muscle cells and fatty liver development, were
essentially the same in the control and shiitake fed rats. On the other hand, except for large amounts of glycogen observed in the livers, the maitake-fed rats were normal in all respects. According to the researchers, 'Dietary maitake seems to play an important role in preventing the histological degenerative changes in SHR and thus may imply some benefits to be gained through blood pressure reduction and an improvement of lipid metabolism.'"[1]
Cholesterol and Triglycerides
"A number of studies have examined maitake’s effects on serum lipids, including cholesterol and triglycerides, with somewhat mixed results. In a study published in 1988, dried and powdered maitake, as five percent of the feed of spontaneously hypertensive rats, significantly lowered levels of VLDL and total serum cholesterol.42 Another study conducted on spontaneously hypertensive rats fed a diet consisting of five-percent maitake powder for eight weeks, however, found no difference in plasma total and free cholesterol, tri-glyceride, and phospholipid levels compared to controls. (Shiitake did not reduce blood pressure but did lower these other factors.) More recently, Japanese scientists fed rats a high-cholesterol diet and measured the effects of fortifying the diet with 20-percent maitake dried powder. The researchers found that maitake inhibited fat accumulation in the liver and caused an initial reduction in total cholesterol. By day 25, however, the difference in total cholesterol was no longer significant. The maitake-fed rats did maintain baseline values for HDL, which usually decrease on a high-cholesterol diet. In a subsequent study with a similar protocol, maitake-fed rats experienced significant and lasting reductions in serum cholesterol and triglycerides, and a similar maintenance of HDL levels. One observer noted the inconsistent findings may be due to lack of standardization of maitake powder in the studies, and the fact that the lipid lowering constituent apparently has not yet been completely defined."[1]Liver Ailments
"A number of studies suggest maitake may also be effective in the prevention or treatment of liver disorders. In the early 1990s Chinese researchers conducted a pilot study on 32 patients with chronic hepatitis B. At an international symposium on shiitake products held in China in 1994, the researchers revealed that those patients who took a maitake fruit body polysaccharide preparation showed positive signs (such as a higher recovery rate in alanine transferase levels) compared to patients in the control group provided routine treatment. In another study, scientists fed Sprague-Dawley rats a high-cholesterol diet and measured the effects of fortifying the diet with 20-percent dried maitake powder. The researchers found maitake inhibited harmful fat accumulation in the liver. Finally, researchers tested maitake (powdered fruit body, the D-fraction, and the X-fraction) as a treatment for experimental mice suffering from hepatic damage and found that autoimmune chronic hepatitis occurred more severely in control mice than in maitake-treated mice."[1]
Weight Control
"Maitake provides some B vitamins, ergosterol/provitamin D2, magnesium, potassium, calcium, unsaturated fatty acids, phosphatidylserine and other phospholipids, and protein. Maitake does not contain vitamins A or C although substances with chemical properties similar to ascorbic acid have been identified in maitake. Because maitake is rich in fiber yet low in calories and fat, it has been cited as a potential weight-loss aid. Animal studies have shown that maitake as a major component of the diet can inhibit weight gain. When rats were fed dried maitake powder as 20 percent (by weight) of a high-cholesterol diet, it significantly inhibited increases in body weight and body fat. A similar protocol promoted improved fat metabolism among maitake-fed rats. Maitake-fed rats weighed 24.9-percent less than control rats at the end of the study.44 Feeding tests conducted on spontaneously hypertensive rats showed a weight-inhibiting effect for maitake. In a preliminary clinical study conducted on 30 overweight patients, researchers gave subjects maitake tablets equal to 200 g fresh maitake daily for two months. Even though subjects made no changes to their regular diets, all lost weight. Average weight loss was 7-13 pounds, and one subject lost 26.4 pounds. A few patients reported slightly looser stools as a side effect."[1]
References
[1] Maitake Extracts and Their Therapeutic Potential – A Review
[2] Wikipedia: Grifola frondosa
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