reishi mushrooms Archives - Amazing Health Advances

How Does Reishi Rescue Your Immune System & Emotional Wellbeing?

The AHA! Team — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 05:27:14 +0000

Lori Alton via NaturalHealth365 – A new review in Food Science and Human Wellness shines a spotlight on one of the most revered medicinal mushrooms – the reishi mushroom. A staple of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for over 2000 years, these ancient edible fungi are now being taken seriously by researchers around the globe and explored for their potential to promote health, longevity, and even help people to heal from chronic health issues. A new review in Food Science and Human Wellness shines a spotlight on one of the most revered medicinal mushrooms – the reishi mushroom. Botanically known as Ganoderma lucidum, the reishi mushroom is also called Ling Zhi (meaning “The Mushroom of Immortality” – a clue to the high esteem in which it is held). Let’s take a closer look at the compelling health benefits of this mighty mushroom. The reishi mushroom’s wide range of benefits include boosting the immune system In the new review, the authors reported that reishi mushrooms have antimicrobial, antioxidant, antidiabetic, anti-allergy, and antitumor properties. These versatile mushrooms are also adaptogenic, meaning that they can help the body adjust to prolonged physical and psychological stress. The team pointed out reishi’s high levels of triterpenoids – which have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties to protect heart and liver health – and polysaccharides, such as beta-glucans, which can help maintain healthy cholesterol and blood sugar levels. The authors declared that the most studied of all reishi benefits involve the fungus’ ability to stimulate the immune system. In a placebo-controlled study published in the International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms, twelve weeks of supplementation with beta-glucans from reishi mushrooms increased the amounts of lymphocytes (immune system cells critical to the body’s defense) in children with immune deficiency. In addition to their gifts to the body, reishi mushrooms can also benefit the psyche. Medicinal mushrooms can have nootropic effects – meaning they can promote mental function and concentration – along with mild calming and mood-elevating properties. In fact, Taoist monks have used reishi mushrooms to enhance spiritual practices and meditation. Mysterious mood-lifter: Reishi extracts increased happiness in women with fibromyalgia Our current “sick care” system attempts to manage fibromyalgia – a chronic disorder characterized by muscle pain, fatigue, insomnia, and depression – with synthetic muscle relaxers and other toxic medications. However, these pills may provide only partial relief and can feature unwanted side effects. Hence, there is an ongoing search for natural alternatives. In a 2020 trial involving women with fibromyalgia, volunteers were given either six grams of reishi extract or a placebo daily – with intriguing results. Although the reishi group didn’t see any statistically significant differences in body aches or other symptoms, they reported feeling substantially happier! The intervention reduced depression levels from 7.6 to 5.36 – which is near the cut-off level for a diagnosis of depression. The participants reported the reishi’s efficacy at between 2 and 3 on the Global Impression of Improvement Scale (GIIS), which means that they quantified improvements in the way they were feeling on a spectrum ranging from “slightly improved” to “greatly improved.” Meanwhile, the control group did not fare nearly as well, ranking their status between 3 and 4 on the GIIS. This signifies that they either noticed no change at all or were only minimally better. Clearly, these findings – brighter mood, increased happiness, and less perception of physical discomfort – call for further exploration. Breast cancer patients struggling with mood disturbances find relief Depression, fatigue, and anxiety can sap the strength and threaten the morale of those battling cancer. However, a four-week study published in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine showed that a reishi extract (Ganoderma lucidum spore powder) reduced cancer-related emotional upset, tiredness, and improved quality of life in women with breast cancer who were undergoing endocrine therapy. Incidentally, earlier studies have supported reishi’s calming effects. A study published in Cellular and Molecular Biology showed that lucidone D, a terpene from reishi mushrooms, helped to reduce body aches and promote sleep. In yet another study, reishi extracts improved quality of life and alleviated tiredness and physical discomfort in people with neurasthenia. Access the power of reishi through convenient supplements With their deep reddish-bronze color and glossy sheen, reishi mushrooms have a distinctive appearance – and a notoriously bitter taste to go along with it. Although perfectly edible, this harsh taste is why people rarely nibble reishi mushrooms “solo.” Fortunately, supplements are available in powders, tinctures, capsules, and teas. Opt for an organic product certified for purity and marketed by a reputable vendor. For immune support, holistic healthcare providers typically advise 1.5 to 9 grams daily, but consult your holistic doctor before supplementing with reishi, especially if you have any health concerns. By the way, reishi powder actually “plays well with others” when balanced with pleasant, robust flavors such as cacao or coffee. You can add this mushroom to your favorite morning meal, or favorite smoothie. You may also find specialty chocolates, coffee alternatives, and energy bars enhanced with reishi. As the new review demonstrates, reishi mushrooms appear to promote physical, emotional, and even spiritual well-being. Maybe it’s time to try the “king of mushrooms.” Editor’s note: For the highest quality medicinal mushrooms … check out the LuvByNature brand for a variety of healthy options. Sources for this article include: Sciencedirect.com MDPI.com Begelhouse.com Healthline.com Thespruceeats.com NIH.gov Whiterabbitinstituteofhealing.com To read the original article click here.

