<br>Naomi N: Hello, and welcome back to the Live FAB Life Podcast. I’m your host, Naomi Nakamura. If you have any kind of questions relating to where and ways to use manufacturer of shiitake mushroom extract powder for drink Ingredients, you can call us at our internet site. Now for those of you who are our regular listeners, you know that on this show we often talk about food as medicine. And right now, one of the most popular super foods out there is mushrooms. And you’ve probably seen them because I’ve seen them show up in things like coffees and teas and elixirs, and even in supplements. And they sure seem to be everywhere these days. Now, while I love mushrooms, I don’t know a lot about them. But today’s guest sure does. In this episode, I’m joined by Jeff Chilton. And Jeff began studying ethnomycology, which is the study of fungi, which is what mushrooms are, all the way back in the late ’60s at the University of Washington, and he’s been working in the mushroom industry for well over 40 years.<br>
<br>He was extensively involved in the research and development of shiitake and oyster and enoki mushrooms, then went on to not only start his own company back in 1989, Nammex, which introduced medicinal mushrooms to the nutritional supplement industry here in the United States, but he also founded an organization called Mycomedia, which puts on educational conferences for the mushroom industry. He’s also the co-author of the highly acclaimed book, The Mushroom Cultivator. So in this interview, you will hear us discuss what medicinal mushrooms are, and what’s the active ingredients in them, the importance of consuming organic mushrooms, and how he started the first organic mushroom farm in China, and the regulations that they must meet to insure safety, the differences between popular mushrooms like Reishi and chaga and other trending varieties, and how mushrooms are used in supplements, and how to know if you’re purchasing a high quality, safe, mushroom supplement.<br>
<br>Now, one thing that I always like to stress, and you guys know this, is to know where things are sourced from, to know where your food, your fruits, your vegetables, your animal protein, to know where the ingredients in your beauty products, to know where all of these things are sourced from, where they come from, and how they’re produced. We talk about that a lot in this interview, as well as how the active ingredients in medicinal mushrooms are digested in the body, and ultimately how they support your immune health. Hint: It’s what makes them medicinal. Now, I learned a lot from Jeff in this interview, and I hope you do, too, so let’s get to the show. Hi, Jeff, welcome to the show. Jeff C: Hi, Naomi, nice to be here. Thank you so much for inviting me. Naomi N: So glad to have you. Why don’t you start off by just telling us who you are and what you do.<br>
<br>Jeff C: Well, my name is Jeff Chilton, and I am a mushroom grower by profession, and I have a company called Nammex, which I started in 1989, and we sell medicinal mushroom extracts. We sell them primarily in bulk to other companies who put our extracts into capsules, bottles with their labels on them. So we’re what’s considered a raw material supplier of medicinal mushroom extracts. Naomi N: That is so interesting. How did you get into this business? Jeff C: Oh, well, I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and that’s an area of lots of forest, it’s evergreen, and in those forests in the Fall, we get so much rain. Naomi N: I was actually just up in the Pacific Northwest, and I love that up there. Jeff C: Yeah, it’s very beautiful. Right now it rains a little bit too much, unfortunately, but in the Fall, it’s a very temperate climate, so we have lots of moisture, and so we have mushrooms coming up everywhere.<br>
<br>And so when I was younger growing up in Seattle, I was exposed to mushrooms and went out mushroom hunting. And then later in University, I studied mycology, which is the study of fungi, along with anthropology. And then when I got out of University, I decided you know what, I’d really like to learn how to grow mushrooms. So in 1973, I went to the only mushroom farm in Washington State, applied for a job, and I ended up there for the next ten years, literally living with mushrooms. Naomi N: So, I guess what you’re saying is that mushrooms grow in really damp climates, or what’s the whole process? Jeff C: Well, you know what, it’s really, for mushrooms, they are, they will come up anywhere in the world, but the fact is is that certain places have climates that are not as conducive, like the further North you go, the shorter the season maybe. Further south, like down in the Bay area, you would have a mushroom season a little bit later than ours because you need the moisture, but it might even be a little bit longer because it’s a little bit warmer.<br>