In the 1970's and 1980's there was a considerable research effort in Japan to understand and develop the medicinal properties of the mushroom Lentinula edodes, commonly known as shiitake. This nutritious mushroom is a mainstay in the Japanese diet and its cultivation dates back to the 13th century in China. By the 1980's it had become one of the top agricultural crops in Japan.

In 1970, Dr. Goro Chihara, of the National Cancer Center Research Institute in Tokyo, isolated and purified polysaccharide compounds from shiitake that exhibited strong antitumor activities. The most active of these compounds he called lentinan. Lentinan demonstrated significant action against a variety of tumors, both allogeneic and syngeneic. It was submitted to clinical trials and is now a pharmaceutical drug in Japan.

Concurrently with the lentinan research, private companies were investigating other compounds from shiitake. Kirin/Seagram company researchers growing shiitake mycelia on waste distillers grains discovered an antitumor compound they named KS-2. And the Noda company developed a unique product called LEM by growing shiitake mycelia on sugar cane bagasse.

'LEM contains active lignin compounds known as EP-LEM and EP3. These compounds are anti viral and immunostimulating'.

It is the highly specialized production process that produces the lignin compounds which make LEM different from other mushroom extracts.

LEM upgrades KS-2

North American Reishi first introduced KS-2 to the supplement industry in 1993, after spending considerable time and effort to standardize this product. It was the first standardized shiitake extract. Today, we proudly announce the fruits of a new initiative. A standardized shiitake extract LEM. The significance of this should not be underestimated. Although KS-2 showed real promise, there was no follow up research after the initial studies. LEM is different. There have been many studies in the last twenty years that have demonstrated the effectiveness of LEM. I am including a review article that discusses and lists this research and recommend the book, Shiitake: The Healing Mushroom, by Kenneth Jones, as the definitive work on shiitake and its medicinal properties. Call me and I will send you a complementary copy of this fine book.

I have enclosed a specification sheet for our standardized LEM product. Should you have any questions about this product, please call me. I believe that those of you who are now using North American Reishi's KS-2 will find that LEM is an upgrade which will improve your current formula or stand alone shiitake product.