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Coffee Grounds & Reishi Mushroom Spores Can be 3D Printed into a Compostable Alternative to Plastics

The AHA! Team — Fri, 09 May 2025 05:24:29 +0000

University of Washington via EurekAlert! – Only 30% of a coffee bean is soluble in water, and many brewing methods aim to extract significantly less than that. So, of the 1.6 billion pounds of coffee Americans consume in a year, more than 1.1 billion pounds of grounds are knocked from filters into compost bins and garbage cans. While watching the grounds from her own espresso machine accumulate, Danli Luo, a University of Washington doctoral student in human centered design and engineering, saw an opportunity. Coffee is nutrient-rich and sterilized during brewing, so it’s ideal for growing fungus, which, before it sprouts into mushrooms, forms a “mycelial skin.” This skin, a sort of white root system, can bind loose substances together and create a tough, water-resistant, lightweight material. Coffee is nutrient-rich and sterilized during brewing, so it’s ideal for growing fungus Luo and a UW team developed a new system for turning those coffee grounds into a paste, which they use to 3D print objects: packing materials, pieces of a vase, a small statue. They inoculate the paste with Reishi mushroom spores, which grow on the objects to form that mycelial skin. The skin turns the coffee grounds — even when formed into complex shapes — into a resilient, fully compostable alternative to plastics. For intricate designs, the mycelium fuses separately printed pieces together to form a single object. Published findings The team published its findings Jan. 23 in 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing. “We’re especially interested in creating systems for people like small businesses owners producing small-batch products — for example, small, delicate glassware that needs resilient packaging to ship,” said lead author Luo. “So we’ve been working on new material recipes that can replace things like Styrofoam with something more sustainable and that can be easily customized for small-scale production.” New material recipes that can replace things like Styrofoam To create the “Mycofluid” paste, Luo mixed used coffee grounds with brown rice flour, Reishi mushroom spores, xanthan gum (a common food binder found in ice creams and salad dressings) and water. Luo also built a new 3D printer head for the Jubilee 3D printer that the UW’s Machine Agency lab designed. The new printer system can hold up to a liter of the paste. The team printed various objects with the Mycofluid: packaging for a small glass, three pieces of a vase, two halves of a Moai statue and a two-piece coffin the size of a butterfly. The objects then sat covered in a plastic tub for 10 days, during which the mycelium formed a sort of shell around the Mycofluid. In the case of the statue and vase, the separate pieces also fused together. The process is the same as that of homegrown mushroom kits: Keep the mycelium moist as it grows from a nutrient rich material. If the pieces stayed in the tub longer, actual mushrooms would sprout from the objects, but instead they’re removed after the white mycelial skin has formed. Researchers then dried the pieces for 24 hours, which halts the fruiting of the mushrooms. The finished material is heavier than Styrofoam — closer to the density of cardboard or charcoal. After an hour in contact with water, it absorbed only 7% more weight in water and dried to close its initial weight while keeping its shape. It was as strong and tough as polystyrene and expanded polystyrene foam, the substance used to make Styrofoam. All its components are compostable Though the team didn’t specifically test the material’s compostability, all its components are compostable (and, in fact, edible, though less than appetizing). Because the Mycofluid requires relatively homogeneous used coffee grounds, working with it at significant scale would prove difficult, but the team is interested in other forms of recycled materials that might form similar biopastes. “We’re interested in expanding this to other bio-derived materials, such as other forms of food waste,” Luo said. “We want to broadly support this kind of flexible development, not just to provide one solution to this major problem of plastic waste.” This research was funded by the National Science Foundation. Junchao Yang, a UW master’s student in human centered design and engineering when completing this research, is a co-author, and Nadya Peek, UW associate professor of human centered design and engineering, is the senior author. For more information, contact Luo at danlil@uw.edu. Journal 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing DOI 10.1089/3dp.2023.0342 To read the original article click here.

