Immune Products - Comparison
Comparison of Immune Fx to AHCC, MGN-3, Lentinan,
PSK, PSP, Coriolan, Maitake D-Fraction and Yeast Beta
Glucan
We are contacted almost daily with questions about
how IMMUNE FX compares to the other widely used mushroom
polysaccharide medications. "Why does it seem to
work so much better", is the question we are usually
asked. Here we will try to address that question from
a scientific perspective.
Polysaccharides
The therapeutic compound found in most mushrooms, which
has a stimulatory effect on the immune system, is a
class of compounds known as polysaccharide. Polysaccharide
means "multiple sugar". The term sugar in
this case is not what you normally think of to put in
your coffee, but rather refers to the simple sugars
which are the main building blocks of life. The most
common organic substance in the world is a polysaccharide.
It is called Cellulose. This is the cell wall material
of all plants. To a scientist this compound has a more
complex name, 1-4 Beta Glucan.
What are beta glucans?
Glucose molecules joined together with Beta (versus
Alpha) bonds. In the case of Cellulose, the bonds link
from the #1 carbon on the first glucose molecule to
the #4 carbon on the next molecule. (1-4 beta glucan)
As most sugars have 6 carbons, there are many possible
ways to connect the sugars together. From 1 to 1, or
1 to 2, or 1 to 3, etc. While cellulose is a 1-4 linkage,
this type of polysaccharide is not digestible and has
no effect in the human body.
Polysaccharides that are linked with beta bonds at
the #1 and #3 positions though are a different story.
These are the compounds that stimulate function and
act in conjunction with the human immune system. These
1-3 beta glucans are mandatory for proper immune system
function. They are available only through dietary sources
and are in ever dwindling supply in our foodstuffs due
to our modern farming practices. Chemical fertilizers
interfere with the production of 1-3 beta glucan in
plants.
Mushroom beta glucans
This is where the different mushroom derived compounds
come in. The cell walls in mushrooms are not like plants.
Rather than cellulose as is found in plants, the mushroom
cell walls are composed of 1-3 beta glucan. Each mushroom
has a slightly different structure to their 1-3 beta
glucan. For instance, some are attached to a protein,
or have a branching chain structure, or some other structural
difference. Each of these different structures has a
slightly different effect in the body's immune system.
Some activate this type of cell or that type of cell,
some differentiate different immune responses, some
are involved in the 'memory' effect of the immune system,
etc.
Mushrooms and Disease
Starting in the late 60's, there was a lot of research
done on the different sources of mushroom polysaccharides.
This resulted in many different drugs and supplements,
such as Lentinan, D-Fraction, AHCC, Arabinoxylane (MGN-3),
PSP and PSK, Coriolan, Sonifilan, Schizophylin and many
others. These all followed the well known theory of
modern medicine - "One Disease, One Molecule".
Single medicines extracted and purified away from all
of the other related compounds. Too bad that life is
not as simple as that!
In reality, when disease occurs, how can we possibly
say what aspect of immune dysfunction allowed it to
happen? Is it lowered NK cell activity (take MGN3?)
or is it lowered T-cell count (take D-fraction?) or
perhaps a lack of the body's normal Tumor Necrosis Factor
(take PSP, PSK, Coriolan, etc?)
The truth is we do not know what causes some people
to get sick and others to remain healthy; the great
mystery of life. The human body, the organism as a whole,
functions as a whole. We can't accept that if you have
hepatitis or cancer then this or that is going to help;
it might but if that is not what your body needs then
it won't.
In the last ten years there have been some very far
reaching advances made by some very good scientists
like Paul Stamets, Malcolm Clark, Andy Miller and John
Saline. They were all on the same track; combining different
Beta Glucan structures to stimulate different aspects
of the immune system simultaneously. This is why there
are so many multi-mushroom formulas today. RM-10 is
an excellent one, as is Stamets 7, Nikken Immunity,
MycoSurge and the many fine products put out by Mushroom
Science and New Chapter. We applaud the developers of
these multiple mushroom formulas. They always work better
at addressing disease states than single mushroom entities.
