100 Perks of Having Cancer: Plus 100 Health Tips for Surviving It (25 page)

maitake (pronounced mi-TOK-ee), and
Ganoderma lucidum
or reishi (pro-

nounced RAY-she), although it seems that all mushrooms possess a little

bit of “magical health” fairy dust.

The most exciting thing to come out of the mush-

room newsroom is the potent anticancer effects of the

If you choose to take

“turkey tail” mushroom. The turkey tail (
Trametes versi-

mushroom capsules, please

color
) is a flat-looking, multicolored mushroom that is

check with your doctor, as

proving to have extremely potent anticancer properties.

they can alter your blood

One component of turkey tail is the polysaccharide

sugar (in a positive way!)

krestin (PSK). Currently, Japan, China, and Australia use

and can also affect blood-

PSK with other cancer therapies as legitimate treatments

thinning medications.

for cancer to reduce recurrence and lengthen survival

time. Because of a glitch in how the U.S. Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) regulates drug approval, the concentrated PSK can

never be used in the United States as a cancer treatment. But you
can
buy

quality turkey tail supplements that contain PSK.

Here’s a word about mushroom supplements (okay, several words): Why

take a supplement? While I love mushrooms, I don’t eat them every single

day, so I take a capsule. There are dozens of mushroom supplements (pills)

out there, with various combinations and different varieties of mushrooms.

You can find “wellness” mushroom compounds that combine ten to twenty

different mushroom varieties into one capsule, or you can find them in

groups or separately. You can buy a combo of shiitake, reishi, and maitake,

which comes together in one pill, for example. It’s important with mush-

rooms to always know what you are buying and who grew what you are

buying. It’s always best to buy organic foods in general, but it’s even more

important with mushrooms. Make sure you see a certifying agency seal on

the package, and that the package doesn’t just say “organic.” You want your

mushrooms to be pure.

A great company for certified organic mushroom supplements is Host

Defense (www.hostdefense.com). Host Defense was the company that sup-

plied turkey tail supplements for the study subjects in an eight-year research

study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that showed an

Perk #22: Cancer Introduced Me to Some New Saints

97

improvement in the immunity and a reduction in recurrence of breast

cancer patients who underwent chemo and radiation therapy. There

were no adverse effects of the supplements. These results have

been well documented all over the world. If you want some

“sugar to help the medicine go down,” you can take

your organic turkey tail extract in a bit of pure Ver-

mont maple syrup (www.maplemedicinals.com).

C’mon, folks, it doesn’t get any easier than this!

Dozens of studies have been conducted worldwide

using mushrooms. These are just some of the things mush-

rooms can do:

●
They allow our blood to hold more antioxidants, which increases immune

response and helps healthy cells to live longer.

●
They improve the function of insulin and help to maintain proper blood

sugar levels.

●
They give healthy cells a little invisible suit of armor so they can resist

invasion.

●
They help men’s hormones, namely testosterone, remain at healthy levels,

keeping the prostate happy.

●
They directly lower total and LDL (the “bad”) cholesterol in the blood.

●
They possess antiviral properties.

●
They possess antifungal properties (yes, a fungus that fights fungus!).

●
They enhance immunity in HIV/AIDS patients.

●
They alleviate inflammation associated with inflammatory bowel disease.

● Mushrooms actually shrink cancerous tumors and prevent them from

recurring!

You can go to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center’s website to read

about all the benefits of mushrooms and other botanicals (www.mskcc.org/

cancer-care/intergrative-medicine).

98

100 Perks of Having Cancer

Mushrooms are just like any other plant-based food, basically composed

of water, fiber, vitamins, minerals, protein, and sugar. The water and high

fiber help with digestion and staying “regular.” Mushrooms also contain:

B Vitamins:
In the form of pantothenic acid, which helps in the production

of hormones and plays a part in the health of the nervous system, and

riboflavin, which helps maintain healthy blood cells. There’s also niacin,

which helps the digestion, skin, and nervous system.

Minerals:
Mushrooms contain copper, necessary for making healthy red

blood cells, and selenium, which is an antioxidant that helps protect the

body’s cells from damage and destruction, helps rid the body of heavy met-

als like mercury, and helps the immune system. Also, mushrooms are

among the richest nonanimal sources of selenium, which is great for those

wanting to eat a more plant-based diet.

Amino Acids:
Ergothioneine (ET) is an amino acid necessary for living and

growing. It functions as a antioxidant and an anti-inflammatory, which

helps to prevent a variety of chronic illnesses like heart disease and cancer,

and has been shown to help manage chronic pain.

Electrolytes:
Just like the potassium you get from eating bananas, mush-

rooms have potassium, which helps blood pressure and heart cell function

as well as general muscle health.

Sugar:
The sugar contained in mushrooms is very different from the sugar

in an apple. Beta-glucans are the glucose-containing structures

in mushrooms that have incredible immune-stimulating effects.

Adding mushrooms

Beta-glucans are the components of mushrooms that are respon-

to your diet is

sible for resistance against cancers, allergies, and infection. While

a funky way to

beta-glucans are also found in yeast, oats, and barley, it is the

fight cancer.

beta-glucans found in mushrooms alone that have the special

antitumor and anti-infective properties. Beta-glucans have also

been shown to protect against radiation sickness and have been studied to

combat the side effects of certain chemotherapy drugs.

Perk #22: Cancer Introduced Me to Some New Saints

99

Protein:
Protein builds muscle and promotes cell health. It is important to

include protein-rich foods in your diet especially if you are cutting down

on animal products. Most varieties of mushrooms generally contain 3 grams

of protein per cup.

Mushrooms are fungi, just like the fungus that was responsible for the

number-one medical discovery in the history of medicine and the most

widely used antibiotic in the world, saving millions of lives—penicillin!

The great thing about eating mushrooms is that you can throw them

into just about anything you eat: sauces, salads, stir-fry dishes, and more.

There are many varieties avail able in your local market, and you can even

buy kits to grow them yourself, which would eliminate worry about where

they were grown. (They’re easy to grow, as they grow in the dark!) You can

find lots of kits and great information at www.fungi.com.

Other varieties of mushrooms have benefits also, like the portabella and

button variety, so try to include any kind of mushrooms in your diet when

you can. Your cancer will hate you for it.

Please note that none of the mushrooms mentioned

for the promotion of health are hallucinogenic!

Perk #23

I Got First Pick of “the Fodge”

F
irst of all, let me begin with a definition of the

word “fodge” as I believe it to be a term unique

to my hometown of Lawn, Newfoundland:
Fodge

(
noun
).
Hand-me-downs. Goods handed down to a per-

son after being used and discarded by another.

I am the oldest of five sisters. My youngest sister,

Lynette, who lives in Miami . . . well, let’s just say

that she married well. A couple of times each year,

Lynette will send home a fodge of designer cloth-

ing, makeup, shoes, and purses, which is descended