Medicinal Mushrooms

October 28, 2017 by AARON KASKOWITZ

Over the last few weeks I’ve been pretty obsessed with functional uses of mushrooms. They can be delicious in cooking, but I’ve discovered they have many amazing medicinal uses. My introduction to this Kingdom of life was through using Four Sigmatic mushroom coffees and elixirs. The company’s creator, Tero Isokauppila, has been spreading the word about how rad ‘shrooms are.

One of the attractive qualities of mushrooms is that they’ve been nature’s medicine for so long, and don’t generally bring great risks. Mushrooms offer a lot of potential benefits, but I don’t want to use too much at once, nor do I want to risk over-stimulating my already over-active immune system. There’s conflicting information about whether they can increase immune activity to a dangerous point for those of us with autoimmune issues. My doctor has suggested incorporating them and keeping an eye on how my body responds, but not to go overboard. However, incorporating functional mushrooms could be worthwhile if you wish to boost your immune system to fight off viruses and infections. Here’s 4 mushrooms and some of their many amazing qualities.

Lion’s Mane

The tipping point for my deep-dive into this world was my discovery that Lion’s Mane mushroom has been studied for its ability to re-grow the myelin sheath in the central nervous system. Myelin is what is destroyed in multiple sclerosis, so this information was incredibly exciting for me. I’ve experienced myelin loss, and I’m not willing to accept permanent damage without putting up a fight. I should mention that Lion’s Mane probably does not provide the building blocks for myelin. It sends a signal to the body to repair by increasing nerve growth factors, so a nutritious diet is still vital to providing the necessary components for the body to heal.

Reishi

Before finding out about Lion’s Mane, I was very intrigued by Reishi for it’s ability to calm the nervous system and balance the immune system. It is known as the “Queen of Mushrooms” and has been used for thousands of years as the “Mushroom of Immortality”. I think the Reishi has provided a calming effect and has helped me get longer, deeper sleep.

Chaga

The other 2 mushrooms I’ve been experimenting with are Chaga and Cordyceps. Chaga is known as the King of Mushrooms. One benefit that stands out is that this medicinal mushroom has been shown in studies to decrease cancer growth. It may also have the highest concentration of antioxidants of any food. Antioxidants control the free radicals in our body that cause damage if not controlled. Chaga generally acts as a potent anti-inflammatory to calm the inflammation that contributes to most diseases. Finally, it can help with digestive issues, which are commonly associated with autoimmune activity.

Cordyceps

Cordyceps is known to improve physical performance and ATP production. It’s been used by Olympic athletes to set world records. Pharmaceutical companies have extracted a compound from Cordyceps for a drug to treat multiple sclerosis. The drug is called Gilenya. In fact, mushrooms are very widely used in pharmaceutical drugs (Perhaps 40% of the drugs on the market).

Lion’s Mane Medical Research Links

In the Central Nervous System:

In the Peripheral Nervous System:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3176599/

Products

Extra Links for the Curious

Let me know if you have any thoughts on using medicinal mushrooms. I’d love to hear from you. Thank you for reading!

And a huge thank you to Mary Keane for her adorable, brilliant illustrations.

-Aaron Kaskowitz-

Better Health Through Community

June 09, 2017 by AARON KASKOWITZ

My personal introduction to Health Coaching was through nutrition, and many people assume this is at the core of any health program, but this isn’t necessarily true. Food has great power to heal us, but I’ve seen, and experienced first hand, that nourishing our bodies through mindful living has greater power to heal our bodies and minds. That’s why my purpose statement on my website puts mindful living before nutrition.

The lifestyle aspects of health coaching are community, fulfillment in career, exercise, spiritual practice, sleep, relationships, play/joy and creation. The goal is to find balance and fulfillment in as many of these areas as you can, but it works best to focus on just a few at a time. So, I wanted to share my recent thoughts on Relationships and Community because I’ve noticed that most people can benefit from a reminder to connect. I’m one of those people.

The Blue Zones

https://bluezones.com/live-longer-better/

Blue Zones are areas where people live uncommonly long, active, healthy, happy lives. Many of the probable factors contributing to their lack of deterioration in later years are on the list of healthy lifestyle factors listed above. Why do they live long? One vital factor: Community and social connection.

