February 14, 2008
On the Road with the Mushroom Matrix Team at the Florida Show Circuit
A recent article in the London Free Press of Canada by Dr. Richard Beliveau cites a growing body of evidence that one of the keys to cancer prevention may be a stronger immune system.
Recent studies indicate that the immune system could be playing an important role in cancer defense by keeping cancerous cells in an inactive state. The primary role of the immune system is to protect the body from attack, such as from viruses and bacteria. When functioning properly, the immune system recognizes an intruder and goes to work to eliminate this dangerous invader.
As Dr. Beliveau points out, many researchers have long suspected that the immune system can recognize the cancerous cells developing in our bodies and help eliminate them. Thus, cancer is only able to develop when it can deceive the immune system and avoid being destroyed as soon as it appears. On the other hand, if the immune system could recognize cancer when it appears, it would destroy the cancerous cells. In addition, Dr. Beliveau cites an article recently published in the journal Nature that suggests that the immune system can also slow the development of cancer, once it does appear, by keeping cancerous cells in a latent state.
This belief is based on studies whereby researchers observed skin tumors in two sets of animals - those with a normal, functioning immune system and those without. The animals with a normal immune system developed skin tumors that remained barely visible, whereas the animals with a weak immune system developed full-blown, mature cancer tumors. These studies support previous observations that some cancers appear when the immune system is suppressed, such as during an organ transplant.
As Dr. Beliveau put it, "These cancers are apparently caused by the presence in the donor's organs of cancerous cells that survived the treatment. Thus, while the cancerous cells were maintained in an inoffensive state by the donor's immune system, they managed to escape this control and regained their invasion potential once present in the immuno-suppressed patient."
While there is still much that is unknown about cancer, it is not so with the immune system. It's widely known that one of the keys to maintaining a healthy immune system, and thus perhaps an immune system that can help keep cancer in check, is diet. Dr. Beliveau lists three foods that recent research indicates contain nutrients that increase immune system function and therefore could, as he said, "actively help prevent the development of cancer." Mushrooms are among one of these foods. Here is the list he cites in his Feb. 4 article:
- Marine algae: Fucoidan, a complex sugar polymer found in very large quantities in some algae (kombu, wakame) that increases the immune function while reducing the inflammation.
- Mushrooms: Some Asian mushrooms, such as the shiitake mushroom, the enokitake and the maitake, have been used for a long time in Chinese and Japanese medicine to ensure good health and prolong life expectancy. Several studies indicate that these mushrooms strongly stimulate the immune system.
- Probiotics: Intestinal bacteria are absolutely essential to the development and the maintenance of our immune system.
One of the best foods to gain the benefits of the last item on this list - probiotics - is yogurt that is contains live, active cultures. One of the easiest ways to give the body the benefits found in mushrooms is by eating medicinal mushrooms or through nutritional supplements. And there are no better mushroom-based nutritional supplements than the Mushroom Matrix line of products.
The Mushroom Matrix products are produced by Golden Gourmet Mushrooms of San Marcos, California. They are 100 percent certified organic nutritional supplements that contain up to ten of nature's most powerful medicinal mushroom species. More information on Matrix nutritional supplements can be found at www.mushroommatrix.com.
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