Immune Protective Mushrooms with Jerry Angelini of Host Defense
The pandemic is sadly still in full swing and billions of people are facing lock downs and “shelter-in-place” orders. The future is still uncertain, but we want to continue to keep fighting to educate consumers about how to protect themselves and their loved ones. Mushrooms are one option that we consistently recommend and personally use.
Meet Jerry:
This week our guest is a true expert and honestly just a cool guy. Jerry Angelini is an integrative practitioner with training and experience in psychiatric and chronic illness rehabilitation, and is the Host Defense Education Director. He’s worked hard to inform people all around the world including medical professionals, retail staff and consumers about the healing properties mushrooms provide. On this week’s episode we pick Jerry’s brain about the best choices to guard yourself against infection and what options you have if you’re already feeling ill.
Some Topics We Discuss:
How do mushrooms work from a scientific perspective to regulate our immune system? (5:27)
What are some specific mushrooms one could take that are particularly targeting the immune system? (10:47)
What are ideal doses for prevention and also if you’re feeling under the weather? (13:25)
Some Key Takeaways From This Episode:
The way Host Defense mushrooms are grown with the mycelium and fermented rice give them special immune regulating capabilities that other mushrooms don’t have. (6:06)
No one is immune to getting sick. The difference between people with optimal vs suboptimal immune systems is the amount of downtime and suffering. (14:45)
Mushrooms are great to combine with other immune boosting substances like vitamin D, elderberry, zinc, etc. (21:08)
Products + Resources:
Get Social with Jerry:
Website: hostdefense.com
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL SHOW TRANSCRIPT
Brian Strickland: [00:00:08] Hello everyone and welcome back to The Holistic Navigator Podcast where we talk about all things holistic health and believe in the body's capacity for self healing if it's given the proper nutrients and care. We want to say welcome to any new listeners we have and we hope everyone is staying safe and well during the season. I'm Brian Strickland the producer of the show and I'm joined in the studio by our host Ed Jones. As we continue to try to navigate this pandemic we thought it was important to continue the conversation of how to guard and protect yourself through natural means. On this week's episode, we're happy to welcome back Jerry Angelini, Head of Education for Host Defense Mushrooms. Host Defense is dedicated to offering the best quality and research mushroom products and we're not talking about what you find on the salad bar. We will dive into the unique world of functional mushrooms in just a moment. But before we do, let me introduce the host of the show Mr. Ed Jones.
Ed Jones: Thank you, Brian. And also welcome everyone to The Holistic Navigator again. Today [00:01:08] my guest is Jerry Angelini. I've had him on The Holistic Navigator before, he has visited me locally, I've spent time with him. He is a true expert in the field of mushrooms and how they offer an amazing benefit to our health, but specifically for this podcast in regards to of course what we're all dealing with which is the coronavirus and or other viruses were not just putting it under one label. It's really any sickness that comes our way. Welcome to the Holistic Navigator, Jerry.
Jerry Angelini: Hey, Ed it's great to be here again with you
Ed Jones: As always it is always enlightening and a pleasure to speak with you. If you will give people just a tiny snippet of your history because I regard you as one of the leading most experienced experts in this country and maybe even more than that on many [00:02:08] topics, but especially on the value of medicinal mushrooms. So can you enlighten people kind of your history a little bit?
Jerry Angelini: For sure. I have a Masters of Science in Rehabilitation Medicine from Boston University, and I've studied traditional Chinese medicine at Five Branches New England School of Acupuncture. No, I don't you know, I'm not an acupuncturist. My training really has been in Western traditional Chinese medicine herbal practices as well as ayurveda as well. I've had a private practice of Integrative Healthcare for over 30 years and have treated I can't even you know thousands of people over the years and utilizing conventional as well as complimentary interventions to support health and wellness.
