Host Defense Blog

  • Should You Consume Raw Mushrooms?

    Should You Consume Raw Mushrooms?

    With the increased use of mushroom products, I feel a personal responsibility to inform the public about safety issues regarding mushroom preparations. At Host Defense we are dedicated to providing the best, evidence-based, scientific information concerning safety and optimum use of mushrooms for health benefits.
  • Immune Benefits of Mushroom Mycelium & Cultured Substrate Confirmed*

    Immune Benefits of Mushroom Mycelium & Cultured Substrate Confirmed*

    In 2017, Paul Stamets and his team at Fungi Perfecti, LLC (FP) partnered with Natural Immune Systems, Inc. (NIS) to further clarify the immune-enhancing impacts of various mushroom ingredients. Together, NIS Labs and FP are uncovering some remarkable truths about mushroom ingredients used in the supplement industry.
  • The Mushroom Life Cycle

    The Mushroom Life Cycle

    The mushroom life cycle remains largely invisible to most mushroom hunters; not so to cultivators. The mushroom cultivator follows the path of the mushroom life cycle. Fruitbodies form only at the completion of the mushroom life cycle and for most species, occur but for a few days, then disappear.
  • What Is the Stamets P Value® System?

    What Is the Stamets P Value® System?

    An unavoidable fact that affects all life on this planet—including humans and fungi—is that we age. The same is true with mushroom strains. In the 1980's, I developed the proprietary Stamets P Value® system for tracking the age of strains, as measured by their successive growth over a nutrient-filled petri dish.
  • The BeeFriendly™ Research Initiative

    The BeeFriendly™ Research Initiative

    BeeFriendly™ is a Host Defense® initiative to help reverse the devastating declines in the global bee population that are critically threatening the world’s food security. Bees need comprehensive immune support to combat the diseases, parasites, and toxins that are driving their decline. Supporting Host Defense means supporting bee recovery research and development.