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That seems like one of the problems that can be solved with technology, i.e. by using - machine learning could be used to visually identify fungi - Portable DNA sequencing devices i.e. nanopore? https://nanoporetech.com/products/smidgion
Also I think you need to perform some kind of DNA extraction on the fungal tissue before using the nanopore?
I've been foraging mushrooms for 30+ years, and I triple-check every single specimen before cooking it. The idea of a novice forager using an app to identify mushrooms is... unconscionable! Like... breathtakingly stupid. I've commented on this before, but it continues to baffle me how poorly-educated our public is about wild plants, berries, and mushrooms. And stories like this just perpetuate the fear (and stigma?)…
Why do people like eating mushrooms from the woods? How much of it is the potential risk? There are plenty of options at the grocery store.
It's a gamified experience of the wilderness, too, in some ways.
It provides many people a connection to their culture and ancestry.
It's a literal connection to the earth. Besides the amazing health benefits of mushrooms, I'm sure your microbiome gets a boost.
Mushrooms and herbs both have plenty of potent phytochemicals that have impressive effects on the body, often for good, sometimes not. When I gather mushrooms or herbs for my own consumption, I have complete control over the supply chain and am confident that I'm consuming reasonable subclinical doses. I have a healthy distrust for supplements of mushrooms and herbs in the US; they're poorly regulated, the supply chain is totally opaque; rarely can you know anything about the age, quality, harvesting conditions, etc., or even if you really have the herb or dried mushroom claimed, much less the actual dose of any chemical in there. Sure, I don't know the actual chemical contents of my blue vervain or turkey tail or whatever either, but I also know I'm not grinding it up and chowing down on a concentrated dose.
Of course accurate identification of the plant or mushroom is important, as can be understanding of how growing conditions affect the plant and how preparation should be carried out (Kentucky coffee tree seeds are nice legumes if boiled a couple times, can kill cows if just left in the water trough in the sun; amanita muscaria can be boiled several times and eaten or pickled then eaten).
I've been foraging mushrooms for 30+ years, and I triple-check every single specimen before cooking it. The idea of a novice forager using an app to identify mushrooms is... unconscionable! Like... breathtakingly stupid. I've commented on this before, but it continues to baffle me how poorly-educated our public is about wild plants, berries, and mushrooms. And stories like this just perpetuate the fear (and stigma?)…
I've been foraging mushrooms for 30+ years, and I triple-check every single specimen before cooking it. The idea of a novice forager using an app to identify mushrooms is... unconscionable! Like... breathtakingly stupid. I've commented on this before, but it continues to baffle me how poorly-educated our public is about wild plants, berries, and mushrooms. And stories like this just perpetuate the fear (and stigma?)…
He damn sure was not using an app on his phone to identify them.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
How long would you need to be lost before you'd try this advice, personally? A few hours? A few days? A few weeks?
Like others mentioned, I wouldn’t try it with mushrooms as they aren’t that nutritionally dense relative to the risks. But for plants, I’d do it as soon as I felt the need to eat something. See Into the Wild for an example of a guy whose life it could’ve saved.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"derived from the milk thistle plant" likely involves more than just "eat some powered plant"; Wikipedia seems to indicate it involves more purification steps than the supplement form of things.
There’s a difference between purifying and using something as a basis for synthesis. The question is, why not the plant itself? (Dried and powdered in a readily available pill)
Okay, but there must be data, since the EU approved it based on something, right?
Silibinin is the active ingredient in milk thistle, a supplement available at almost any health food store. Do doctors not know this or are they just letting people die rather than prescribe an OTC nutraceutical? Or is there some reason it absolutely must be delivered intravenously? That seems unlikely since it is orally bioavailable. Edit: I found this, which suggests that it should work in theory, but intense vomit…
For example, almost anyone can learn to identify chicken of the woods, morels, oysters, and maitake and safely pick them with very minimal training.
Trusting some app without context is an obviously stupid move IMO though and not surprising that people are getting hurt if that's how they are approaching foraging.