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Mushroom Powder: The Versatile Superfood for Coffee & More

AHA Publisher — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 08:00:59 +0000

Christine Ruggeri, CHHC via Dr. Axe – If you’ve been paying attention to the natural health market, you may have noticed a new trend emerging. Mushroom powder is popping up in coffee, powders, capsules and even beauty products. Many are wondering: What is mushroom powder, and why would I want to use it? Mushrooms are a group of superfoods with impressive nutrition contents and potential health benefits. They’re packed with disease-fighting and energizing nutrients. That’s exactly why mushrooms are known as the “elixir of life” in Chinese medicine. They’ve been a part of traditional medicine for thousands of years. What Is Mushroom Powder? Mushroom powder is exactly what it sounds like — dried mushrooms that are pulverized into powder. You can get many types of mushroom powder, as it can be made with any type of culinary mushroom. Why bother consuming mushroom powder instead of just adding mushrooms to your diet? In powder form, you get a higher concentration of nutrients. Types/Varieties There are several types of mushroom powder available in stores, and you can always dehydrate fresh mushrooms and make your own at home. In stores, you can find powders made with one type of mushrooms and blends that are made of several. Shiitake Shiitake is a popular dried mushroom because it’s affordable and contains all eight essential amino acids, along with a fatty acid called linoleic acid. Shiitake mushrooms are known to increase satiety, making them great for weight loss. They also contain phytonutrients that support heart health and immune function. Porcini Porcini powder is commonly used to add flavor to broths, and sometimes it’s added to flour when making bread or pasta. They are known for their floury texture when ground. Porcini mushrooms are rich in antioxidants, including beta-carotene, ascorbic acid and lycopene. They are also a good source of fiber and plant-based protein. Chaga Chaga has an earthy flavor, and it contains vanillin, the same compound in vanilla bean. It is ranked one of the top foods for oxygen radical absorbent capacity. That means that it’s an excellent source of antioxidants and can therefore help in the prevention of disease. Chaga mushroom works as an inflammation reducer, and eating them may even improve physical endurance. Lion’s Mane Lion’s mane is known as a nootropic food because of its brain-boosting properties. You’ll often see it in powdered form and added to mushroom coffee. Research suggests that it may slow down cell degeneration in the brain, helping fight diseases like Alzheimer’s. Lion’s mane also supports heart and digestive health because of its anti-inflammatory effects. Reishi Reishi mushroom has been valued in Chinese medicine for thousands of years. It goes by the nickname “king of mushrooms” and serves as an adaptogenic herb that helps the body deal with the negative effects of stress. These mushrooms are jam-packed with antioxidants and health-promoting compounds, like polysaccharides. Reishi powder is used to balance hormones, promote heart health and stabilize blood sugar levels. Cordyceps Cordyceps are a staple in holistic medicine and known as a superstar supplement that’s used to enhance athletic performance, reduce inflammation and promote cardiovascular health. They feature anti-inflammatory compounds and antioxidants that help fight disease, boost immune function and slow aging. Mushroom Powder Benefits 1. Enhances Brain Function Mushroom powder is well-known for its positive affects on brain function. Lion’s mane powder, for instance, has been found to reduce the impact of neurodegenerative diseases by slowing or reversing cell degeneration in the brain. It is often used to promote mental clarity and focus. It’s a popular supplement for overall cognitive health. 2. Supports Immune Health Mushrooms often contain polysaccharides, molecules that have immunomodulatory effects and may enhance immune system function. Research on chaga shows that the mushroom can stimulate spleen lymphocytes that work to regulate the immune system and boost the body’s ability to fight off invading viruses and bacteria. 3. Eases Stress Traditionally, mushrooms have been used to reduce stress and anxiety. An animal study published in the International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms found that reishi mushroom powder had significant anti-anxiety activity in mice. Researchers suggest that the anti-anxiety effects may be the result of the phenols and flavonoids present in reishi mushroom. A study published in BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies suggests that reishi has antidepressant potential and may help ease stress-induced anxiety. 