Raoul Fraile: Mushrooms and Health

The mycological wealth present in the forests of the province is the personal and professional inspiration of forestry engineer Raúl Fraile, manager of Mundoreschi, a natural medicine store that also offers naturopathy and phytotherapy consultations, at number 19 Valentín Calderón from the capital.

The diversity of medicinal mushroom-related services in his business is in line with the extensive training of Raul Fraile, who adds to his resume a professorship in mycology, a doctorate in medicine and several postgraduate degrees related to phytotherapy, nutrition or oncology. few of them.

“Medicinal mushrooms are quite unknown, but they have very strong activity in some aspects in which conventional medicine is not so powerful,” says Fraley, before citing the particular effect of these plants on improving the immune system. He adds, “This makes them useful for treating everything from the common cold to the flu.”

An example of the medicinal abilities of mushrooms is the reishi (its name in Japanese) or pipe mushroom, which grows in the forests of the province and which “has been used for thousands of years.” Over 2,000 medical publications support the healing properties of this plant, which acts on the human body due to its ability to improve antioxidant levels and defense systems. “This is the quintessential medicinal mushroom,” he insists. In fact, it is this plant that gives its name to Fraley’s business, which has been running for 12 years, three of which have been in the current Valentin Calderón headquarters.

In Mundoreshi, you can also find a range of edible species “with beneficial activity within the human organism”. “Some are useful for blood pressure, others for lowering blood sugar levels, etc.,” Fraley explains.

This engineer’s knowledge has made him an honorary member of the Quercus Mycological Association, based in the Pan y Guindas Social Center, which brings together about 50 active members. According to Fraley, the association’s 10 years in operation have allowed for the development of a hobby that is “growing.” Every Monday, at the headquarters of the unit, you can share mycological experience and knowledge with the rest of the members, as well as identify the collected mushrooms to prevent poisoning. Furthermore, as a culmination of all the annual activities a series of conferences with numerous presentations are held in November, which, among other things, bring those interested closer to this world so that “they can interact with experts in the field. may go”, as detailed. By Forestry Engineer.

It should be noted that the knowledge of this forestry engineer is also shared in workshops held in his own business for those interested, in addition to being held every Monday in the Association. “Here I give short courses on medicinal plants and mushrooms so that people know how to use these products in treating diseases. As a phytotherapist, I see too many people turn to traditional medicine without realizing that plant medicine also has counterparts that work similarly,” he says.

To complement all this, he helps identify mycological species through his YouTube channel, Raúl Fraile Fabero, on which he has more than 10,000 subscribers.