Medicinal Mushrooms
Certain mushrooms have been known since ancient times as beneficial medicines and incorporated into traditional medicine and into daily and seasonal meals. While there are thousands of varieties of fungi, a fewl of them have become very popular but they have been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and other cultures, for a long time.
What I love about the mushrooms…they are both medicine and food. Some more medicinal only, some can be used in food, and some clearly both.
Medicinal mushrooms are used for supporting the immune system, for helping us deal with the effects of stress, for harmonising energy in the body, anti ageing, increasing stamina, and many other effects according to the specific fungi. Unlike in our modern western medical system, traditional medical systems also focus on health and prevention of illness, and this is where mushrooms really shine, to strengthen imbalances before they become serious. However, they are also being used in serious disease such as cancer.
I am going to cover 5 of the most popular and available mushrooms.
Reishi Ganoderma lucidum
This is my favourite medicinal mushroom. It is called the “divine mushroom of immortality” and it helps to strengthen our life force, which helps us with resilience against the toxic and stressful environment of the modern day world.
Reishi helps with stimulating the immue system, activating different types of immune cells. It helps the body cope against various bacteria. It helps with fatigue by replenishing the yin and blood- which makes it particularly good for women, such as post partum.
Reishi’s has a beneficial strengthening effect on the physical heart, but it is also known for a spiritual effect on the heart, which in TCM is the ‘seat of the soul’. It has a nourishing, calming, soothing effect on a person who is anxious, scattered, depressed, restless or with insomnia. It is even used in mental imbalances, for calming the psyche. Do not expect an immediate result….it needs to be taken for a few weeks for effects to take place.
Reishi is used widely in Asia as a complementary medicine for cancer therapy, and can help strengthen the body when going through chemotherapy. While there is not a lot of high level evidence for reishi as a first line treatment for cancer, there is plenty to recommend that it can be used alongside conventional treatments as well as to potentially extend cancer survival rate. However, its use might be even better as part of a general health and cancer prevention program.
Reishi also has an affinity for the lungs, for helping cough up mucous and calm a cough, an antihistamine effect, can be beneficial for the skin…..and much more than I can cover here. In Chinese medicine it is considered to replenish the Qi and nourish the blood, and to calm the psyche.
It is a fairly but not extremely bitter tasting herb, but can be added to coffee where its taste is hidden or complementary…and in small amounts to soups and stews.
https://www.ijhcr.com/index.php/ijhcr/article/view/52/55
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92757/
Cordyceps Cordyceps sinensis
This mushroom, which is actually a cross between a mushroom and a caterpillar, comes from high in the Himalayas, and has a strong energy boosting quality, and is used to boost physical performance. It is also a powerful lung tonic and is good for asthma and even allergies. It is also a powerful immune stimulant and can help our resistance against viruses, bacteria, parasites and also stress.
According to TCM, Cordyceps supports our kidney essence, which is the essence we inherited from our ancestors, and which we can deplete through stress, illness, childbirth, addictions and too much work. It helps people who are sensitive to the cold, exhausted and in burnout. it can also be used for infertility, impotence and weak libido, and even for low thyroid function…it just helps build up that essence.
Cordyceps is also good for the lungs and can be used with reishi for lung conditions such as COPD or emphysema, asthma or coughing.
It also has the effect, as with Reishi, of calming and harmonising the psyche, and lifting the mood, although it is used less for this than Reishi. It is better not taken in the evening.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5236007/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3121254/
https://teelixir.com/blogs/news/what-are-cordyceps
Chaga Inonotus obliquus
Chaga is commonly referred to as a mushroom but is actually a woody canker or sclerotium that grows in the cold season mostly on birch trees (Northern Hemisphere). It is most well known in Russia and Siberia, but has been used by ancient Mesopotamians, Egyptians and Chinese.
Because it is more wood fibre than mycelium, it also has many of the medicinal properties of the birch trees. The outer black layer contains melanin, which makes chaga good for the skin.
Chaga is also used traditionally for infectious disease, and is reported to search for various pathogens through the body and eliminate them. So it can be used alone or combined with other immune enhancing herbs. Chaga however has the capacity to both stimulate, and dampen the immune system depending on what is needed to bring it back into balance, therefore it can be helpful to those with autoimmune disorders.
