CHAPTER SIX
The Cancer Slayer
MAITAKE (MY-TAH-KAY) MEANS “dancing mushroom” in Japanese (mai means “dance”; take means “mushroom”). How the mushroom got its name depends on which story you choose. In one account, the mushroom got its name because people danced with joy upon finding maitake mushrooms in the forest. They may well have danced with joy during Japan’s feudal era, when local lords paid tribute to the shogun by presenting him with maitake mushrooms, among other gifts. To obtain the maitake mushrooms, the local lords are supposed to have offered anyone who found one the mushroom’s weight in silver—a cause for dancing indeed. Another story says that the dancing mushroom got its name because the overlapping fruit-bodies give the appearance of a cloud of dancing butterflies.
In the English-speaking world, maitake is known as Hen of the Woods. The mushroom, growing as it does in clusters, is said to resemble the fluffed tail feathers of a brooding hen. Less frequently, the mushroom is called Sheep’s Head. It is sometimes called the “king of mushrooms” on account of its size. The mushroom’s Latin name is Grifola frondosa. Grifola is the name of a fungus found in Italy. Some scholars believe that the fungus got its name from the griffin (or griffon), the mythological beast with the head and wings of an eagle and the hind legs and tail of a lion. Frondosa means “leaflike.” The overlapping caps of maitake mushrooms growing in the wild give the appearance of leaves.
The chief characteristic of the maitake mushroom is the fact that it grows in clusters. The caps, which are typically four to five inches across, overlap one another to form a sort of clump. The stems, meanwhile, fuse together. Maitake grows at the base of oak trees, beeches, and other dead or dying hardwoods. According to folklore, the mushroom prefers to grow where lightning has scarred the wood of a tree. A typical maitake cluster is the size of a volleyball. Clusters can be twenty inches in diameter and weigh as much as eighty pounds.
The mushroom prefers temperate northern forests. It is indigenous to northeast Japan, Europe, Asia, and the eastern side of the North American continent. Connoisseurs favor maitake mushrooms from Japan for their flavor.
Commercial techniques for the cultivation of maitake mushrooms were not perfected until the late 1970S. Before then, the only way to harvest maitake was to pick it in the wild. Foragers in Japan were said to be very covetous of the secret places where maitake grew. To mark their forest turf and keep others away, foragers cut hatch marks into trees. Known locations of maitake were called “treasure islands.” Where to find these “treasure islands” was a carefully guarded secret. Many a forager kept the secret his entire life and revealed it only in his will so that his eldest son could find his way to the treasure.
Maitake is a delicious culinary mushroom, but the Japanese also value it for its medicinal properties. Traditionally, maitake was used in Japan as a tonic to boost the immune system and increase vitality. The mushroom was supposed to prevent cancer and high blood pressure. For that reason, researchers turned their attention to maitake’s effect on those diseases when they first began experimenting with maitake three decades ago.
In recent years, the maitake mushroom has become a popular subject of study. In a search of Medline, the online service of the National Library of Medicine, we found more studies pertaining to maitake than to any other mushroom covered in this book. Following is a look at recent studies of the maitake mushroom that we think are important.
Maitake and Diabetes
Diabetes is caused by abnormally high levels of glucose, or sugar, in the blood. The disease is an example of an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system does not function properly and works contrary to itself. Diabetes is brought about when immune-system cells mistakenly attack the cells in the pancreas responsible for producing insulin, the hormone that is in charge of converting sugar into energy. The result is a sugar buildup in the body, as the body is unable to burn off excess blood sugar. An estimated 16 million Americans have diabetes and the disease contributes to nearly 200,000 deaths annually. Symptoms include excessive thirst, frequent urination, fatigue, a tingling sensation in the hands and feet, and unexplained weight loss.
To find out if maitake has any effect on diabetes, researchers in Japan fed powder from the fruit-body of the mushroom to diabetic mice. The mice received one gram of powder a day (very little, considering that a mouse eats one third its weight daily). The researchers discovered a decrease in blood sugar in the mice. What they found most interesting about their experiment, however, was an increase in insulin production on the part of the mice. It appears that maitake can help diabetes sufferers in two different ways. Maitake increases the production of insulin and controls glucose levels as well—in mice at least. We look forward to experiments with maitake on human diabetes sufferers.
