Does AHCC really work?

Does this Mushroom Extract actually prove to be a Boost to Immune Health?

What is all this fuss around this new mushroom extract? Does AHCC really work? Is it actually great for our immunes or just another of mushroom lover's wild health claims? In this post, we will describe, discuss, and analyze all import

ant aspects of AHCC.

AHCC stands for Active Hexose Correlated Compound. It is a completely natural substance and is extracted from species of Shiitake (basidiomycetes); a class of mushrooms. Medical documents that have used AHCC for research purposes claim that it is an immunomodulatory agent and can be a good antioxidant. To be used in supplement form, this compound has a variety of health benefits; adjuvant to cancer treatment, a hepatoprotective agent in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and various other infections. However, there hasn’t been enough clinical data to recommend AHCC for treatment purposes for any of the above cases.

How does AHCC work?

Though researchers are not completely sure about the working mechanism of this compound, they are of the view that AHCC does what it does by increasing the activity of natural cells that are responsible for killing harmful cells in a human body. This might be an accurate explanation for why AHCC is being quoted as a rich adjuvant to cancer treatment. However, researches on animal control groups tell a different story. According to them, AHCC prevents diabetes and other health disorders by protecting the liver against a set of poisonous chemicals.

Health Benefits

So far, very little is authentic to prove AHCC as alternative medicine. However, from all the clinical trials that have been conducted, preliminary research shows that AHCC may prove to be helpful with certain prominent health benefits. Some of the key findings from the research are as follows:

Immune System: According to the clinical trial done in Nutrition and Cancer, AHCC may help as a good boost to the immunity of the human body. The claim comes from a controlled test study in which a group of 21 healthy volunteers was made to take either a placebo or an AHCC supplement for 30 days. At the end of 4 weeks, the group of AHCC supplement proved to have a significantly greater number of cells responsible for immune action.

Cancer Treatment: According to research by Nutrition and Cancer, AHCC may help in inhibiting cancer development and propagation by inhibiting the proliferation of ovarian cancer cells. Hence, researchers are of the view that this compound can be used for therapeutic use or complementary therapy in the treatment of cancer. Also, researchers discovered that when used on mice, AHCC shielded them against bone marrow suppression, liver damage, and other chemotherapy side effects. However, it is too soon to claim AHCC will show the same behavior in alleviating cancer in humans.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD): Another study of AHCC on mice suggests that it shows promising effects in the treatment of IBD. AHCC left very therapeutic effects on lymphocyte driven colitis which is responsible for inflammatory diseases in mice. Hence, it can be concluded that AHCC can also prove to be a very beneficial anti-inflammatory agent and can provide relief to people suffering from inflammatory bowel diseases.

Possible Side Effects

Since there are not enough researches and clinical tests to suggest the safe dosage and safety limits of this compound, little is known about the safety of long-term use of AHCC. However, a lot of researchers have shown common concern about some mild side effects triggered by AHCC. The most confident side effects include fatigue, foot cramps, diarrhea, itching, and bloating.

Conclusion:

From what all is known and studied till now, Active Hexose Correlated Compound AHCC can be very beneficial to be used as an alternative medicine for curing cancer, flu, boosting immunity. But it comes with the cost of its own mild side effects.