{"id":315763,"date":"2026-03-06T09:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T09:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/315763\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T09:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T09:28:09","slug":"functional-mushrooms-for-protecting-bees-and-combating-global-viruses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/315763\/","title":{"rendered":"Functional mushrooms for protecting bees and combating global viruses"},"content":{"rendered":"

Live from the Expo West trade fair in California, US, Nutrition Insight\u00a0speaks to renowned mycologist and Fungi Perfecti founder Paul Stamets. Featured in the Netflix documentary \u201cFantastic Fungi,\u201d Stamets spotlights how mycelium\u2019s potential reaches far beyond human immunity, offering a critical defense for bees and livestock against emerging viral threats.<\/p>\n

New clinical research has found that a blend of fungal extracts from Fomitopsis officinalis (agarikon) and Trametes versicolor\u00a0(turkey tail) mushroom mycelia is an effective adjunct supplement that helps reduce side effects from COVID-19 vaccinations. Fungi Perfecti supplied the study with capsules containing the blend, which was cultivated on organic brown rice.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo the best of my knowledge, this study is the first placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical study ever conducted using a fungal component to enhance the efficacy of vaccines in healthy individuals,\u201d he notes.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is really important because this is the first human clinical trial evaluating a fungal-derived natural product in this research context, demonstrating that it can reduce the deleterious effects associated with vaccines while extending innate immunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

An adjunct to COVID-19 vaccination<\/p>\n

The trial, published in BMC Immunology<\/a>, enrolled 90 participants in a randomized study and evaluated the safety, tolerability, and immune-related outcomes of the mycelium blend when used alongside routine COVID-19 vaccination.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was surprising to us all is that six months after taking agaricon and turkey tail mycelium for four days, 89 out of the 90 participants came back with a two-to-three-fold rise in antibodies that continued when the vaccines were attenuated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PaulPaul Stamets, renowned mycologist and founder and CEO of Fungi Perfecti (Image credit: Paul Stamets).Among participants without prior SARS-CoV-2 exposure, researchers observed differences in antibody-related measurements between the mushroom-supplement and the placebo group.<\/p>\n

Regarding immune responses and participant-reported tolerability, participants in the vaccinated mushroom group had fewer transient effects than those in the placebo group.<\/p>\n

Planetary immunological network<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the broader implications of this study, Stamets frames the world\u2019s fungal mycelium \u2014 the underground root-like network of mushrooms \u2014 as a foundational \u201cimmunological network\u201d for the entire planet.<\/p>\n

He believes the same biological defenses fungi use to protect ecosystems might be critical to solving some of the most pressing biosecurity threats in the modern world.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019ve come to realize is that the mycelium is the immune system of the ecosystem,\u201d he illustrates. Beyond metaphor, recent research published in Scientific Reports has demonstrated that extracts from reishi mushroom mycelium significantly reduced viral loads in honeybees.<\/p>\n

Stammets notes bees are currently facing a \u201cbee apocalypse\u201d driven by viral pandemics vectored by Varroa mites, with some US regions losing 50\u2013100% of their hives. \u201cWe were able to reduce viruses that were killing thousands of bees at a time with one treatment in 12 days,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

This \u201centourage effect\u201d that activates bees\u2019 innate immunity without conventional medicine could have massive implications for food biosecurity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe colony collapse in the US poses one of the biggest threats to food biosecurity,\u201d Stamets illustrates. \u201cOne bee pollinates 1,000 flowers a day that produce almonds, cherries, berries, and apples.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stamets cites published research suggesting this strategy isn\u2019t limited to insects. Mycelial extracts could help prevent the spread of Bird Flu, which has begun spreading from birds to swine, cattle, and even large cats. \u201cSpanning from bees to birds, swine, and cougars, the idea that the mycelium could be the immune system of nature is increasingly making a lot of sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Innovation and quality control challenges<\/p>\n

As industrial advances in mushroom supplements come to fruition, one emergent trend among high-end mushroom supplement brands is the use of \u201csuper grain\u201d substrates \u2014 such as purple corn or sprouted quinoa \u2014 to boost the antioxidant profile of cultivated fungi ingredients.<\/p>\n

\"MushroomLooking toward innovation in the next decade, Stamets says the focus is shifting from the mushroom fruiting bodies to the mycelium itself.Commenting on this trend, Stamets urges producers of these variants to exercise caution, especially during large-scale cultivation operations using these new substrates. The biggest challenge is maintaining visual quality control to ensure complete product safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cTypically, the mycelium is a whitish color, and we grow it on rice,\u201d he notes. \u201cGreen and black molds are very easily seen on a white substrate. You can\u2019t easily see them on purple corn.\u201d<\/p>\n

This lack of visual contrast could allow contaminants like Aspergillus\u00a0or Penicillium\u00a0\u2014 which produce dangerous aflatoxins \u2014 to bloom undetected. \u201cIf you can\u2019t nip it in the bud at the very beginning, you could actually be introducing toxins. That can have a dramatically negative effect on human health.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking toward innovation in the next decade, Stamets says the focus is shifting from the mushroom fruiting bodies to the mycelium itself. While mushrooms are designed to rot quickly to distribute spores, Stamets describes the mycelium as a \u201cwellspring of novel constituents\u201d and a \u201cdeep reservoir of discovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, he warns against getting lost in \u201cthe wormhole of one active constituent,\u201d as researchers or formulators often attribute health benefits to a single compound without considering mushrooms\u2019 diverse biochemical matrix.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur ancestors have methodically gone through plants and mushrooms to find which ones are beneficial. Much of the folkloric reputation of mushrooms has turned out to be true,\u201d he concedes.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we have to be critical thinkers. Just because it was done in the past doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s the best way of doing it now. Question authority: Where are the clinical studies? Where are the peer-reviewed articles?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Live from the Expo West trade fair in California, US, Nutrition Insight\u00a0speaks to renowned mycologist and Fungi Perfecti…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[8607,2481,134,171247,32800,111,139,69,171248],"class_list":{"0":"post-315763","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-covid","9":"tag-fungi","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-mushroom-supplements","12":"tag-mycelium","13":"tag-new-zealand","14":"tag-newzealand","15":"tag-nz","16":"tag-paul-stamets"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}