Dear All,
probably the subject has been discussed many times, but could you please recommend a source of PSK and curcumin (also other coctail supplements) available in Europe? I live in Poland.
For PSK, besides Oriveda, I found https://www.mycomedica.cz/ They explain that the products are sold as "veterinary" due to absurd EU regulations, but they are apparently available across the country, so I suppose that the quality is decent.
As for Curcumin Longvida, I found only
https://www.amazon.de/Longvida-Hochdosiert-Curcuma-Bioverf%C3%BCgbarkeit-Monatspackung/dp/B01NCTQFL8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526164318&sr=8-1&keywords=curcumin+longvida
https://www.amazon.de/Curcumin-LongvidaTM-500mg-Kapseln-Nutrivene/dp/B003D0A8Q0/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1526164362&sr=8-4&keywords=curcumin+longvida&dpID=41nYzvUsCZL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
both of which are rather expensive, and also
https://pl.iherb.com/pr/Now-Foods-CurcuBrain-Cognitive-Support-400-mg-50-Veg-Capsules/57292
However, my primary concern is quality and safety of these products. Would you please recommend other sellers or product in this group?
Many thanks.
Stefan
Hi Stefan,
ReplyDeleteI've just spent hours searching for a reliable source of PSK in Europe since we will run out of Mushroom Science soon. I used to buy it from them:
https://www.healthmonthly.co.uk/mushroom_science_coriolus_super_strength_hot_water_extracted_40?search_string
But unfortunately the customer support explained that they had discontinued this product.
Although they still sell Mushroom Science PSP but it's only 28% polysacharid:
https://www.healthmonthly.co.uk/mushroom_science_coriolus_psp_turkey_tail_mushroom_28
I also found a German brand but they buy their raw materials from China and that concerns me a bit:
https://www.vitalpilze-naturheilkraft.de/coriolus-extraktkapseln-bio/a-171/
After all, I think I'll go with Oriveda because a member of this blog wrote in an older comment that they offer bulk orders (1 kg for 600 EUR but it was in 2016). It seems to be a huge quantity though...
Regarding Curcumin, we also use NOW Curcurbain which you linked above, from iHerb. If we order only 2 bottles (below 50 USD) at the same time, there's no custom fees and shipping is also free.
We also tried the so called "epidiferphane" from dr. Brent Reynolds. It also contains EGCG and sulforaphane along with longvida curcumin. A monthly supply was 40 USD but it became very expensive with all the Fedex shipping so we ended up using the NOW brand (+ Jarrow Formulas Broccomax and Life Extension EGCG). I think you can trust this brand, a lot of people are using their products in various brain cancer groups / forums.
I am also using NOW brand for Longvida, as well as Oriveda for Reishi and PSP. I recently bought a wholesale 1 kg of PSP for 600 EUR (c. 2850 pills). Reishi is 950 EUR per kilo, for ca. 3330 pills.
ReplyDeleteI'm very happy with both these brands, and having researched different mushroom providers, I came to the conclusion that Oriveda looks like a high quality brand. Certainly not the cheapest though... but I think worth it.
Best,
John
Hi Stefan,
ReplyDeletemy Dad's been taking PSK for almost two years. We buy them from a German online pharmacy and we're really happy with the quality. They're expensive but they offer organic quality.
https://www.bio-apo.de/product/coriolus-bio-vitalpilze-extrakt-kapseln.547987.html
They ship internationally, so you should check them out.
All the best
Steffi
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI'm also from Europe and have been taking PSK and Curcumin for almost 3 years now. As was written above, I think the cheapest and best option at the moment is 1kg of Oriveda PSP pills (which last for about 480 days at 6 capsules per day - PSP dose that I think most patients are taking) and NOW CurcuBrain from iHerb. I usually order for ~150€ worth of CurcuBrain at once, so you get some bulk discount and cheaper shipping.
I can not understand, uses CurcuBrain (from Now) SLCP formulation?
ReplyDeleteSLCP curcumin (Solid Liquid Curcumin Particles) is a patented formulation that enhances the absorption (bioavailability) of curcumin and thus its efficacy.
Recently I ordered this curcumin:
https://www.iherb.com/pr/Protocol-for-Life-Balance-Curcumin-SLCP-Longvida-Optimized-Curcumin-400-mg-50-Veg-Capsules/80489
Earlier I ordered this curcumin:
https://www.amazon.com/ProHealth-Optimized-Curcumin-Longvida-Capsules/dp/B00KI41OL2
I'm afraid that from oral curcumin may not have such an effect (or without a therapeutic effect), as from intravenous. Many clinics of alternative medicine in Europe offer intravenous Curcumin. It is also used as a photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy. I now urgently seek where to buy a solution of intravenous curcumin in Europe.
http://mightysport.se/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/efficacy_longvida_systemic_brain_availability.pdf
DeleteIn mice, oral gavage of Longvida (SLCP) increased brain levels of curcumin to >20 micromolar, from only > 2 micromolar with other formulations. [total concentrations, not unbound concentrations]
I'm not completely convinced that curcumin (any formulation administered systemically) would have direct activity against brain tumors, but an alternative benefit could be beneficial systemic effects on immune cells, as one study showed significant reductions of STAT3 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (T-cells, B-cells, natural killer cells, monocytes) in patients taking large doses of curcumin powder orally.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18628464
STAT3 inhibition in circulating monocyte/macrophages could have a beneficial impact on the tumor infiltrating macrophage population, which can account for up to 30% of the population of a GBM tumor.