While the products we mention here are all available
as Health Supplements and they all are good choices
at maintaining a healthy immune system, at times there
is a need for something stronger. In dealing with serious
disease states such as AIDS, Cancer and Hepatitis, a
much more aggressive approach is needed. We guess one
could take a bottle or two of each of these products
a day; that is what it would take to get a sufficient
quantity of 1-3 Beta Glucan in the body to do some good.
Pharmaceutical Immune Products
The pharmaceutical companies take a different approach.
Patent a Single Compound and sell it for a lot of money.
AHCC, MGN3, LENTINAN and the others we mention in the
title were all developed by pharmaceutical companies
and are used as prescription medicines in most countries.
Enough Beta-Glucan perhaps, just hope it's the one YOU
need!
Immune-Fx
This is where Immune Fx
is different. What we have done is taken seven different
compounds from 6 different mushrooms (two different
compounds from Cordyceps sinensis) and combined them
together into a formulation which has a higher Beta
Glucan content than any of the title compounds. Immune
Fx actually has all of the named compounds in it.
Of course these names are all trademarked so we can't
say that. All of the compounds in Immune
Fx were originally researched and developed by big
pharmaceutical companies, and are all used as single
entity prescription drugs in other countries. By combining
these different structural Beta Glucans, Immune
Fx has shown a greater effectiveness in all the
trials than any of the single components.
45% 1-3 Beta Glucan, with over 200 different modes
of action identified. That is why Immune
Fx outperforms MGN3, AHCC, Lentinan, PSK, PSP, Coriolan
and Maitake D-Fraction. As far as comparing Immune
Fx to RM10, Immunity, Stamets 7, Manipol or any
of the other consumer grade polysaccharide supplements,
that is really comparing apples to oranges. The usual
over-the-counter health supplements definitely have
a place, but not as adjunct treatment for serious disease
states.
If you need some Serious Help for Serious health issues,
use Immune Fx.
Yeast beta-blucans
Note on "Beta Glucan" in health supplements:
There is a type of 1-3 beta glucan found in yeast. This
is the common source of "beta glucan" that
you see in so many health supplements these days. The
yeast beta glucan has very little effect in the human
system. There are NO prescription drugs made anywhere
from yeast beta glucans. (There are over 40 different
prescription drugs made from mushrooms). The claims
usually made for the yeast beta glucans is based on
research done with fish in Norway 20 years ago. Works
OK for fish. Too bad it has not been shown to work for
humans. Yeast beta glucan seems to be all about marketing
to make big profits on cheap raw materials produced
in China. Many experts will state openly not to waste
your money on it. If the label does not say what the
source is, don't buy it. Believe me, when a supplement
manufacturer spends the money to use effective, mushroom
derived beta glucans, you can be sure they will tell
you about it.
Books to Read on Beta Glucans
In the recent book "What is Beta Glucan?"
-- By Roger Mason, he states that it does not matter
what source the beta glucan comes from. Then he goes
on to show the clinical trial results for all sorts
of diseases. He seems to have missed the fact that all
of the serious disease states were tested against MUSHROOM
beta glucans and all of the high cholesterol states
were tested against OAT beta glucans. He didn't detail
anything showing effectiveness with yeast beta glucans.
The book has some good information in it, but there
are a couple of errors. "Sugars that Heal"
by Emil I. Mondoa is a good book on this subject, although
we wish he had put in more specifically about mushrooms.
Another book mycologists may recommend for anyone interested
in Medicinal Mushrooms is by Andrew Miller and George
Halpern - "Medicinal Mushrooms: Ancient Remedies
for Modern Ailments"
The Book-Of-All-Books on the subject of Medicinal Mushrooms
is by Dr. John Smith from Scotland..."Medicinal
mushrooms: their therapeutic properties and current
medical usage with special emphasis on cancer treatments"
These claims have not been evaluated by the FDA. Our products are not intended
to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
REFERENCES and RESEARCH ARTICLES
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