A warning: People who have diabetes will be glad to know that most mushrooms, maitake included, appear to lower blood sugar levels. However, if you are hypoglycemic—if you have low blood sugar levels—you should take maitake only after consulting a physician. Taking maitake may bring your blood sugar levels even lower and cause health complications. Dizziness, fainting, sweating, headaches, and malaise are symptoms of hypoglycemia.
Maitake and Cholesterol
People who have a diet that is high in saturated fats run the risk of getting high cholesterol levels in their blood. High cholesterol can lead to hyperlipidemia, atherosclerosis, and other health problems. Cholesterol is a fatty, waxlike material that is produced by the liver. It is essential for cell renewal, hormone production, and other important bodily functions. There are two kinds of cholesterol. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), the good cholesterol, carries lipids—that is, fat—through the blood and keeps lipids from collecting. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), the bad cholesterol, deposits lipids in the liver and on the walls of blood vessels where it can accumulate and cause harm.
Maitake mushrooms may have an inhibiting effect on the production of lipids, and therefore have the ability to lower cholesterol levels. Scientists at Kobe Pharmaceutical University in Japan ran experiments on two groups of mice with hyperlipidemia. Both groups were fed a high-cholesterol diet, but one group’s diet was supplemented with maitake powder. The maitake-fed mice had fewer lipids in their livers and their blood. An interesting sidelight of the experiment was the effect of the maitake on good cholesterol in the maitake-fed mice. Usually, levels of HDL cholesterol decrease under the effect of a high-cholesterol diet. In the case of the maitake-fed mice, however, HDL cholesterol levels remained the same.
Maitake and Prostate Cancer
The problem with any malignancy, including prostate cancer, is that the malignant cells do not want to die. They want to live forever and they want to proliferate. This can be very dangerous.
Recently, scientists from the Department of Urology at New York Medical College in Valhalla, New York, conducted experiments to study the effect of maitake on prostate cancer cells. The scientists isolated and grew hormone-resistant prostate cancer cells. The cells were then treated in vitro with a highly purified beta glucan extract from maitake called Grifon-D. After twenty-four hours, the scientists examined the prostate cancer cells and discovered that almost all of them had died.
The scientists also wanted to know how the Grifon-D extract from maitake worked in combination with vitamin C. Their experiments produced an interesting result: Vitamin C may make maitake more effective. By including vitamin C in the dose, the scientists were able to get the same results—death of the majority of prostate cancer cells—with one-eighth the amount of Grifon-D. Vitamin C appears to enhance the antioxidant effect of maitake (as Chapter Two explains, antioxidants help reverse the damage that free radicals do to body tissue). The scientists concluded that beta glucan from maitake may have use as an alternative therapy for prostate cancer.
Maitake and Bladder Cancer
Researchers at Gunma University in Japan conducted an experiment to determine the inhibiting effect of different mushrooms on bladder cancer. For the experiment, laboratory mice were fed a carcinogen called BBN every day for eight weeks. BBN is known to cause cancer of the bladder. The rats were divided into four groups. One group was given no mushroom supplement, one was given shiitake mushrooms, one maitake mushrooms, and one oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus).
After eight weeks, the scientists examined the rats to see which had developed bladder cancer. In the group that received no mushroom supplement, 100 percent had contracted cancer. In the maitake group, 46.7 percent (seven of fifteen mice) developed cancer; in the shiitake group, 52.9 percent (nine of seventeen mice) developed cancer; and in the oyster group, 65 percent (thirteen of twenty mice) developed cancer. In terms of protection against cancer of the bladder, maitake works better than shiitake and oyster mushrooms.
The experiment also yielded interesting results concerning macrophages, the powerful immune-system cells that attack foreign materials. Normally, macro phages move to their prey in much the same way that a dog comes running when it smells food. Macrophages are attracted to cells that appear to be foreign. Carcinogens such as BBN, however, suppress macrophages’ ability to find foreign cells quickly. Carcinogens numb the activity of macro phages. This experiment, however, revealed that mushrooms actually protect macrophages from being numbed. Among mice who had received mushroom supplements in their diet, macro phages were still very hungry and active despite being exposed to the carcinogen BBN.
The three mushrooms in the experiment had a similar effect on lymphocytes, the white blood cells that circulate in the lymph nodes and flush viruses and bacteria from the body. Lymphocyte activity in the group of mice that did not receive a mushroom supplement was impaired, but the lymphocytes in the other mice maintained a normal level of activity.
