fungus Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Fungus Breaks Down Ocean Plastic

The AHA! Team — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 08:39:26 +0000

Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research via EurekAlert! – A fungus living in the sea can break down the plastic polyethylene, provided it has first been exposed to UV radiation from sunlight. Researchers from, among others, NIOZ published their results in the scientific journal Science of the Total Environment. They expect that many more plastic degrading fungi are living in deeper parts of the ocean. The fungus Parengyodontium album lives together with other marine microbes in thin layers on plastic litter in the ocean. Marine microbiologists from the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) discovered that the fungus is capable of breaking down particles of the plastic polyethylene (PE), the most abundant of all plastics that have ended up in the ocean. The NIOZ researchers cooperated with colleagues from Utrecht University, the Ocean Cleanup Foundation and research institutes in Paris, Copenhagen and St Gallen, Switzerland. The finding allows the fungus to join a very short list of plastic-degrading marine fungi: only four species have been found to date. A larger number of bacteria was already known to be able to degrade plastic. Follow the degradation process accurately The researchers went to find the plastic degrading microbes in the hotspots of plastic pollution in the North Pacific Ocean. From the plastic litter collected, they isolated the marine fungus by growing it in the laboratory, on special plastics that contain labelled carbon. Vaksmaa: “These so-called 13C isotopes remain traceable in the food chain. It is like a tag that enables us to follow where the carbon goes. We can then trace it in the degradation products.” Vaksmaa is thrilled about the new finding: “What makes this research scientifically outstanding, is that we can quantify the degradation process.” In the laboratory, Vaksmaa and her team observed that the breakdown of PE by P. album occurs at a rate of about 0.05 per cent per day. “Our measurements also showed that the fungus doesn’t use much of the carbon coming from the PE when breaking it down. Most of the PE that P. album uses is converted into carbon dioxide, which the fungus excretes again.” AltThough CO2 is a greenhouse gas, this process is not something that might pose a new problem: the amount released by fungi is the same as the low amount humans release while breathing. Only under the influence of UV The presence of sunlight is essential for the fungus to use PE as an energy source, the researchers found. Vaksmaa: “In the lab, P. album only breaks down PE that has been exposed to UV-light at least for a short period of time. That means that in the ocean, the fungus can only degrade plastic that has been floating near the surface initially,” explains Vaksmaa. “It was already known that UV-light breaks down plastic by itself mechanically, but our results show that it also facilitates the biological plastic breakdown by marine fungi.” Other fungi out there As a large amount of different plastics sink into deeper layers before it is exposed to sunlight, P.album will not be able to break them all down. Vaksmaa expects that there are other, yet unknown, fungi out there that are degrading plastic as well, in deeper parts of the ocean. “Marine fungi can break down complex materials made of carbon. There are numerous amounts of marine fungi, so it is likely that in addition to the four species identified so far, other species also contribute to plastic degradation. There are still many questions about the dynamics of how plastic degradation takes place in deeper layers,” says Vaksmaa. Plastic soup Finding plastic-degrading organisms is urgent. Every year, humans produce more than 400 billion kilograms of plastic, and this is expected to have at least triple by the year 2060. Much of the plastic waste ends up in the sea: from the poles to the tropics, it floats around in surface waters, reaches greater depths at sea and eventually falls down on the seafloor. Lead author Annika Vaksmaa of NIOZ: “Large amounts of plastics end up in subtropical gyres, ring-shaped currents in oceans in which seawater is almost stationary. That means once the plastic has been carried there, it gets trapped there. Some 80 million kilograms of floating plastic have already accumulated in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre in the Pacific Ocean alone, which is only one of the six large gyres worldwide.” Journal Science of The Total Environment DOI 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172819 To read the original article click here.

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Rethinking Mushrooms: Why This SUPER Food Is Great for Your Health and the Real “sustainability” of This Planet

AHA Publisher — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 07:25:17 +0000