Ed Jones: Absolutely and I you know, [00:03:08] some people have PHDs totally from college other people have PHDs from life history and experience and I do regard you as one in great esteem because I know of your value to other human beings. Well, I want to enter this conversation, of course with speaking of the pandemic that we are now all dealing with. And I know that we're going to get through this we will. There will be a green light on the other side. It's just a matter of when that will happen, but during this time of great amount of angst and anxiety, I want to kind of just kind of do a preference here. The thing that we are concerned about with this newer virus and it's really not new. It's been around forever, but it's never been pandemic before is that the Immune system's job of course is to like soldiers. Go in and find the bad guys, bad girls and eliminate [00:04:08] them. Well in this case the immune system in some individuals not everybody the immune system goes really throws out too much ammunition. And what happens is that ammunition actually triggers something called a cytokine storm. And what is that? That is where the immune system is overly aggressive then the body responds in an overly aggressive way and in this particular pandemic that sometimes means that the lungs will be severely affected and fluid will fill them. So what we're trying to accomplish is maintaining an immune system that is very focused, very strong, very like a rifle not a shotgun but not overly. Not making bad decisions about sending too many troops in that will cause a huge negative outcome. And I did a podcast two podcasts to go with. Dr. Michael Smith from Life Extension [00:05:08] Foundation. And we talk basically about this the use of high-dose melatonin at night the use of DHEA in the morning, vitamin D, of course, vitamin C, all the way down the list. So if you want more information, please go back to the Dr. Michael Smith podcast. But I have always been a massive fan and researched the value of these mushrooms because even before this pandemic I would talk to people daily about the fact of these mushrooms are the right ones from the right company will end up helping to produce a focused immune system. So I know I've talked a little too long about it, but you start and tell the people the story of why and how and what I'm speaking about, please Jerry.
Jerry Angelini: For sure. So the Host Defense mushrooms are really a unique substance. They're not, they're not created the way the traditional [00:06:09] mushroom product has been created over time because we're using the mycelium which is like the root structure plus the rice that we grow it on and that rice becomes fermented by the mycelium. So the rice isn't really rice anymore. It's kind of like what yogurt is after you put those lactobacilli in there and it takes the milk and it eats it and it ferments it and then it creates this fermented food. And we've had the product tested and both parts of the product both the mycelium and the fermented rice are immunologically active and they do it in a really complementary way. So the mushroom mycelium helps engage immune cells like natural killer cells and monocytes and these are kind of the parts of the immune system that go after things like bacterial [00:07:09] and viral infections. Right? But then the fermented rice engages the modulatory aspect of the immune response. And this is really important because the immune system’s function is it creates this inflammatory reaction and the inflammation is the release of these cytokines that people are talking about and their cells signalers and they tell certain immune cells to do this and they can increase the amount of fluid that's in a particular tissue by increasing permeability. There are all these growth factors that can be released. And so there's a lot of work that's going on there. But the last part of the immune stage, the last stage in the immune response is what we call resolution. [00:08:09] And so we need to make sure that the right signals are being sent to engage the resolution of the immune response so that things go back to normal. And with a cytokine storm that doesn't happen. What we found is that the fermented rice and in fact triggers the resolution of the immune response and helps bring the system back to normal. And there are two key cytokines that are involved in this and these signalers, basically, they control the amount of these inflammatory cytokines that are being released. And this is brilliant because basically the product is one of these all-in-one products that gets your immune system up and running it makes sure it's doing all the work it needs to do but then it says the war is over, right. And it [00:09:09] helps the immune system get back down to normal levels. And this is really unique because if you just take like a traditionally prepared mushroom, it does not do that. Not typically. What it does is it gets the immune system up and running but it's not necessarily directing the modulation of the immune response to get it back down to normal pre-reactive levels.
