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Podcast:

BioEnergetics Beat

BioEnergetics Beat

How Functional Fungi Fuel Healing and Wellness

With:

Heather Gray, FDN-P

April 2, 2025

Listen: Spotify

Listen: Apple Podcasts

Watch: YouTube

In this conversation, we talked about my research on the rosy polypore and had some fun diving into the chemistry of mushroom compounds and solvent solubility. It was a great mix of scientific insight and fresh topics I haven’t explored much in previous podcasts—like using mushrooms for Lyme disease and chronic infections.

Conversation starters

[For awkward dinner parties, silent elevator rides, grocery store lines, and your favorite barista]

"I call that constituentism—just like a very reductionist view. I think molecules in plants and mushrooms work synergistically and it's important to consider that when using them."

"Mushrooms are such kind of community organisms—if you think of just how they are in the world, they're connecting really the entire world. Everything underneath us is really connected by mycelium."

Key Topics

[02:25] 🍄 Personal journey into mushroom medicine through family chronic illness experiences

[03:25] 🔬 Research at Bastyr University with lymphocytic leukemia cells

[10:05] 🧪 Rosy polypore (Fomitopsis cajanderi) laboratory research findings

[08:35] ⚗️ Water vs alcohol extraction methods and their different medicinal compounds

[12:00] 🌿 Constituentism and the importance of whole plant/mushroom medicine

[14:15] 💀 Cytotoxic mechanisms: how mushrooms interact with cancer cells through apoptosis

[17:12] 📊 Loading doses vs therapeutic doses and immune training protocols

[18:30] 🦠 Mushroom applications for Lyme disease and chronic infections

[20:35] 🧠 Lion's Mane for nervous system support and gut health benefits

[26:40] 💊 Lucidum Medicinals formulations and targeted body system support

Spores for Thought

"When I think about Lyme disease and chronic infectious disease generally, I really have a view about keeping and maintaining a strong terrain, tonifying the systems of the body."

Resources

Textbook of Natural Medicine (medicinal mushrooms chapter)

My paper in the Journal of Immunology on Rosy Polypore extracts and leukemia cells

Shameless Plugs

IMMUNE — Contains reishi, turkey tail, and maitake for chronic viral infections and cancer support during chemotherapy.

BRAIN & NERVES — Features Lion's Mane, oyster mushroom, and tremella to increase gray matter volume and support nervous system health.

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© 2025 by Anna Sitkoff

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