Damon Hines via NaturalHealth365 – Our ancient ancestors documented the health benefits of mushrooms as early as 200 or 250 CE in the book The Divine Farmer’s Materia Medica, a fundamental text on Chinese wellness practices, medicinal plants, and agriculture. From China’s Reishi mushroom, which is known for its immune-supporting properties, to Finland’s Chaga mushroom, it supports antioxidant pathways, the health benefits and ecological and culinary potential of fungi are as diverse as the number of species that dot the forest floor. But our relationship with mushrooms is complicated. For every semi-obsessed forager scouring the woods for wild chanterelles, there are those who are wary of mushrooms and don’t like the idea of eating fungus. Perhaps they’re worried they’ll get poisoned, or maybe that slimy mushroom pizza experience they had as a child forever ruined the food for them. Nevertheless, it’s time to reconsider the mushroom, not just because fungi are gentle on the planet and the great recyclers of the natural world but also because they can be the sustainable superfood of the future. Mushrooms Are Healthy on the Plate and Gentle on the Planet According to a 2017 study by SureHarvest, to grow and harvest a pound of fresh mushrooms in the U.S. requires only 1.8 gallons of water, 1.0-kilowatt-hours of energy, and generates only 0.7 pounds of CO2 equivalent emissions. In woods and forests, mushrooms break down organic material and create healthy soil by making its raw materials available again for the ecosystem. Mushrooms might be the earth’s most sustainable food, but it’s not the only thing that makes them super. Mushrooms are packed with vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients, including vitamin D, vitamin B6, folate magnesium, zinc, and potassium. Fungi are rich in antioxidants such as ergothioneine and selenium, reducing inflammation and improving immune function. Coming in different shapes, sizes, and colors, mushrooms are a gastronomically versatile, low-carb, practically no-fat food that can replace meat as a main course or work as a side-dish. Are People Finally Getting Out of That Slimy Mushroom Pizza Mind-Set? There are more than 2,000 edible mushrooms in the world, but 90 percent of the fungi people cook are the cultivated basic Portobello and white buttons. Classics like Shiitake are also popular. However, food trends are changing, and fungi-inspired companies fill a new niche with alternatives to conventional mushrooms. A heightened interest in foraging and locally-sourced ingredients coupled with an aversion to tech meat (Impossible Foods, Beyond Meat, etc.) has done wonders for the reputation of the mushroom, turning it from culinary curiosity to mainstream star. Generally speaking, consumers are more comfortable with this weird organism, finding that it’s easy and versatile to cook and respecting the fact that responsible cultivators use timber waste that would otherwise end up in landfills to sprout their mushrooms. Whether you’re buying local, foraging for native varieties, or sprouting your own at home with a grow kit (Smallhold is a well-recognized brand in organic mushroom grow kits), the health benefits mushrooms provide are as complex as the ecosystem from which they come. Sources for this article include: Theamericanscholar.com Smithsonianmag.com Mushroomcouncil.com To read the original article click here. For more articles from NaturalHealth365 click here.

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Oregano Oil Benefits for Infections, Fungus & Even the Common Cold