Ed Jones: Great explanation. And there's not many things in my 41 year career that we have so many immune stimulants. We have very few immune modulators. And the thing like the cytokine storm, it has to do with these fancy words interleukin 8, interleukin-10 and all these things and vitamin D and mushrooms are my two absolute favorites for helping to refocus this to tell the body help the body know the wisdom of [00:10:09] when to fight and when to turn the switches off. And it was a great explanation. Now, I know Jerry there's a lot of different mushrooms available and I will say at this point legally, you know, we're not telling people that you can treat your disease with any natural remedies including mushrooms. This is really about a game plan just to, you know, optimize the immune system to help you to be healthier. And we do have a partner with us website nutritionw.com that you can order any of these products from under the label of whichever one you choose. But let's go through a little list because we're not dealing with mushrooms like on the salad bar for people who don't know these things. We're dealing with some very, you know, a big host of fancy mushrooms. I guess I'll use the name. But tell us a little bit about agarikon and some of these other combinations please.
Jerry Angelini: Agarikon is an amazing mushroom when we take a look at its potential [00:11:09] impact on the immune system. And it strongly gets those immune cells in the fight, but it also has a strong capacity to engage those regulatory mechanisms and really get that immune system back down to sesolution again. And we found that in fact, it's so strong you really don't need to take it at the same amount that you would take other products. And so, you know, if you're in this particular time of year and you have some concerns like you can take one or two grams a day and that's going to have a really profound impact on your system. Whereas turkey tail, which has a very similar response isn't as strong. And you might want to take three grams of turkey tail to really get that strong engaged immune response but also make sure that that [00:12:09] immune system is going to stay with and what I like to call the goldilocks zone, right? It's not too hot. It's not too cold. It's just right. And then you know from there those are two great products to work with just just year-round and make sure everything's going great. You can take a look at Mycoshield and that's a five mushroom blend. It has agarikon in it. It has turkey tail in it and it also has reishi and chaga. And these four mushrooms are awesome at regulating the immune response. So this can be something that you can also use. It's a spray it goes right into your mouth and that can be really helpful for people who have a lot of contact with other individuals, right? Just to kind of make sure that your immune system is up and strong. So like teachers and medical staff and restaurants or people who [00:13:09] work in retail or if you're on public transportation. That Mycoshield spray is awesome. And you got five flavors to so, you know, four to five sprays four to five times a day is a great way to make sure that immune system strong and engaged.
Ed Jones: Now are you speaking about this for daily prevention or if we're feeling under the weather? What do we do under the weather?
Jerry Angelini: You know when things start to feel bad then hop right into that mycommunity like you can do like two capsules, you know four to six times a day and like that's a lot. But you're really only going to need it for like 3 to 5 days like most people respond so rapidly that when you take that much of it you get that really powerful modulatory activity. So your immune systems engaged, it's really strong, but it's So kind of come back down to resolution really quickly,
Ed Jones: But now we can do this with agarikon also with that's all we have. Right?
Jerry Angelini: Yeah. So any of the mushrooms [00:14:09] are going to really help this process. We just find that Mycommunity is 17 different mushrooms. And so there's this really beautiful synergy that's going on with those 17 mushrooms. And but the agarikon is super strong. It's very powerful. I always have it. I actually take it every day because I travel so much right. So it's kind of one of those things for me that I think is critical for longevity and just extended health.
Ed Jones: Well, and I know that I want to make this statement because some people think that people like you and I have all the magic bullets and we should never ever ever fall prey to a bacteria or virus and it's simply not true. We all are susceptible. None of us have a perfect immune system or terrain is what I like to call also because of stress and these things that come into our life. But [00:15:09] the difference is the amount of downtime, the amount of suffering that can come with a person who has a very compromised system compared to someone who has a very steady robust system like I feel you do and I certainly try my best. So, you know if I walk around with a sniffles and I did get a bad cold or I did get anything. It's not like, you know, this doesn't mean it doesn't work. What's the difference is I'll be back to work in three to five days and I won't get a secondary infection. So that's where I want to put on the value so much the value of nourishing the body and doing all the right things from the sleep, to the this, to the that. Now I love cordyceps and cordyceps is one of my favorite mushrooms for the lung function. Where would that fit into this conversation?
