Medicinal Mushrooms Maitake (Grifola frondosa) A Maitake D fraction-containing extract has been studied in medical clinics in the U.S.A. for patients with breast and colorectal cancers. In China, a Grifola extract demonstrated an anti cancer effect in 63 patients with lung, stomach, hepatocellular cancers and leukemia. There are also reports of a lot of cancer patients that have recovered from severe side effects from chemotherapies with Maitake D fraction. Maitake extracts with D fraction may also prove to be an effective therapy for patients with HIV/AIDS. Patients with Kaposi’s sarcoma and other symptoms of AIDS show improvement when administered the extract. A study was undertaken at the Ayurvedic Medicine Centre of New York in which eleven volunteers with documented essential hypertension were given three 500 mg capsules of Maitake mushroom extract two times daily; in the morning and in the evening. Blood Pressure (BP) was measured weekly for an average of six weeks. There was a mean decrese in systolic BP of 14 mm Hg and 8 mm Hg in diastolic BP, which was about a 7% and 9.4% average drop respectively. The drop was steady and consistent. A concentrated polysaccharide extract of Grifola frondosa was used in a randomized controlled clinical trial with 32 chronic hepatitis B patients. The recovery rate was reported to be 72% in the Grifola group and 57% in the control group. Seroconversion from HBeAg positive to negative was 44% in the Grifola group and 13% in the control group. When used consistently (3-5 times a week) as food or tea, it aids in cancer prevention, immune stimulation in people with cancer, support for people with cancer undergoing chemotherapy and people living with HIV/AIDS. It also benefits diabetics by lowering blood glucose and people with hypertension. | 
