Mushrooms & Breast Cancer Support
Mushrooms and Vitamin D help with Natural Killer cells that fight Breast Cancer.
There are multiple ways to target and kill breast cancer cells.
- There are direct ways by inhibiting DNA synthesis using chemotherapy and radiation, causing cell death;
- If it is a hormone-based cancer, then reducing hormone levels can inhibit cancer cell growth;
- There are also ways to use the immune system to target and kill cancer cells.
The most important cancer fighting immune cell is the Natural Killer cell, or NK cell. These cells circulate and destroy viruses and cancer cells and can activate other parts of the immune system to do the same. One of the best and most researched stimulators of NK cells are maitake, shitake, and reishi mushrooms. These mushrooms contain a sugar molecule called Beta-glucan within their cell walls, and once extracted, can be used to stimulate NK cell production. And more recently, vitamin D has been shown to play a role in activating NK cells and other immune cells. Interestingly, mushrooms are also one of the only plant sources of vitamin D.
So to keep your immune system working optimally during and after cancer treatment, I would suggest adding the use of medicinal mushrooms and making sure your vitamin D levels are in an optimal range. The Stram Center can assist you with testing for NK cell activity and vitamin D levels and develop the optimal protocol for cancer support.
