ABM mushroom extract is powerful medicine

ABM is used to regulate the immune system and promote natural mechanisms to battle infectious disease and cancer.

by Dr. Frank George — 

In the 1960s, researchers visited the São Paulo, area in Brazil and discovered that the longevity rate was disproportionately high. People there were very healthy and living well beyond 100 years. Their secret was the simple ABM mushroom, Agaricus blazei murill.

The ABM mushroom is the strongest of the medicinal mushrooms. It is chock full of beta glucans, linoleic acid, vitamins (especially vitamin D), minerals, antioxidants, amino acids, digestive enzymes — with a total of 192 nutrients that make it a very strong adaptogen to bring the body into homeostasis.

ABM is used to regulate the immune system and promote natural mechanisms to battle infectious disease and cancer. Most research on it has been for cancer. ABM stimulates lymphocyte T cell and helper T cell production, and stimulates natural killer cell activity. The polysaccharides contained in ABM stimulate production of interferon and interleukin that indirectly function to destroy and prevent the proliferation of cancer cells. Additionally, ABM is a very powerful antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal agent.

Japanese studies showed ABM to be 80 percent more effective than Japan’s best-selling anticancer medicine, PSK. It contains much higher levels of nutrients and immune system regulators than maitake, shiitake and reishi mushrooms.

ABM is a welcome adjunct to cancer treatment because it supports the liver, which has a big detoxification job to do during chemotherapy. Its nutritional support offsets cachexia, the loss of weight and muscle that debilitated cancer patients experience.

Do not be fooled by cheaper imitations. The Japanese and Chinese tried to grow this mushroom, but it does not do well away from its native environment; it loses its potency. Mushrooms from polluted lands have high concentrates of heavy metals. Top notch, ABM mushrooms for medicinal use grow best in the sunny, unpolluted landscape of the Brazilian rainforest. The resulting extract is not inexpensive because demand outstrips supply, and it is labor intensive.

“Once the mushrooms pop out of the ground, you have about three hours to pick them,” said Kristina Okuda, the sole importer of organic Brazilian ABM mushroom extract in Arizona. “If the caps start to flip, they are useless. You have to pick them quickly, and then air dry them. If you freeze dry them, you kill the polysaccharides. The extract must be preserved in an alcoholic tincture, not glycerin.”

Okuda grew up in Brazil and established a relationship with a trusted grower about six years ago after she wanted the extract for herself to treat her ovarian cancer. “I’ve since dealt with quite a few stage IV cancer patients whom the regular docs had given up on,” she said. “The mushroom activates their immune systems and revives them; then they can do insulin potentiated therapy (IPT) or other cancer treatments.”

ABM mushroom extract is an organic whole food. It is also used with autoimmune diseases because it is an immune system modulator, meaning it will tone down an over active immune system.

The late Frank George, D.O., M.D.(H), was the first osteopathic physician in the United States to train with Dr. Donato Garcia Perez in IPT, and taught IPT to other doctors. 

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 27, Number 5, October/November 2008.