It has beneficial effects on the digestive tract and liver, and can be used for various intestinal tract issues, gastritis and ulcers, and constipation. it can support the liver and help regenerate it- and may have benefit in hepatitis- and Chaga also has that wonderful quality of harmonising the “shen” or heart, supporting our mental and spiritual wellbeing. It has also been used traditionally for cancer.
These just touch a few of the qualities of Chaga and it is a well revered and beneficial ‘mushroom’. It has most commonly been taken as a tea but is now found in capsules and powder form. The powder is mild tasting and can be added to coffee or taken as a hot drink by itself.
https://teelixir.com/blogs/news/chaga-mushroom-tea-explained
Shitake Lentinula edodes
Shitake mushrooms, sometimes called ‘the elixir of life’, are the most popular mushrooms in the world and have a wonderful, aromatic taste and a meaty texture. They are wonderful in soups and stews and stirfries, help control blood sugar, reduce inflammation, have cardiovascular benefits, and also have immune system benefits. They are known to regulate cholesterol and blood pressure, and can be helpful for arthritis, osteoporosis and rheumatic diseases.
In TCM they are known to replenish Qi, nourish the blood, and dissolve mucous.
Again they have been used to help support cancer patients and a polysaccharide in shitake called lentinan is being studied as an immunotherapy agent.
Shitake is widely available as a fresh mushroom in gourmet groceries, and also as a dried mushroom in Asian food stores.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25866155/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720328473
Lion’s Mane Hericium erinaceus
Lion’s mane is a beautiful and tasty mushroom with shaggy cascading soft spines. It is known mainly for its benefits in supporting healthy brain function and neuron regeneration. It is rich in beta-glucans which have anti-tumour, immuno-modulating and neuro-protecting qualities. Its neurotrophic qualities- it protects and helps regrow nerve cells- also make it helpful for the development and function of nerves, even in such situations as recovery from heart attack.
Lion’s Mane has historical use in TCM for promoting healthy cognitive and nerve function. Therefore it has benefits in disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia, Parkinson’s disease, neuropathy, neurasthenia and multiple sclerosis. It may be used for studying and exams.
However it also has other benefits to its more well known brain benefits. It has significant immuno-modulatory effects, and as with the other mushrooms discussed, has anti-cancer and anti-tumour effects (especially of the digestive system). It has shown some benefit for multi-resistant golden staph.
Lion’s Mane can be also be used to help with stomach and intestinal problems, especially in inflammation of the digestive tract in situations such as celiac disease. It is used to regulate Helicobacter pylori. and can help with constipation.
Again, these are just a few of Lion’s Mane’s potential benefits. You can eat it as a delicious vegetable, or take it as a capsule or powder. If you were wanting it for something serious like Alzheimer’s, I would use a strong extract.
journal.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2020.00155/full
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/bn/2018/5802634/
How to access the benefits of these amazing medicinal mushrooms?
Shitake and lion’s mane are delicious in all sorts of foods. Chaga and cordyceps make a nice tea. Reishi can be added to coffee to mask its slight bitterness. However all come as powdered form or in capsules, as well as tinctures, for ease of use.
You can buy fresh mushrooms and mushroom kits nowadays from places such as:
https://www.themushroomguys.com.au/
https://www.thefunguywa.com.au/
There is a whole world out there of people getting into these amazing fungi.
Quality and Suppliers
Be aware of the quality of mushrooms powders. What the mushroom is grown on makes all the difference to the quality of the final product. While some mushrooms grow sufficiently well on grain or sawdust, others do not develop their most potent medicinal qualities. Very cheap products may well be of poorer quality.
Also, you can buy straight dried mushroom powder, but you can also get mushroom extract, which is 10x as potent- 10kgs of dried herb make 1 kg extract. I prefer to buy these extracts because I am getting more bang for my buck, so to speak. Especially if I want it for a specific medical condition.
I like superfeast.com.au, because of their very high standards. Their products are readily available in Perth on gourmet grocery shelves, but there are many other good suppliers online. teelixer.com is another one I feel good about.
There are also many products nowadays that combine medicinal mushrooms with herbs such as dandelion, curcumin, milk thistle, echinacea etc. Some of these do not contain enough of the medicinal mushrooms to make much difference….remember some of these mushrooms are used as food over years in cultures that grow them, so tiny amounts may not have much benefit. However, some products are very good quality and contain sufficient quantities to have benefit.
Of course I also make up individualised herbal mixes for clients and often include these mushroom medicines in my mixes, because of the incredible benefits and blessings they offer.
