Medicinal Mushrooms!  how to harness the power of medicinal mushrooms to dramatically improve your healthy longevity.

Medicinal mushrooms including Shiitake, Reishi, Turkey Tail, Maitake, Chaga and Oyster can really make a huge impact on your health when eaten or taken as a supplement.

I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you information about some of the most popular and easy to source medicinal mushrooms – so that you can harness the health benefits of these incredible little wellness powerhouses.  In fact, I strongly believe that a healthy diet is incomplete without incorporation of medicinal mushrooms – especially for those of us living in industrialised nations – where we are exposed to so much stress and pollution. 

There are believed to be around 38,000 species of mushrooms in the world – and many of these are powerful medicines.  They have been used for millennia in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Western Herbal medicine and Ayurveda.

Sourcing your mushrooms:

Some mushrooms, such as oysters (Pleurotus ostreatus), are easy to grow at home and it is now increasingly easy to buy shiitake and maitake from grocery stores too. Others, such as turkey tails (Trametes versicolor), grow plentifully in the wild and are a good choice for harvesting if you live in an area of the country where they grow. Of course, proper species identification is essential before collecting any mushrooms in the wild – I’m not sure that I’d be brave enough. 

My top six medicinal mushrooms:

Shiitake (Lentinula edodes)

What it’s good for: Shiitake is a potent immune-modulating mushroom – meaning that it has the ability to help your immune system function optimally.  It has antitumor and antiviral properties; lowers blood pressure and reduces cholesterol. Shiitake is used medically for conditions which involve suppressed immune function, e.g. cancer, AIDS, environmental allergies, candida infections, and frequent infections, flu and colds.

Where it grows: The shiitake mushroom is found on fallen broadleaf trees such as chestnut, beech, oak, maple, and walnut. 

How to take it: Shiitake is delicious taste and has a lovely texture, so it’s good to use fresh in cooking. Standardised-extract tablets are available.

Other information: Shiitake is high in calcium, vitamin B2, and vitamin C. It is the second-most widely cultivated mushroom after the common white button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus).

Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum)

What it’s good for: Reishi is almost a ‘cure-all’, having immunostimulant properties, it calms anxiety, is used as a general well-being tonic. Reishi helps treat allergies and is strongly antiviral, and has been successfully used for hepatitis and heart arrhythmias. Interestingly, Reishi can also be used as an antidote for poisonous mushrooms. Reishi is an important mushroom for those with adrenal fatigue – or chronic fatigue syndrome.

Where it grows: Reishi grows throughout Europe, as well as the East Coast of the USA, South America, and Asia. 

How to take it: Reishi is available dried, powdered, in capsules, extracts, tinctures, tea, and syrup.

Other information: In China, reishi is known as ling zhi. Ling zhi belongs to China’s highest class of medicines where it is used as a tonic, which imparts strength, vigour, and longevity.  It is a key ingredient in preparations designed to promote healthy sexual response.

Turkey tail (Trametes versicolor)

What it’s good for: Turkey tail has cholesterol-reducing effects, it enhances immune system activity, and is a potent antioxidant.

Where it grows: Common worldwide. 

How to take it: Turkey tail is most usually made into a tea or in swallowed in capsules. It can be eaten fresh, however it’s very chewy. It also can be made into a tasty yet mild soup stock.

Maitake (Grifola frondosa)

What it’s good for: Maitake has been proven to inhibit tumor growth in several research papers. It reduces blood pressure and gently raises HDL “good” cholesterol.

Where it grows: The mushroom grows commonly in the Europe, Asia and the Eastern United States. 

How to take it: Maitake can be used in cooking (such as in soups – delicious!) and can be taken as a capsule, powder and in tea.

Other information: Maitake means “dancing mushroom” in Japanese; some say it is so named because ‘in ancient times, people who found the mushroom danced with joy because it could be exchanged for its weight in silver’.

Chaga (Inonotus obliquus)

What it’s good for: Chaga has powerful anticancer and antitumour activity.

Where it grows: Chaga grows on birch trees and other hosts, especially in the Europe, the Eastern United States, Alaska, and other parts of the northern hemisphere. It is a hard black, deeply cracked stalkless growth found on birch, alder,  and elm. 

How to take it: Chaga was originally first used widely for medicinal purposes in Russia, where it is a folk remedy for cancers – appearing to be highly effective. It is of course now available all over the world and is often taken in capsule form or as a tea.

Other information: In Russia, chaga has also been used as a tonic, blood purifier, and pain reliever.

Oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus)

What it’s good for: Research shows that the delicious oyster mushroom is a powerful tumour inhibitor. Studies also show that it safely lowers serum and liver levels of cholesterol after two months of administration – without the terrible side effects associated with statins. In China, oyster mushrooms are widely used for joint and muscle relaxation.

Where it grows: The mushroom grows in layered clusters on deciduous trees throughout Europe, North America, Asia and other areas. 

How to take it: Available dried, fresh and in capsules.

Other information: Oyster mushrooms contain eight amino acids and vitamins B1 and B2. The mushrooms may be an excellent blood builder as they have 19mg of iron per 100g of dried mushroom – way more than beef for example – which has only 3.8mg per 100g.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with medicinal mushrooms – there really is no down-side.  One of the easiest ways to incorporate medicinal mushrooms into your diet is to use them in soups and stews and I even put them in smoothies – they are truly delicious!