MycoMedicinals: An Informational Treatise on Mushrooms

Rating:
Summary: Good Starting Point for Researchers, Confusing for Laypeople
Review: Paul Stamets, the world-reknown mycologist, entrepreneur, and eco-activist, can arguably be called the premiere authority on edible mushrooms, both gourmet and medicinal. The attention to detail that he has brought to all of his books on mushroom cultivation are highly visible in this informative pamphlet on medicinal mushrooms. The nine medicinal mushrooms presented in the booklet represent the better known, researched and characterized varieties and are but a sampling of the vast array of the known and potential mycomedicinal pharmacopoiea.

This forty-six page booklet gives excellent background on several of the better known edible, gourmet mushrooms which also have therapeutic potential, such as shiitake, maitake, and other exotic mushrooms. After a brief introduction which makes a strong case for the incorporation of medicinal mushrooms in the diet, the booklet places the nine mushrooms featured in the book into four distinct categories- Polypores (4), Gilled Mushrooms (3), Teethed Fungi (1), and insect parasitizing mushrooms (1). Each category contains a brief introduction which summarizes in general terms the history, folklore, physical and medicinal properties and therapeutic uses of the members of the category. From there, the booklet then goes on to describe in copious detail each member of the category by including information on its medicinal properties, principal (bio-)active constituents, the form in which it is used, and additional comments on the mushroom that give more detail on things such as history, varieties, cultivation methods, and Stamets' anecdotal experience with the mushroom.

Although quite small, the booklet is heavily referenced, and in fact, more than half of the text is devoted to references primarily focusing on clinical trials of the various mushrooms. Stamets, to his credit, also gives the reader a list of general articles devoted to the topic of medicinal mushrooms, as well as a good list of books and journals devoted to the subject of medicinal mushrooms. Surprisingly, he also provides for such a small exposition, a very workable index.

Yet, the copious referencing throughout the text is at once both the booklet's strength and weakness. On the one hand, the references serve as a good jumping-off point for researchers looking to get involved in the field. On the other hand, the copious referencing interferes with the flow of the text, and at times, so much technical jargon is used (and not properly defined, I might add), that it almost feels like one is reading a research paper that is being submitted to a journal devoted to some sort of rocket science. While laypeople may zero in on some key points, I believe most of what he says about the therapeutic properties may be lost to them. Although Stamets has put together an information-dense pamphlet on glossy paper, future volumes should reconsider some of the pictures, which are adequate, and in some cases eyecatching, but are too small or are not very clear. In addition, his 'Short Glossary of Terms' is truly short, and has only eight definitions.

While Stamets has succeeded in introducing the topic of medicinal mushrooms to the public (while, I might add, at the same time not making the tremendous faux paus of saying that 'mushrooms are plants', as many lesser writers on the subject have done), he may have unintentionally mislead many uninformed laypeople into believing that the medicinal mushrooms represent some form of 'one-stop pharmaceutical shopping'. I can easily see and understand a situation where some poor soul who is probably taking two or three medications to control his or her arthritis and perhaps many more for a variety of other afflictions, may get the impression that by consuming one or more of these mushrooms, they could obtain immediate relief from their ills. Furthermore, giving Stamets the benefit of the doubt, a cursory review of the references will reveal that many of them are the findings of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean researchers (with a few Germans and Russians thrown in to boot); no doubt that many of the references are not written in English. As good practice, future editions should note the source language of the materials he quotes, and whether or not it is a translation or an original language document. In addition, while Stamets is very forthcoming about the results of the various clinical trials for different mushrooms, he has not given us any information on how the trials were conducted. Future editions of this booklet should also endeavor to give the reader this crucial piece(s) of information.

Finally, given the immense amount of data, timeliness and importance of this booklet, its current size is simply too small to give the subject its due. This reviewer hopes that Stamets will consider, and ultimately pen, a full-blown book on the subject. In the meantime, non-technical readers that desire more information on the subject of medicinal mushrooms should consult Kenneth Jones's highly informative and well-researched book titled, 'Shiitake: The Healing Mushroom'.

