Jeff Chilton, raised in Pacific Northwest, studied ethno-mycology at the University of Washington in the late sixties. In 1973 he started work on a commercial mushroom farm in Olympia, Washington. During the next 10 years he became the production manager, responsible for the cultivation of over 2 million pounds of Agaricus mushrooms per year. He was also involved in the research and development of shiitake, oyster and enoki mushrooms which resulted in the earliest U.S. fresh shiitake sales in 1978. In the late seventies Jeff was a founder of Mycomedia, which held 4 mushroom conferences in the Pacific Northwest. These educational conferences brought together educators and experts in mushroom identification, ethno-mycology, and mushroom cultivation. During this period Jeff co-authored the highly acclaimed book, The Mushroom Cultivator, which was published in 1983. In the 1980’s he operated a mushroom spawn business and in 1989 he started Nammex, a business that introduced medicinal mushrooms to the U.S. nutritional supplement industry. Jeff traveled extensively in China during the 1990’s, attending conferences and visiting research facilities and mushroom farms. In 1997 he organized the first organic mushroom production seminar in China. A founding member of the World Society for Mushroom Biology and Mushroom Products in 1994 and a Member of the International Society for Mushroom Science, Mr Chilton’s company was the first to offer a complete line of Certified Organic mushroom extracts to the US nutritional supplement industry. Nammex extracts are used by many supplement companies and are noted for their high quality based on scientific analysis of the active compounds.
Topics discussed:
- Jeff's Back Story 00:45
- The Medicinal Properties of Mushrooms- Beta Glucans , Fibre and more 04:43
- Mushrooms and Immune Health 06:30
- Beta Glucan content of different mushrooms 07:55
- Triterpenoids and Reishi 08:45 - Fruiting Body vs Mycelium vs Spores 11:10
- Grain content in mushroom supplements 15:25
- The History of Medicinal Mushrooms usage 20:50
- Species of Medicinal Mushrooms 25:05
- Lion's mane mushroom 26:20
- Breakdown of Medicinal Mushroom types 28:13
- Reishi and longevity 28:45
- Chaga and Digestive health 29:42
- Cordycepes and energy 30:05
- Mushrooms as preventative medicine 31:38
- Mushrooms Studies 32:38
- Reishi and Cacao Combination for Gut Health 33:58
- Emerging Mushrooms 35:25
- How mushrooms reproduce? 37:27
- Mushrooms cooking tips 39:08
- Oyster Mushrooms 40:30
- Mushroom Growing 41:40
- Mushrooms, Microorganisms and Eco
- Sustainability 42:33
- Mycorrhizal Fungi 45:10
- Balance of Nature 45:50
- Psilocybin Mushrooms for Mental Health 47:40
- Jeff's top health tip 56:42