Many of these communities have multi-generational households. Families stick together, and people are surrounded by social support their entire lives. They’re stuck with them, but they’re blessed by them because they’ll never suffer from loneliness.

We need each other. We need physical contact. Staying close together instead of creating distance from things like the internet and studio apartments affords us better health. Our communities are interconnected through technology but most of our time spent with others is at work where we don’t get the social connection our souls desire.

Smart People Did a Study

https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/03/23/the-secrets-to-a-happy-life-from-a-harvard-study/

A Harvard study on happiness that has run for 75 years, says that close, quality relationships are the key. “Over and over in these 75 years,” Dr. Waldinger said, “our study has shown that the people who fared the best were the people who leaned into relationships with family, with friends and with community.”

A good relationship contributes so much to our well-being and a bad one can do just the opposite. We can have fond memories and daily support, or we can have daily stress from butting heads and distance ourselves only to end up lonely. Which sounds better? Which do you think leads to better happiness/health?

Strong relationships can also impact the other lifestyle factors because they would likely lead to more sharing of ideas and positive experiences. So we’d be smarter and more prepared, and we’d laugh and smile more often.

If we don’t have strong relationships and social support through every year of life, we are missing out. We all need physical contact like hugs, and to feel deep connection with others. When community is lacking in our lives, we’ll feel the need to compensate. Whether or not we know it, we can develop habits of filling the gaps with things like sweet food, drugs and alcohol, or retail therapy in order to stimulate the brain in ways it has missed. There’s no replacement for the real thing.

Thank you for being a part of my community!

Cancer and Nutrition

February 23, 2017 by AARON KASKOWITZ in Nutrition

Hello again!

I just picked up my very own URL, so you can find me at www.aaronkaskowitz.com. I am also accepting clients for health coaching in March. If you are looking for an accountability health partner, I'd love to work with you to achieve greater everyday wellness. I'm also open to feedback and discussion anytime. Please feel free to reach out!

Cancer

This is a write up I put together for a friend discussing how nutrition may impact cancer. I am by no means an authority on cancer treatment but I have read numerous reports and studies about some therapies that have worked for people battling life threatening illnesses, and it is certainly information worth sharing. I know that if I were dealing with something this serious I'd be searching for any and all tools to feel armed for greater wellness and happiness.

I believe diet and lifestyle can make a huge difference in beating cancer, as well as nearly any other illness. At the very least these interventions can be used in conjunction with the standard of medical care to greatly increase wellness.

We all have cancerous cells in our bodies every day, but our immune system constantly destroys them. Cancer cells primarily thrive on sugars (glucose), so when we stop eating carbs we are decreasing their fuel sources. That's one significant reason why a high (quality) fat diet is my go-to for longevity.

It's also important to eat lots of GBOMBS (greens, berries, onions, mushrooms, beans, seeds) to support the body through nutrition. They all have a place in our daily diet, though I'm not a big fan of beans. I try to eat a rainbow 🌈 every day. Each color of veggies/fruits has its own benefits and micronutrients. It's the polyphenols that give their deep, gorgeous colors.

I'm kind of obsessed with cruciferous veggies lately. Here's a great source of info on plant foods with potent anti-cancer effects.

If you want to do some reading from one of my favorite sources for lots of cool health topics, check out this link to Tim Ferriss and Peter Attia's cancer toolkit.

What I Would Do With This Knowledge

If I were undergoing chemotherapy I would ask my doctor if fasting around my chemo sessions was advisable. I've read that it is very helpful in increasing the effectiveness of the treatment and bouncing back afterward. Fasting can give the body a chance to take a break from digesting and focus on healing and ditching bad cells. It also starves cancer cells because there's a lack of glucose.

I'd use lots of medicinal mushrooms like reishi, and I'd eat tons of the veggies mentioned above. I'd also add lots of MCT oil to my diet using coconut oil products like this to help me follow a strict ketogenic diet. The ketogenic diet is very low carb, high fat, and moderate protein. Much more can be found here and in my ketones blog post.

Mindfulness/meditation/spiritual practice is essential. It promotes peace of mind and relaxes the nervous system to allow the body to heal. It is also a time to practice gratitude for the beautiful life we live and decrease damaging stress hormones. Quality sleep, community involvement and regular exercise are also essential.

Until next time!

-Aaron Kaskowitz-

Subscribe to receive email updates via my newsletter here!