Editorial Policy, or ‘where am I coming from’?

To start, I should stress that nothing in this site offers, or intends to offer medical advice; that’s your doctor’s job. Many research findings in the laboratory suggesting a possible beneficial effect, simply do not translate into a demonstrable beneficial effect when subjected to human clinical trials.

So does that mean that we should wait until a compound of fungal origin has been synthesised and undergone clinical trials before using it? I suggest that as long as:

• we are confident it is safe, following years of use, or that the side effects are negligible,
• there is evidence that it has the potential to be beneficial in a particular condition,
• and the preparation does no great harm to the user’s wallet,

then it is entirely reasonable to try something.
Thus if you read references to a scientific paper on this site that found a beneficial effect on a cell line in vitro, that does not mean it will treat a condition in a human. But that finding would be interesting and certainly worth exploring.

I personally detest what I call ‘junk science’ and purveyors of snake oil, so if you spot a product being offered here that makes a specific and unjustified medical claim, I will promptly remove it. I will usually overlook silly words and phrases like ‘detox’ and ‘boosts the immune system’ (groan), even if they make me cringe.

One additional caveat, not all the studies cited are of high quality. They are included as pointers for further research, rather than definitive statements.

You can find health-related mushroom based products in our Mushrooms for Health Store .