Jerry Angelini: I was actually just going to hop in on that because this is really important. That Breathe formula has cordyceps, reishi, and chaga in it. And we know that [00:16:09] one of the challenges that can happen when the upper respiratory system is under duress is there can be a lot of mucus production. And one of the activities that is associated with cordyceps is increasing the fluidity of upper respiratory mucous secretions. So instead of it becoming thick and sticky and hard to move, cordyceps helps liquify that mucus so that your body can expectorate it easier. And you can use other substances along with it for sure that can be really helpful at creating that more liquefied mucus state. And remember we want cough that stuff up. We want to get it out of our bodies and that's why I think that Breathe formula is just brilliant because it's going to help [00:17:09] the cells that line the lungs and the upper respiratory system. It's going to help the immune system be engaged but it's going to help balance and rein in a very overactive immune response as well. So it's going to really help keep that immune system, right in that Goldilocks own plus make sure that we're getting adequate oxygenation. Cordyceps is brilliant for increasing oxygenation as well. And so I think it within that formula either the Breathe formula or the Cordychi formula, which is cordyceps and reishi I think that's amazing. Like it can be very helpful for increasing graceful breathing.
Ed Jones: I love that word graceful breathing. You know at this point in history I've been doing this as long as you have and I'm really going to see and I feel there's going to be a major shift toward the nourishment conversation. [00:18:09] The less toxic medicine chest for the future will be built from the things that you and I have lived our life from because we are now the public who I'm not being harsh on them, but they're fully unaware of the shortcomings of conventional medicine. And many of them have lived in the illusion. That pretty much the docs will fix me if something goes wrong until the last bitter end. Well, we're now saying that that isn't the case all they can offer us is ventilators and hand sanitizer pretty much. I hate to be harsh but we have to step up to the plate to present and put together our own kind of healing protocols with knowledge and wisdom from people like you Jerry and people who have lived a life to learn the details because you can't learn this in medical school. And t medical people are wonderfully heartfelt and I know they've got the best intentions all the way across the board [00:19:09] and in acute situations, I want them there the miracle workers, but for the long-term chronic and these type of viral infections, they don't have a toolbox and it's not their fault because they weren't taught it. So we're trying to teach people the basics of what can you access to basically save your life at this point in some cases. But also mainly to improve your life and not fall prey to these secondary infections and all these things because the thing is, you know, throughout history. We have had a robust immune system if the society was healthy, but many times it's not. Like the 1918 flu and I there was a big study done in 2007 that went back and looked at, you know, some of the reasons why that happened and it was really boiled down to two things: lack of sanitation and lack of nourishment. And both of those would our recipes for disaster lack of nourishment is of course what it sounds like. Well with these mushrooms where you know, we're in an [00:20:09] age where we're able to access strong natural remedies and that's what of course that's my whole life's been built on. So I want to encourage people. There is great hope all ways to boost your body help yourself, but it requires you to be open minded and learn. And I say this often is that I'll separate the world into two kind of classes of people: Learners and non Learners. Well this kind of time in our history is presented ourselves with the fact we do need to learn some things or at least gather people around us to visit as a team who knows these natural options for health. So again, I'm taking mushrooms daily for prevention. I'm doing moderate doses only as I do everything, but if I start feeling under the weather, I am going to increase my doses of many things but mushrooms specifically is one of my most important ones. Is there any other tips or anything you'd like to leave people with before we end the podcast? [00:21:09]
Jerry Angelini: Mushrooms are great if you use them with other substances, so you can use mushrooms with like Elderberry juice concentrate. You can use it with zinc, you can use it with vitamin D. You can use it with, you know, olive leaf extract, you know, so there are all these really wonderful other herbs that you can add into in a complementary fashion with the mushrooms themselves. So don't just think that you've got to take them separately. And I know a lot of the retail stores out there know about this, but you know, I'm just saying this to reinforce it with the consumers that they love they play well in the sandbox together so to say. So you know don't hesitate around that and you know the mushrooms, although they're all going to support your immune system can all benefit something else in your [00:22:09] body to so you can after you get through this period where you have significant concerns about immunity think about how the mushrooms might in fact help things like brain functioning and neurological health. Maybe you do have some breathing concerns outside of you know winter wellness concerns. Think about Breathe for that. But you know, there's every system of the body can be beneficially impacted by the use of mushrooms. So definitely keep your eyes open. There's a lot of great information out there. You can hop on to hostdefense.com and do some of the reading we have there and of course you can come down and talk to Ed and all of the fine crew there. They're very knowledgeable. Amazing staff I have to say you have there Ed. They're really amazing people and yeah keep your eyes open.
