THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS ARE MANY AND VARIED

They seem to come out of nowhere. In areas where there was no visible sign of their presence, they suddenly appear – overnight, or so it seems. Such is the nature of mushrooms, the higher order organisms of the world of fungi. Everyone has had some encounter with mushrooms. Whether on a walk through the woods, strolling through the park, or just finding them in our lawns and gardens, mushrooms are a phenomenon of nature that is hard to overlook. In North America we tend to be somewhat fearful of mushrooms and generally regard them as something to be avoided. This attitude is sharply contrasted by other cultures. Europeans, East and West, are wild about mushrooms and hunt them with a passion. In Asia it is no different. Wild and cultivated mushrooms fill the markets and are looked upon with great favor. And nowhere are they so highly prized than Japan. With approximately 12 species cultivated for the marketplace, the Japanese surely lead the world in their appreciation of edib...