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January 2020 + West Michigan = 32 Hours of Sunshine TOTAL
The new decade has not been accompanied with a lot of sunshine for the Grand Rapids, West Michigan area (where I am located for the time being). In fact, Grand Rapids has had a whopping ZERO number of sunny days (yup, that’s a whole lot of overcast cloudy days). On the brightside, there has been 10 (TEN!) days with a little bit of sun. In fact, enough to total 32 hours for the month. THE WHOLE DAMN MONTH! That’s the equivalent of about 1 hour of sunshine a day OR enough to hours to claim 1 week of part-time work (but not full-time with all the lovely benefits). So you may be wondering why I am harping on this sunshiny news. Well, it’s related to one of the greatest benefits of the sun for people. It’s related to the essential nutrient for us, Vitamin D! We clearly NEED the sun for our bodies to absorb and synthesize this essential nutrient so that we all don’t fall into the depressing winter blues (which is a real thing) due to a lack of Vitamin D which in turn negatively causes a dip in serotonin levels (and other “wonderful” symptoms). With this cheery news, there is in fact a need to supplement and take action to prevent a Vitamin D deficiency in our bodies. In fact, I am going to share with you a surprising source of vitamin D which happens to also be vegan-friendly. Mushrooms. Here’s to February potentially looking a little better in terms of sun.
All About the Healing Properties of Mushrooms:
Mushrooms in a way can be a lot more like an animal that lives and breathes oxygen versus the plants that live and breathe carbon dioxide and expel oxygen. In considering this, it’s also interesting to realize that mushrooms when exposed to sunlight also absorb vitamin D through their skin essentially just as we people do. Mushrooms throughout many cultures in history just like lots of the other herbs and plants that we discuss here have been used not only for their food qualities but also as medicinal qualities. It’s also interesting to note that mushrooms have the potential to clean the earth of toxic and nuclear waste and can bring the land essentially bringing it back to life (referenced from the book: The Medicinal Gardening Handbook).
Take caution! Before I go into all of the healing components of a mushroom I’d also like to mention that there are poisonous toxic mushrooms as well, so when cultivating mushrooms it’s recommended to seek a professional or really know what you’re looking at before cultivating and ingesting on your own.
What are the Healing Elements of the Mushroom?
- Mushrooms have been found to heighten our immune system due to the genetic makeup of the cell wall of the mushroom. The cell wall of a mushroom contains polysaccharides that have immunomodulatory effects, IE – they help to regulate your immune system. This makes mushrooms beneficial for many different illnesses as well as boosting our immune system, especially in the colder winter months when we are stuffed up in our house and experiencing some major cabin fever. In fact, mushrooms have been studied by researchers to battle cancer and other health concerns such as brain disease and even arthritis. (Source: Mother Earth Living)
- Mushrooms have shown promise to reduce stress, anxiety, and even provide your body with added energy (which is why you will find a lot of coffee and mushroom combinations).
Additional Healing Properties of Mushrooms:
- Mushrooms have been used medicinally as a natural anti-cancer medicine. There have been several clinical trials and studies with the use of mushrooms medicinally for cancer such as, breast cancer or prostate cancer, positively demonstrating “anti-tumor and anticancer activities”.
- Mushrooms appear to have similar immune-enhancing properties as that in echinacea and can reduce and prevent inflammation.
“Here’s a shocking fact: As humans, we share almost half of our genetic makeup with mushrooms, and are affected by a lot of the same diseases and problems as mushrooms. Thus, we can easily take advantage of the special immune-enhancing benefits and other survival methods that they build for themselves.” – Tero Isokauppila
Where to Buy?
Considering buying Mushrooms in extract, powdered, or capsulated form then you will want to check out Universal Herbs Inc for a premium selection of goods to fit all your needs.
Disclaimer:Â These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and these products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult your doctor before beginning new homeopathic treatments, especially when pregnant, have a serious illness, or other medical concerns.
Looking for more in-depth information on Mushrooms? Then you will want to check out this all-inclusive highly researched mushroom guide here!
Tarek Fakhuri, the author of The Mushroom Guide, reached out to me once he saw this post and thought this my readers would enjoy this guide, so I am passing it along as I find it interesting and well worth looking though if you’re interested in learning more about the health qualities of mushrooms.