AHA Publisher — Wed, 20 May 2020 07:00:01 +0000

Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DMN, CNS – Designed specifically for fighting bacterial infections, antibiotics are one of medical doctors’ favorite tools for treating many health issues. But there’s another underutilized natural “medicine” that many doctors don’t tell their patients about: oregano oil (also called oil of oregano). Oregano oil is a powerful, plant-derived essential oil that may rival antibiotics when it comes to treating or preventing various infections. (1a) In fact, it contains properties that are antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal. (1b) And oregano essential oil is unlikely to cause many of the harmful side effects that are commonly attributed to high use of antibiotics — such as increased risk for antibiotic resistance, poor gut health due to destroying beneficial probiotic bacteria, reduced vitamin absorption and leaky gut syndrome due to damage of the GI tract’s lining. Meanwhile, oregano oil benefits extend beyond just controlling infections. What else is oregano essential oil used to treat? Common examples of conditions that oregano oil can help manage include: Athlete’s foot or toenail fungus Common colds Gingivitis Earaches or toothaches Digestive problems such as heartburn and SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth) What Is Oregano Oil? Oregano (Origanum vulgare) is an herb that is a member of the mint family (Labiatae). Oregano has been considered a precious plant commodity for over 2,500 years in folk medicines that originated across the globe. It has a very long use in traditional medicine for treating colds, indigestion and upset stomachs. (2a) You might have some experience cooking with fresh or dried oregano leaves — such as oregano spice, one of the top herbs for healing — but oregano essential oil is far from what you’d put in your pizza sauce. Found in the Mediterranean, throughout many parts of Europe, and in South and Central Asia, medicinal grade oregano is distilled to extract the essential oil from the herb, which is where a high concentration of the herb’s active constituents are found. It takes over 1,000 pounds of wild oregano to produce just one pound of oregano essential oil! The oil’s active ingredients are preserved in alcohol and used in essential oil form both topically (on the skin) and internally. When made into a medicinal supplement or essential oil, oregano is often called “oil of oregano.” As mentioned above, oregano oil is a considered a natural alternative to prescription antibiotics. Oil of oregano contains two powerful compounds called carvacrol and thymol, both of which have been shown in studies to have strong anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. Oregano’s oil is primarily made of carvacrol, while the plant’s leaves contain a variety of antioxidant compounds, such as phenols, triterpenes, rosmarinic acid, ursolic acid and oleanolic acid. (2b) 7 Oregano Oil Benefits + Research Studies What can you use oregano essential oil for? The predominant healing compound found in oregano oil, carvacrol, has widespread uses ranging from treating allergies to protecting the skin. According to the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Messina in Italy: Carvacrol, a monoterpenic phenol, has emerged for its wide spectrum activity extended to food spoilage or pathogenic fungi, yeast and bacteria as well as human, animal and plant pathogenic microorganisms including drug-resistant and biofilm forming microorganisms. (3) Carcavol found in oregano essential oil is so potent that it has been been the focus of over 800 studies referenced in PubMed, the world’s No. 1 database for scientific evidence-based literature. To give you a sense of how multi-functional and impressive carvacrol is, it has been shown in studies to help reverse or reduce some of these common health problems: Bacterial infections Fungal infections Parasites Viruses Inflammation Allergies Tumors Indigestion Candida Because it has antimicrobial properties, oregano is also used to preserve food quality during storage 1. Natural Alternative to Antibiotics What’s the problem with frequently using antibiotics? Broad-spectrum antibiotics can be dangerous because they don’t only kill bacteria that are responsible for infections, they also kill good bacteria that we need for optimal health. The Wall Street Journal printed a fantastic article highlighting the dangers that patients may face when they repeatedly use antibiotics. In the author’s words, “Recent studies have shown that doctors are overprescribing broad-spectrum antibiotics, sometimes called the big guns, that kill a wide swath of both good and bad bacteria in the body.” (4) Overuse of antibiotics, and prescribing broad-spectrum drugs when they aren’t needed, can cause a range of problems. It can make the drugs less effective against the bacteria they are intended to treat by fostering the growth of antibiotic-resistant infections. And it can wipe out the body’s good bacteria (probiotics), which help digest food, produce vitamins and protect from infections, among other functions. Unfortunately broad-spectrum antibiotics are very commonly prescribed, and often for conditions in which they have no use, such as viral infections. In one study published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, researchers from the University of Utah and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 60 percent of the time when physicians prescribe antibiotics they choose broad-spectrum types. A similar study of children, published in the journal Pediatrics, found that when antibiotics were prescribed they were broad-spectrum 50 percent of the time, mainly for respiratory conditions. (5) In contrast, what does oil of oregano do for you that makes it so beneficial? Essentially, taking oregano oil is a “broad-spectrum approach” to protecting your health. Its active ingredients help fight multiple types of harmful pathogens, including bacteria, yeast and fungi. As a study in the Journal of Medicinal Food journal stated in 2013, oregano oils “represent an inexpensive source of natural antibacterial substances that exhibited potential for use in pathogenic systems.” (1) 2. Fights Infections & Bacterial Overgrowth Here’s the good news regarding the use of less-than-ideal antibiotics: there’s evidence that oregano essential oil can help to fight at least several strains of bacteria that cause health problems that are commonly treated with antibiotics. Dozens of studies confirm the fact that oregano oil can be used in place of harmful antibiotics for a number of health concerns. In 2011 the Journal of Medicinal