Vegan Mushroom Mix consists of vegetable capsules containing 75mg each of seven raw whole edible mushrooms, grown in a sterile environment on an organically certified farm in one of the cleanest areas of the United States.

The mushrooms are grown on a substrate of organic, whole-grain rice. The valuable nutrients present in the organic rice are absorbed by the mushrooms. The crop is harvested once the mycelia (fungal threads) have overgrown the rice and the fruiting bodies (mushrooms) begin to develop. In this way, the biologically active substances of both the mycelia and the mushrooms are preserved. After freeze-drying and grinding, the powder is shipped to and encapsulated by Kala Health.

Vegan Mushroom Mix therefore contains the active ingredients found in both the mycelia (the fungal thread) and the young fruiting bodies (the actual mushrooms). You’d be hard-pressed to find a more powerful combination.

Ingredients

Composition per capsule:			%ADH
Cordyceps	Cordyceps sinensis	75 mg	-
Reishi	Ganoderma lucidum	75 mg	-
Maitake	Grifola frondosa	75 mg	-
Shiitake	Lentinus edodus	75 mg	-
Lion's mane	Hericium erinaceus	75 mg	-
Chaga	Inonotus obliquus	75 mg	-
Oyster Mushroom	Pleurotus ostreatus	75 mg	-

Other Ingredients: Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (plant-based capsule), rice

Recommended Dosage

Adults: Take 1-2 capsules twice daily with plenty of water, or as recommended.

The importance of organic cultivation: SKAL certified

The mushrooms in Vegan Mushroom Mix are guaranteed to be of the highest and most biologically active quality. Because mushrooms reflect the environment in which they grow, their quality is of the utmost importance. Mushrooms are capable of absorbing and converting almost all substances from the soil, both valuable and potentially harmful ones. Mushrooms that grow in a polluted environment can therefore absorb dangerous soil contaminants. This is why Kala Health does not use wild mushrooms from uncontrollable areas in uncontrollable countries.

All of the mushrooms in Vegan Mushroom Mix are guaranteed to come from a nursery in one of the cleanest areas in the northwestern United States. Cultivation takes place on a nutrient medium of organic rice, under completely sterile conditions. Valuable nutrients in the organic rice are absorbed by the mushrooms. The crop is harvested as soon as the mycelium (fungal threads) have overgrown the rice. In this way, the biologically active substances present in both the mycelia and the mushrooms are preserved. After drying and grinding, the powder is shipped to and encapsulated by Kala Health.

Vegan Mushroom Mix ORGANIC therefore contains the active ingredients found in both the mycelia (the fungal thread) and the young fruiting bodies (the actual mushrooms). You’d be hard-pressed to find a more powerful combination.

The nursery is certified Organic by the Washington State Department of Agriculture, and Kosher certified by the Union of Orthodox Congregations of America. The mushrooms are guaranteed to be free of heavy metals, pesticides, chemical residue and bacteria. To ensure this, crops are regularly analyzed by an independent laboratory. For the EU, the Kala Health Vegan Mushroom Mix has been awarded the SKAL Organic certificate.

(1): Stamets P. 2003: Potentiation of cell-mediated host defense using fruitbodies and mycelia of medicinal mushrooms. International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms. Full. 5: 179-191.

The main active ingredients

The Vegan Mushroom Mix uses seven mushrooms that have been known in the East for centuries, and which have been the subject of much scientific research. They have been proven to contain many hundreds of substances, some of which are well-known, such as vitamins, minerals and amino acids. The protein content in mushrooms usually varies between 10 – 40% dry weight. What is special is that ALL essential amino acids and almost all non-essential amino acids are present, as well as almost all vitamins, minerals and trace elements. Vitamin B2 content usually varies between 1.8-5.1 mg/100 g dw, and that of vitamin B3 and folic acid sits between 31-65 resp. 0.36-0.64mg/100g dw (1).

These ingredients alone make mushrooms a particularly valuable food source. However, the mushrooms used contain many more biologically active ingredients, and new, promising ingredients are still being isolated. Below is an overview of the currently known ingredients that comprise the seven mushroom species used in Vegan Mushroom Mix™:

• Proteins, peptides, cyclic dipeptide
• ALL essential amino acids (!)
• Most non-essential amino acids
• Unsaturated fatty acids
• Vitamins
• Minerals and trace elements
• Enzymes (more than 200 known already)
• Polysaccharides, including beta (1.3), (1.4), (1.6) glucans, hetero-beta-glucans and proteoglycans (protein polysaccharide complexes)
• Triterpenes (more than 100 known already)
• Sterols
• Nucleosides
• Nucleotides
• Steroids, including ergosterol (provitamin D2)

Arabinoxylans and glycoproteins

In November 2003, the leading journal International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms published the results of a study concerning the active ingredients in a number of mushroom mycelia (1).

An important note is that the mycelia examined were supplied by the same organic nursery in the United States from which Kala Health obtains its mycelia. The results of this study are therefore directly applicable to our Vegan Mushroom Mix ORGANIC.

Substances in mushroom mycelia that are receiving increasing attention are:

Polysaccharides: (particularly 1,3 en 1,6 beta-glucans): large molecules of compound sugars;
Glycoproteins: combinations of proteins and polysaccharide complexes;
Ergosterol: is converted into provitamin D2 under the influence of sunlight;
Arabinoxylans: formed from arabinose and xylose in whole-grain rice under the influence of mushroom mycelia.
The table below shows that Vegan Mushroom Mix ORGANIC is a rich source of such important substances (1):

Type	Arabinoxylans	Glycoproteins	Ergosterol	Beta-glucans
				Type			(mg/g)
				1.3	1.4	1.6
Vegan Mushroom Mix ORGANIC	149	265	28	++	+	++	20
Griola¤	113	399	17	+	+	+++	25
Agaricus¤I	78	387	19	++	-	++	18
Inonotus¤	93	309	18	+++	-	++	30
Ganoderma¤	110	285	15	+++	-	+	22
Cordyceps¤	240	322	68	++	-	++	21
Phellinus	197	198	37	++	-	++	28
Hericium¤	239	216	37	++	-	+	12

¤ Present in Kala Health’s Vegan Mushroom Mix ORGANIC™