Since the US, Canada and Australia, not to mention the majority of Asian countries, acknowledged most herbal ingredients of the TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) to be healthy food (superfood), Europe evaluates and re-evaluates the entire package, if it might not be possible to classify them as doctor's drugs.

The fact that they promote health is good enough to make them a doctor's affair, and everybody assumes that the modern western medicine-man's task is to deal with diseases, rather to prevent them.

The major setup of western medicine is focussed on treating illness, segmental intervention (when it is too late often), a human repair shop with lots of efforts to escape the "point of no return".

The old medicine emphasizes prevention ("one ounce of prevention is better than one pound of cure"). The best doctor is our body, because it knows much better what it needs. We just have to provide all ingredients via a healthy nutrition and our body (normally) does the rest to stay afloat. But we have to be sure that our food is healthy! Modern times bring modern ways of nourishing oneself, far away from providing our system with what it needs. Lack of vitamins, fibers etc. dominates the tables and Fastfood Rules...

In this scenario Ganoderma gains importance as a health booster and protector. Since Ganoderma is healthy food, and healthy food is medicine and vice versa (Hippocrates), it has an impact on all body functions which are responsible for maintaining a good health, the immune system on top of this list.

In case of illness Ganoderma strengthens body functions and helps the body to cure itself. It provides major tools for the body to regenerate itself and shift back to a healthy status. This is done in different steps, as follows:

A. Scanning (1 - 30 days):

1. Diseases are caused by imbalance of body function

2. Ganoderma can help to regulate body function

3. From the reaction to the intake of Ganoderma, we can identify the ailing area, which is known as the scanning effect

B. Cleansing or Detoxification (1 - 30 weeks):

1. Uric acid, excess cholesterol, fat deposit, calcium deposit, bad tissue and chemical accumulation and other toxins are removed.

2. They are removed by

a) Sweating

b) The circulatory system - (kidney and liver) through urination and stool

c) Boil, rashes, phlegm and mucus discharge

C. Regulating (1 - 12 months):

1. Balancing effect to regulate body functions

2. Many effects can be observed during regulations. This is a sign that the body is healing itself. If the reaction is too vigorous, reduce the dosage

D. Building (6 - 24 months):

1. Processing of building and healing of body parts that have sustained injuries or damages

2. Strengthening of the immune system, physical strength and mental calmness, more resistance to diseases

3. Supply of essential elements to the body, such as minerals and triterpenoids for the recovery of body functions

E. Regenerating (1 - 3 years):

1. This is the ultimate aim to consume Ganoderma

2. It is the process whereby our body is functioning at its optimum level which is actually a rejuvenating effect (restore youthful appearance, strength and peace of mind)

Nevertheless modern pharmacology analyzes Ganoderma and its components and found some of them extremely effective in the treatment of various deseases, concentrated polysaccharides, triterpenes, acids etc highly purified.

But this has to be considered as a different approach, an obvious attempt to convert a healthy food into a drug through isolation and purification of its components.

The purification process creates a substance of extreme concentration which has poisonous potentials and so the former harmless Ganoderma becomes a killer-drug, very effective yet dangerous ("Everything is poisonous, it depends only on its concentration", Louis Pasteur).

Under "normal" circumstances Ganoderma helps to maintain health and improves body functions of patients with a variety of diseases through immune boosting/modificating capabilities. The amount of its "ingredients" is high enough to be effective and low enough, not to provoke side effects, normally known from medicaments.

Since it contains more than 200 bio-active substances it can claim a wide array of health promoting and preventive effects against medical indications, normally a "cannot-be" in western medicine.

You can find more Ganoderma information at http://miraclemushroom.info