4. Boosts Energy Shiitake mushroom powder is a great source of vitamin B, so it helps support adrenal function and turn the nutrients you consume into useable energy. Mushroom powder supplements and coffees are often used to boost energy levels and beat brain fog. Mushrooms are also known to improve exercise performance. The polysaccharides in mushrooms make them excellent foods for physical endurance. 5. Regulates Blood Sugar Medicinal mushrooms are useful for managing diabetes because they have been shown to improve blood glucose levels and insulin sensitivity. Research on reishi mushroom, for example, suggests that it’s able to decrease both blood sugar and insulin levels in mice. It was also able to modify enzymes that are involved in blood sugar control. 6. Supports Health Health Research shows that there’s a strong link between mushrooms and heart health. Cordyceps mushroom powder, for example, could help prevent heart damage and lower LDL cholesterol. Mushrooms have proven to be organ protectors that benefit the heart by fighting oxidative stress as well. 7. Slows Aging The impressive antioxidant content in mushroom powder helps fight free radical damage and prevent oxidative stress. Not only does this help prevent disease, but it helps slow the signs of aging and optimizes overall health. By promoting healthy aging, consuming reishi mushroom powder, for example, is known to boost longevity. Studies reveal that it affects life span extension by reducing oxidative stress and cellular damage throughout the body. Mushrooms vs. Mushroom Powder Mushroom powder is made from dehydrated and ground mushrooms. A serving of the power provides a higher nutritional value because it’s much more concentrated. One scoop of a blended mushroom powder can provide a range of health-promoting nutrients, including a long list of antioxidants, prebiotic fibers, amino acids and micronutrients. In its condensed form, it packs a nutritional punch. How to Use (Dosage, Recipes) Here’s the beauty of mushroom powder — it can be added to so many dishes. It has a mild, earthy flavor that blends well in many dishes and can even be added to beverages. Treat it like a seasoning agent (like mushroom umami seasoning), and add it to scrambled eggs, soups, casseroles, sauces and sautéed vegetables. It offers a great meaty flavor and has a slew of health benefits. Recently, mushrooms are being used in all sorts of products. You can find coffees, teas and protein powders made with mushroom powder. Store-bought powders are added to recipes, coffees, hot chocolate blends, drink mixes and smoothies. Generally, two to three teaspoons of powder is consumed once a day to boost overall health. Don’t overdo it, though, and remember that it’s a concentrated version of whole mushrooms so a little goes a long way. You may be wondering about the taste of mushroom coffee. Surprisingly, it doesn’t taste like mushrooms and serves as a less acidic way to get your morning caffeine. Want to make your own mushroom powder at home? It’s very easy. Purchase dehydrated mushrooms, and grind them into a fine powder. Then use the powder in everyday recipes for a boost of antioxidants and nutrients. For storage, keep the powder in an airtight container. Risks and Side Effects A high-quality mushroom powder is considered safe when consumed in normal amounts. Read the product label carefully for dosage directions, and do not exceed the recommended dose. Some mushrooms work to make the immune system more active, so people with autoimmune diseases should check with their doctors before using mushroom powder supplements. If you experience any adverse side effects after consuming mushroom supplements, discontinue use immediately. Conclusion Mushroom powder seasoning is gaining popularity because it’s a nutrition powerhouse that can be added to a ton of recipes and beverages. You’ve heard about the health benefits of whole mushrooms, so think about the effects of a concentrated version. You can find mushroom powder blends or powders of individual mushrooms, including chaga, reishi, cordyseps, porcini and lion’s mane. Mushroom seasoning is jam-packed with antioxidants, protein, fiber, amino acids and micronutrients, including B vitamins. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Axe click here.

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