Food published a study that evaluated the antibacterial activity of oregano oil against five different types of bad bacteria. After evaluating the anti-bacterial characteristics of oil of oregano it showed significant anti-bacterial properties against all five species. The highest activity was observed against E. Coli, which suggests that oregano oil could potentially be routinely used to promote gastrointestinal health and to prevent deadly food poisoning. (6) A 2013 study published in Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture concluded that “O. vulgare extracts and essential oil from Portuguese origin are strong candidates to replace synthetic chemicals used by the industry.” Researchers from the study found that after studying the antioxidant and antibacterial properties of oregano that Origanum vulgare inhibited the growth of seven tested strains of bacteria that other plant extracts could not. (7) One study involving mice that was published in the journal Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia also found impressive results: in addition to fighting bacteria like Listeria and E. Coli, they also found evidence that oregano oil may have the ability to help pathogenic fungi. (8) Other evidence shows that oregano oil’s active compounds (such as thymol and carvacrol) can help fight toothaches and earaches caused by bacterial infections. A 2005 study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases concluded that “Essential oils or their components placed in the ear canal can provide effective treatment of acute otitis media.” (9) 3. Helps Reduce Side Effects From Medications/Drugs In recent years many studies have found that one of the most promising oregano oil benefits is helping to reduce side effects from medications/drugs. These studies give hope to people who want to find a way to manage the horrible suffering that accompanies drugs and medical interventions, such as chemotherapy or use of drugs for chronic conditions like arthritis. A study published in the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine showed that phenol in oil of oregano can help protect against methotrexate toxicity in mice. (10) Methotrexate (MTX) is a drug commonly used to treat a wide array of issues from cancer to rheumatoid arthritis, but it’s also well-known to have dangerous side effects. After evaluating oil of oregano’s ability to keep these factors at bay, researchers believe its due to oregano’s antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. Oregano was shown to work better than drugs that are ineffective at providing full protection against MTX’s adverse effects. By evaluating various markers in the sciatic nerve in mice, it was observed for the first time that carvacrol decreased the pro-inflammatory response in mice being treated by MTX. Being a relatively new concept in the research world, I expect to see more studies testing these results because “groundbreaking” doesn’t even begin to describe the significance of this study. Similarly, research conducted in the Netherlands showed that oregano essential oil can also “prevent bacterial overgrowth and colonization in the large intestine during oral iron therapy.” (11) Used to treat iron deficiency anemia, oral iron therapy is known to cause a series of gastrointestinal issues like nausea, diarrhea, constipation, heartburn and vomiting. It’s believed that carvacrol targets the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria and increases membrane permeability, thereby causing depletion of harmful bacteria. In addition to its antimicrobial properties, carvacrol also interferences with certain pathways for bacterial iron handling which helps to lower side effects of iron therapy. 4. Helps Treat Athlete’s Foot One study found that a combination of heat, salt and use of essential oils (including oregano) had inhibitory effects against mycelia of T. rubrum and conidia of T. mentagrophytes, bacterial strains that commonly cause the fungal infection known as athlete’s foot. The researchers concluded that “Thermotherapy combined with essential oils and salt would be promising to treat tinea pedis in a foot bath.” After testing the fungicidal activity of 11 essential oils against the bacteria known to cause athlete’s foot, oregano oil was found to be the most powerful (followed by thyme, cinnamon bark, lemongrass and clove). (12) 5. Helps Treat Digestive Issues (Including SIBO & Heartburn) Several of the active compounds found in Origanum vulgare can help to aid digestion by relaxing the muscles of the GI tract and also helping to balance the ratio of good-to-bad bacteria in the gut. Thymol, one of oregano’s active compounds, is a similar compound to menthol, which is found in peppermint oil. Like menthol, thymol may help relax the soft tissue of the throat and stomach which can help to decrease GERD, heartburn and discomfort after eating. Because it helps balance bacteria and fights yeast overgrowth, oregano essential oil is also a popular natural treatment for Candida and SIBO, or small intestine bacterial overgrowth. SIBO is a common digestive problem that causes gas, bloating and intolerances to many carbohydrate-containing foods (especially FODMAPs). Origanum vulgare hinders bacterial replication and can be used similarly to antibiotic medications such as rifaximin (Xifaxan) for treating infections that affect digestive health and nutrient absorption. A 2014 study published in Global Advances in Health & Medicine found evidence that use of herbal antimicrobials is just as effective as the antibiotic usually given for the treatment of SIBO. When 104 patients diagnosed with SIBO (via lactulose breath test) were treated either with rifaximin (1,200 milligrams) or herbal antimicrobials over the course of four weeks the results showed that 46 percent of the patients treated with herbal antimicrobials experienced symptom improvements, compared to only 34 percent treated with the antibiotic rifaximin. (13) Additionally, 14 of the 44 patients who still had SIBO after a course of rifaximin were then treated with herbal antimicrobials. Fifty-seven percent responded positively to the herbal treatment even after failing to feel better from the antibiotics! 6. Can Help Treat Parasites One study found that when adults whose stools tested positive for enteric parasites (including Blastocystis hominis which causes digestive distress) supplemented with 600 milligrams of oregano for six weeks many experienced significant gastrointestinal symptoms. There was a “complete disappearance of Entamoeba hartmanni (four cases), Endolimax nana (one case), and Blastocystis...

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