Can Maitake Promote Elimination of Heavy Metals in the Body?

Guidelines recommend against overconsumption because of concerns about metals such as mercury. Metals can accumulate in the tissues of fish (especially larger fish like tuna) and then accumulate in your body after you eat the fish.

Don't worry - there's a mushroom for that:

This December 2018 study states, “We found that the mushroom Grifola frondosa (maitake) exhibited mercury adsorption capacity”. It showed that the maitake accelerated the decline of blood mercury, and also promoted the elimination of it by the liver and kidneys. The study used a hot water extraction of fruit bodies.

Heavy metal buildup can cause all kinds of awful symptoms like chronic lethargy, brain fog and cognitive problems, and even flu-like symptoms with higher toxicity. There are lots of “detox diet” foods, but few with actual research supporting their use for eliminating heavy metals. It’s great to have a tool with real science behind it like maitake mushroom to assist in eliminating mercury and potentially other metals from the body.

As we learn again and again, mushrooms have a very wide scope of health-promoting benefits. There are surely countless applications which science hasn’t uncovered yet.

1. Zhang W, Jiang X, Zhao S, et al. A polysaccharide-peptide with mercury clearance activity from dried fruiting bodies of maitake mushroom Grifola frondosa. Sci Rep. 2018;8(1):17630. Published 2018 Dec 4. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-35945-9