"Ever since I read about how Turkey Tail helps cancer patients fight infections, I've made a point to take it daily. After all, there are so many scary infectious diseases going around. Ebola, SARS, Bird Flu, Dengue - who knows what's next! Better to be safe than sorry! Kiasi, Singapore

"Turkey Tail” mushroom  is a humble mushroom that grows on rotting logs forests and jungles all over the world. It is so called because its shape and colourful pattern resemble the tail of the large North American bird that we in Singapore know mostly from supermarkets at Christmas time.

 However, it has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries, where it is known as "Yun Zhi”. Western researchers have only recently  discovered that it is very effective at boosting the immune system, so much so  that they have been using it to help cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy.

"Chemo” kills cancer cells, but also destroys the body’s immune system, leaving cancer patients weak and vulnerable  to infections. A Japanese study  showed that this humble fungus improved the survival rate of cancer patients by 10%.

Impressed by the initial results of over 40 clinical trials, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved large-scale  trials  for a turkey tail extract to be administered to  patients with advanced prostate cancer who are undergoing chemotherapy.  Another trial that is currently pending FDA approval will assess the benefits  of taking the extract for women having chemo for  breast cancer.

Hopefully, most of us will never have cancer. However, we can boost our body’s natural defence system against infections and illnesses by taking Turkey Tail mushroom. If it can help cancer patients fight infections, then surely it will help us keep colds, coughs,  flu and other infectious ailments at bay!