This is not an argument against intravenous use of curcumin, just a argument that oral curcumin could have beneficial immune effects even without reaching the brain.
By the way, how do you take curcumin and PSK / PSP in relation to food? There are different opinions.
ReplyDeleteHi Semyon,
DeleteI think that we did error by taking PSK after meals, so now I realized that it should be taken on empty stomach, possibly dissolved in water and with some vitamin C.
As for curcumin, we just started longvida - at present we take it between meals, but with some oil.
I would like to thank you all for information, I am really very grateful for your time.
ReplyDeleteI am going to switch to NOW Curcumin. As on PSK, I am going to ask Oriveda for a discount, as some of you kindly advised.
Many thanks
I was in contact with Oriveda in november 2017 and the price back then (6 months ago) was 600€. Today when I wanted to order, they gave me the price of 690€. They said the PSP price didn't go up, but there is VAT, shipping costs and Paypal fees...which I assume where there also few months ago :|
ReplyDeleteAnyway, not a really nice move on their part. Maybe they sell more PSP now (to people from this webpage also) and decided to increase price
Matjaz, I can confirm that, they have sent a similar (actually, the same) offer for me. It's likely the effect of more interest in their products and they bounced the shipping+VAT+PayPal fee to the customers...
DeleteWe can perhaps order from US https://fi.iherb.com/search?kw=maitake+d-fraction and/or https://fi.iherb.com/pr/Mushroom-Wisdom-Super-Coriolus-120-Veggie-Tabs/4964. I bought NOW CurcuBrain. DHL delivery took literally 3 days from US to Poland.
It's still the Czech source... But I am not sure what is the quality of their products.
DeleteI'll look into other PSP sources. This price increase was ~17%. It is a free market and all, but I have a feeling they just increased the price because they know cancer patients will try/buy almost anything which might help, whatever the price.
ReplyDeleteI just contacted "geelawson" for bulk orders of Longvida curcumin (https://www.geelawsonnutritional.com/news/gee-lawson-news/446-longvida%C2%AE-capsules-400mg-now-available-from-gee-lawson.html), I will let you know what they will reply - if it is possible, prices, etc.
I did some reading and digging around...I think Oriveda gets their extract powder from China, repackage and resell. So why not just remove the middleman :) ?
DeleteI did find few chinese suppliers, which offer a lot of mushroom extracts and don't seem "fake" - for example http://en.fungichina.com/ which has been been "exporting mushroom
extract for nearly 30 years", has a lot of extracts available and works under all the needed standards (HACCP, ISO 9001). I'll try to check those claims and I already contacted them regarding their extraction methods, polysaccharide content, price for 1kg, shipping,...
Thank you so much, Matjaz. Frankly, I am very afraid of the source, even from OriVeda. My impression was that they do extractions themselves, but if they really only repack... Well, the Czech company does the same but they explicitly admit. They also offer independent certificate and their products are available across the country. I do not think that it would be easy to overcome regulations at the country-level.
DeleteActually, I am the most concerned about the quality of products, possible contamination, and the price is a secondary problem.
I am very grateful for your advice and sharing information, thank you so much.
I found another brand but it's suspiciously cheap. On the bottle they claim that "Manufactured in UK". Does it seem reliable to anyone?
ReplyDeletehttps://health4all.co.uk/product/turkey-tail-coriolus-versicolor-extract-500mg-capsules
Hello guys,
ReplyDeleteI emailed few European suppliers about bulk orders of PSP/PSK and Longvida curcumin, since they can get pretty expensive in the longer term. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get bigger discounts for Longvida curcumin, since all suppliers that I contacted (around 5) don't sell in bulk to individuals, only to companies.
About PSP/PSK: at the moment, I think the cheapest price per amount of polysaccharides is Health4All brand (compared to Oriveda and Mycomedica). They gave me price of £280 for 2000 capsules (in a bag) plus shipment. I also contacted Mycomedica.cz and they can only offer 10% discount for orders above 12 bottles.
I still didn't get few replies back, will let you know if I come across bigger discounts. Note that this is for Europe, I didn't contact anyone from USA (since we also have import taxes when ordering from outside Europe).
Thanks so much Matjaz for your time and sharing information you collected.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Healt4All brand (also commenting on Ildi's question), they declare 30% PSK/PSP polysaccharides in 500mg tablet that makes 150 mg PSK. I am not sure however that PSK/PSP in H4All product is the same as beta-glukans, which really "make the job". In that respect, Oriveda declares 46% in 350mg capsules which makes ~160mg, so it is roughly equivalent.
What regards the products' price, the Oriveda product with a bulk discount would be still 30% more expensive (both without VAT+shipping costs). But I am now concerned whether the extracts may be really comparable...
I lurked in the net and it seems that the Mooshrom Science products are superior, but I could not find any source of them in Europe.
Hello guys,
ReplyDeleteOriveda's PSP is again 610€ for 1 kg, after they decided to increase price from 600€ to 690€. I think this makes it again the best price for ordering in Europe, not to mention highest polysaccharide content that I could find.