Rating:
Summary: Good Starting Point for Researchers, Confusing for Laypeople
Review: Paul Stamets, the world-reknown mycologist, entrepreneur, and eco-activist, can arguably be called the premiere authority on edible mushrooms, both gourmet and medicinal. The attention to detail that he has brought to all of his books on mushroom cultivation are highly visible in this informative pamphlet on medicinal mushrooms. The nine medicinal mushrooms presented in the booklet represent the better known, researched and characterized varieties and are but a sampling of the vast array of the known and potential mycomedicinal pharmacopoiea.

This forty-six page booklet gives excellent background on several of the better known edible, gourmet mushrooms which also have therapeutic potential, such as shiitake, maitake, and other exotic mushrooms. After a brief introduction which makes a strong case for the incorporation of medicinal mushrooms in the diet, the booklet places the nine mushrooms featured in the book into four distinct categories- Polypores (4), Gilled Mushrooms (3), Teethed Fungi (1), and insect parasitizing mushrooms (1). Each category contains a brief introduction which summarizes in general terms the history, folklore, physical and medicinal properties and therapeutic uses of the members of the category. From there, the booklet then goes on to describe in copious detail each member of the category by including information on its medicinal properties, principal (bio-)active constituents, the form in which it is used, and additional comments on the mushroom that give more detail on things such as history, varieties, cultivation methods, and Stamets' anecdotal experience with the mushroom.

Although quite small, the booklet is heavily referenced, and in fact, more than half of the text is devoted to references primarily focusing on clinical trials of the various mushrooms. Stamets, to his credit, also gives the reader a list of general articles devoted to the topic of medicinal mushrooms, as well as a good list of books and journals devoted to the subject of medicinal mushrooms. Surprisingly, he also provides for such a small exposition, a very workable index.

Yet, the copious referencing throughout the text is at once both the booklet's strength and weakness. On the one hand, the references serve as a good jumping-off point for researchers looking to get involved in the field. On the other hand, the copious referencing interferes with the flow of the text, and at times, so much technical jargon is used (and not properly defined, I might add), that it almost feels like one is reading a research paper that is being submitted to a journal devoted to some sort of rocket science. While laypeople may zero in on some key points, I believe most of what he says about the therapeutic properties may be lost to them. Although Stamets has put together an information-dense pamphlet on glossy paper, future volumes should reconsider some of the pictures, which are adequate, and in some cases eyecatching, but are too small or are not very clear. In addition, his 'Short Glossary of Terms' is truly short, and has only eight definitions.

While Stamets has succeeded in introducing the topic of medicinal mushrooms to the public (while, I might add, at the same time not making the tremendous faux paus of saying that 'mushrooms are plants', as many lesser writers on the subject have done), he may have unintentionally mislead many uninformed laypeople into believing that the medicinal mushrooms represent some form of 'one-stop pharmaceutical shopping'. I can easily see and understand a situation where some poor soul who is probably taking two or three medications to control his or her arthritis and perhaps many more for a variety of other afflictions, may get the impression that by consuming one or more of these mushrooms, they could obtain immediate relief from their ills. Furthermore, giving Stamets the benefit of the doubt, a cursory review of the references will reveal that many of them are the findings of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean researchers (with a few Germans and Russians thrown in to boot); no doubt that many of the references are not written in English. As good practice, future editions should note the source language of the materials he quotes, and whether or not it is a translation or an original language document. In addition, while Stamets is very forthcoming about the results of the various clinical trials for different mushrooms, he has not given us any information on how the trials were conducted. Future editions of this booklet should also endeavor to give the reader this crucial piece(s) of information.

Finally, given the immense amount of data, timeliness and importance of this booklet, its current size is simply too small to give the subject its due. This reviewer hopes that Stamets will consider, and ultimately pen, a full-blown book on the subject. In the meantime, non-technical readers that desire more information on the subject of medicinal mushrooms should consult Kenneth Jones's highly informative and well-researched book titled, 'Shiitake: The Healing Mushroom'.