Maitake and Obesity
Obviously, maintaining the right body weight is important for your health. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control, obesity—defined as being thirty percent or more above ideal body weight—increased from twelve percent of the population in 1991 to 17.9 percent in 1998. Why are many people obese? One reason has to do with genetics. Some genes are associated with obesity. Environmental factors also come into play. In the United States, time spent in front of the television can genuinely be considered a cause of obesity. Television broadcasts messages that encourage people to eat fast food, foods of dubious nutritional value, and foods loaded with “empty” calories. Television watchers are sedentary. Between eating the fast food that the television encourages them to eat and the idle time they spend in front of the television, television viewers are prone to gain weight.
Recently, scientists at Mukogawa Women’s University in Nishihomiya, Japan undertook an in vitro experiment to see what effect maitake had on certain kinds of cells. For the experiment, the scientists focused on the C3H10T1/2B2C1 cell. This cell is normal in most aspects, but it has the potential to balloon and turn into an adipocyte, a kind of fat cell. You could say that C3H10T1/2B2C1 cells have the potential to become obese. For that reason, observing this kind of cell is useful for determining how substances effect weight loss and weight gain. The results of the experiment showed that maitake inhibits the conversion of normal C3H10T1/2B2C1 cells into adipocytes. It appears that maitake lowers the risk of becoming obese to a certain extent. The mushroom may also be useful to people who want to lose weight or maintain their weight.
In a study conducted at the Koseikai Clinic in Tokyo, thirty-two over-weight subjects were given 10 grams of maitake powder for two months to see if they would lose weight. Without changing their diets, all subjects lost weight, with the average loss being twelve pounds.
Maitake and the Liver
As “Medicinal Mushrooms and Prebiotics” in Chapter Two explains, the average person carries three to four pounds of bacteria in his or her gastrointestinal tract. Some of these bacteria are actually good for the body. They help prevent constipation and diarrhea, for example. Bad bacteria, however, are also present in the gastrointestinal tract. Certain types of bad bacteria produce a substance called D-galactosamine. This substance is associated with inflammation and liver toxicity. Physicians can determine how much damage D-galactosamine has caused by testing for certain enzymes in the blood. If these enzymes are present in large numbers, the liver has been damaged.
In an experiment to see whether medicinal mushrooms can suppress the effects of D-galactosamine on the liver, scientists from Shizuoka University in Japan used D-galactosamine to damage the livers of lab oratory rats. Then they fed the rats various medicinal mushrooms for two weeks to find out which mushrooms worked best at suppressing D-galactosamine. They discovered that maitake works best. What’s more, the effects of maitake were dose-dependent. In other words, the larger the dose of maitake given to the rats, the better the effect it had on suppressing D-galactosamine.
This experiment seems to indicate that maitake can help protect the liver against the effects of bad nutrition. If you eat fast foods or foods that are low in fiber, taking maitake may be able to improve the health of your gastrointestinal tract and protect your liver from damage caused by D-galactosamine.
Maitake and Its Effect on the Immune System
Researchers have known for some time that 1-3 beta glucan aids the immune system and that 1-3 beta glucan from different mushrooms aids the immune system in different ways. Maitake, for example, stimulates macrophages to produce more cytokines. As we explained in Chapter Two, macrophages are powerful cells of the immune system that engulf and destroy foreign organisms and substances. Cytokines are the messengers of the immune system. They alert the immune system to the presence of an invader. In some cases, they also kill foreign cells.
Recently, scientists from the Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Science conducted in vitro experiments to observe the behavior of a certain kind of cytokine called tumor necrosis factor alpha, or TNF alpha. This toxinlike substance is especially adept at killing malignant tumor cells. The scientists wanted to see what effect maitake had on the production of TNF alpha. They already understood that macrophages must first eat beta glucan before they release TNF alpha and other cytokines. What the scientists discovered is that macrophages release TNF alpha only after they have eaten a certain kind of high-molecular-weight beta glucan. A study along the same lines conducted at Tokyo College of Pharmacy concluded that small-molecular-weight beta glucan from the maitake mushroom serves to prime the cells of the immune system and get them ready for an attack. Yet another study from Tokyo College of Pharmacy looked at interleukin 6, or IL-6, another cytokine known for its effectiveness against tumor cells. This study noted that maitake stimulated the production of IL-6.
These important studies confirmed that not all beta glucans activate the immune system in the same way; some beta glucans are specialized. We look forward to experiments that examine the effect of specific types of beta glucan on specific parts of the immune system.