Mushrooms
“The secret to working well
with your spouse is to have
different skills – when you work
on the same skills that is when the
problems come in!”
In terms of the mushrooms they
cultivate for sale – via their medic-
inal and health range of products
– Mushroom Guru specialises
in the Reishi mushroom, which
as a potent anti-oxidant and
adaptogen
has
tremendous
health benefits.
Says Craig: “We are passionate
about advocating and educating
people on the cultivation of all
types of mushrooms for food
production and a healthy lifestyle,
and we host ongoing courses here
at our premises in the Strand. We
choose not to be in competition
with our students in the culinary
market and thus our product busi-
ness has most to do with medic-
inal mushrooms, in particular the
Reishi mushroom.
“The benefits of the Reishi
mushroom have been proven
in research, and it is interesting
to note that this mushroom has
been used for thousands of years
as a health-giving mushroom
in Eastern medicine. In fact, the
Reishi mushroom was known in
the East as powerful in its medic-
inal benefits, and the emperors of
Japan always required Reishi from
their physicians.”
For depression and anxiety
Craig and Nikki’s utmost dedica-
tion to their mission of promoting
good health through use of mush-
rooms, and Reishi in particular, is
strongly driven by the couple’s
Oyster Mushrooms
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SABI | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019
central belief that Reishi should
be part of a holistic health and
healing regime.
Says Craig: “We are absolutely
dedicated to seeing Reishi being
utilised as a part of a better
health journey. We believe Reishi
profoundly helps people who are
suffering, and the research backs
up our beliefs.” use these as a part of your food
production or farming enterprise
- mushrooms include the likes of
Oyster or Shitake. It seems culti-
vating mushrooms is a lot of fun,
and Craig says observation of
the mushroom tells you what is
needed in terms of humidity, fresh
air exchange, lighting etc. - the
“mushroom is the teacher”.
Reishi, says Mushroom Guru,
is supplemented by people for
a variety of health reasons,
including: improving cognitive
function, improving gut health,
kidney and liver support, bacte-
rial infections, stabilising blood
sugar, immune modulation, viral
protection, regulating blood pres-
sure and cholesterol, reducing
inflammation
and
reducing
daily stressors. We definitely learnt a lot about
mushrooms and entrepreneur-
ship, spending a fascinating time
with Mushroom Guru.
The Reishi or Lingzhi (as it is
known in China) is an extraor-
dinary fungus which develops a
mushroom that is red in colour,
smooth to the touch and astound-
ingly beautiful, yet incredibly
bitter. This is where their high-
standard process comes in to
yield the product of MG-LZ8 – the
mushroom would be too bitter to
eat, for instance.
Most of us have misconceptions
about the mystical world of mush-
rooms, and there are definitely
many different types of mush-
rooms out there – including edibly
exotic, medicinal and of course
the much-feared poisonous vari-
eties. Notably, Mushroom Guru
has a culture library of 64 species
of mushrooms: if you go on a
course with the Guru you get to
choose some 10 species to work
with, and you will learn how to
Interestingly, in terms of the
“magic mushroom” there are
already places on the planet
where psilocybin is decriminalised
for ailments like severe depres-
sion and pain relief, like Denver.
Craig says research shows that
psilocybin does have incred-
ibly powerful benefits for severe
anxiety, depression and addic-
tion sufferers. How South Africa
handles any possible legalisation
of psilocybin should make for an
interesting story going forwards.
Watch this space.
As part of a health and nutri-
tional regime - or as a way to
forming an enterprise - a training
course in mushroom cultivation
appears an excellent learning and
growing adventure.
“Mushrooms have more to
teach us than you know,”
says Mushroom Guru, and
if you should be interested
in attending a course visit
www.mushroomguru.co.za
for more information or
pay a visit to Mushroom
Guru’s FaceBook page.
Shitake Mushrooms