Ed Jones: Thank you so much Jerry [00:23:09] because I do have to say host defense many many years ago. They were modest player in my world. But as the years went on and the more I respected the company Paul Stamets. I got to meet him in Anaheim 2 or 3 years ago went to a big event there. You know, there's a lot of great people but he, his company and you are really the peak for me as far as the total package. Package of quality, ethics, standards marketability, everything that you would want in a Rolls-Royce kind of company in the nutritional field. And so I know there's other good companies, but honestly, I put my bet totally on Host Defense from A to Z. And I hope other people listening and if they trust me at all, I think they will believe what I'm saying because it's true and and I do want to say lion's mane, which is nothing [00:24:09] to do with this immune system is unbelievable for memory and sharpness of thinking.
Jerry Angelini: Right? That stuff is brilliant.
Ed Jones: And you know, right now we have a lot of us have foggy thinking where we're under the gun 24/7. We're not sleeping as well. We have the stress, and I do want to encourage people to understand that we will make it through this. And during this process being as much connected to calmness as we can through techniques or through helpers like natural remedies like CBD, like Gaba, theanine, many of the herbal compounds that can help take the edge off will help us to journey through these stormy times. So we're going to do another podcast on that just about the calming options that we have. But I want people to know they are available and the ones I mentioned are [00:25:09] some of the most beneficial to me. What are and as far as technique. I'm a huge believer and have been for decades in a very slow controlled breathing in order to change the electrical system of the body to lower cortisol, and I kind of talked about, you know, if we can do 8 breaths in 60 seconds that is a way to help reset some of this overburdening nervous system. Do you have any techniques for calming you'd like to share before we leave Jerry?
Jerry Angelini: I think if you've got like prayers that you say, mantras if you have like music that's calming and soothing I think that's an amazing thing. They have these on YouTube you can get like videos of the ocean and just like, you know a sunny, you know beach where you just listen to the waves [00:26:09] and it's really very powerful at changing the stimuli that's coming in. And instead of watching the news which you can be really overwhelming switch to one of these other things that actually reduces that kind of negative input that's coming into your body. So like turn off the news, turn on like your favorite song that's soothing you know, whether it's prayerful or whether it's just instrumental or you know, maybe some classical music and like change the channel literally. Change the channel.
Ed Jones: That's a wonderful way to end this podcast Jerry and I so appreciated and I want to send all my best to you, your family and to the world on us being quick at healing this kind of virus and parasite that has come our way and we will persevere and get through this. So thank you Jerry and we will be I [00:27:09] know talking to you later down the road about other health topics related to mushrooms. And to everyone out there stay calm, be confident and we will be speaking to you from now on because I'm not going anywhere and we're going to be here for the long haul. Take care. This is Ed at The Holistic Navigator.
Brian Strickland: The information on this podcast in the topics discussed have not been evaluated by the FDA or any one of the medical profession and is not aimed to replace any advice you may receive from your medical practitioner. The Holistic Navigator assumes no responsibility or liability whatsoever on behalf of any purchaser or listener of these materials. The Holistic Navigator is not a doctor or doesn't claim to be please consult your physician before beginning any health regimen.
“…we need to make sure that the right signals are being sent to engage the resolution of the immune response so that things go back to normal… What we found in fact is that the fermented rice actually triggers the resolution of the immune response and helps bring the system back to normal.”
-JERRY ANGELINI