You probably know that mushrooms are good for you. But there’s a special class of medicinal mushrooms that are considered superfoods and adaptogenic herbs, and they’ve been used in folk medicine for centuries. Today’s scientific community is rediscovering all the benefits medicinal mushrooms offer, from balancing hormones to extinguishing inflammation. Here are the therapeutic effects of 6 medicinal mushrooms that have been around since ancient times but are more recently available in supplement form.
1. Shiitake Mushrooms
You may have eaten shiitake mushrooms in Japanese or other Asian dishes, or seen them in a grocery store. Not only are they used in Asian cooking, but also in traditional folk medicine systems in Japan, Korea and China. Shiitake mushrooms are associated with promoting circulatory health and longevity. Here are the major ways shiitake mushrooms affect your health:
• Lower inflammation and has antioxidant properties that combat free radicals.
• Boost collagen synthesis by providing a rich copper source. Collagen levels decline with age but are important for maintaining healthy connective tissue and youthful skin.
• Help prevent breast cancer, ovarian cancer and other female reproductive diseases with its linoleic acid contents, which promote balanced estrogen levels.
• Increase bone density by providing a potent dose of copper–a nutrient linked to higher bone density and osteoporosis prevention.
• Block cholesterol absorption in gut with beta-glucans and sterols, helping you lower high cholesterol levels naturally.
• Activate your immune system and kill cancer cells due to their high polysaccharide content.
2. Oyster Mushrooms
Oyster mushrooms are white mushrooms that look like oysters, but you’ll find them growing on decaying trees. They’ve been used in Chinese cooking and traditional medicine for centuries, and modern research has confirmed several significant health effects of these mushrooms. Here are the major medicinal benefits that oyster mushrooms provide:
• Lower blood sugar levels in the short-term and improve insulin sensitivity with regular long-term supplementation.
• Counter oxidative stress by providing antioxidant support, effectively protecting cells and DNA against damage linked to cancer and other diseases. They’re a rich source of ergothioneine, which is an antioxidant that, unlike most antioxidants, doesn’t lose its potency when heated or cooked.
• Lower cholesterol by providing a source of beta-glucans.
• Relax the arterial walls, lowering your blood pressure.
• Ease inflammation by directly modulating the inflammatory response pathway in your immune system.
• Lower heart disease risk by reducing cholesterol, blood pressure, inflammation and oxidative stress.
• Provide adaptogenic support, with an immunoregulatory action that boosts immune function when the immune system is depressed and downregulates it when it’s overactive (i.e. in cases of autoimmune diseases and allergic reactions).
3. Reishi Mushrooms
Reishi mushrooms are adaptogenic and known to lower levels of cortisol–the stress hormone associated with high blood pressure, immune system suppression, fatigue and poor concentration. By helping your body bounce back from stress, reishi mushrooms can mitigate the effects of stress on your mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. Here are the major benefits of reishi mushrooms and why they’re a well-known staple in herbal medicine cabinets.
• Regulate your immune system, boosting or lowering its activity depending on what’s needed for homeostasis.
• Relieve inflammation through its immunomodulating mechanism.
• Protect your brain with its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.
• Improve liver function and protect against liver damage.
• Boost the body’s own defense against cancer cells.
• Reduce cholesterol, triglycerides and high blood pressure with an active compound called ganoderic acid.
• Counter allergic reactions by downregulating the immune response.
• Treat urinary tract infections, sinus infections, Candida overgrowth and more with antipathogenic activity.
• Lower blood sugar levels and increase insulin sensitivity.
4. Turkey Tail Mushrooms
If you’re looking to boost your exercise performance, gut health and immune system, look no further than turkey tail mushrooms. Named after their stark resemblance to a turkey’s tail, these fungi are often dried and then brewed to make tea, or they’re taken as capsules in powdered form. These are the major health benefits of turkey tail mushrooms:
• Enhance gut health by fighting off bad bacteria and providing a source of prebiotic fiber–the fuel that feeds the growth of friendly bacteria populations in your gut.
• Boost energy levels and postpone fatigue during physical activity.
• Lower blood sugar levels and reduces insulin resistance, which helps improve or prevent diabetes.
• Reduce inflammation thanks to its high content of flavonoids–the antioxidants responsible for the bright orangey hues seen on turkey tail mushrooms.
• Stop the proliferation of cancer cells, helping to prevent or fight cancer, while enhancing the body’s own mechanisms of fighting off cancer.
• Contain over 35 phenols (plant chemicals), including quercetin, baicalein and other flavonoids. As powerful antioxidants, these fight free radicals and prevent oxidative damage to your cells and DNA.
• Stimulate your immune system, helping to prevent colds and flu cases.
5. Lion’s Mane Mushrooms
Lion’s mane mushrooms are white fungi with a texture that actually looks furry–hence, the name lion’s mane. They have a seafood flavor and are helpful for physical endurance in athletes and mental performance in people with cognitive decline. Its benefits include:
• Fights anxiety and depression by improving hippocampal function and reducing inflammation.
• Improves mood symptoms such as mood swings, irritability and anxiety in postmenopausal women.
• Enhances cognitive performance and can help reduce symptoms of Alzheimer’s by enhancing memory function and mental clarity.
• Prevents stomach ulcers by stopping the growth of H. pylori (the bacteria responsible for them). By protecting the mucosal lining of your stomach and small intestine, it also helps strengthen the gut’s own defense against ulcers.
• Reduces your heart disease risk by lowering cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
• Helps prevent abnormal blood clotting.
• Improves spinal cord and nervous system health by reversing nerve damage and lowering the inflammation the damage causes. Studies show it increases the development of new nerve cells and stimulates faster nerve damage repair.
• Blocks an enzyme called alpha-glucosidase, which spikes glucose levels in your bloodstream. Through this effect, it’s shown to lower blood sugar levels and prevent their spiking.
• Kills human cancer cells of the liver, lungs, stomach and colon.
• Provides antioxidant support, reducing oxidative stress–the buildup of free radicals in the body, linked to Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease and other diseases.
6. Maitake Mushrooms
Considered a superfood, maitake mushrooms are rich in beta-glucans, B vitamins, vitamin C, copper, potassium, fiber and amino acids. Here are the medicinal benefits they offer:
• Help the body recover from stress, promoting homeostasis in body-wide systems. For example, they lower levels of stress hormones when they’re high, which in turn can bring down your heart rate, lower blood pressure and promote a sense of calm.
• Suppress the growth of tumors and the proliferation of cancer cells, while boosting the natural anticancer activities of your immune system.
• Reduce blood pressure, cholesterol and arterial plaque, lessening the risk for heart attack, atherosclerosis and stroke.
• Lower blood sugar and promotes better insulin sensitivity, helping to prevent or manage diabetes.
• Alleviate inflammation, including the chronic low-grade inflammation that puts you at a higher risk for disease.
• Provide copper, vitamin D, zinc, B vitamins and other nutrients.
• Curb sugar cravings by soothing your adrenal glands and preventing adrenal fatigue.
• Promote hormonal balance in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and induce ovulation in those with absent periods.
Getting Started with Medicinal Mushrooms
If you’re brand new to the concept of medicinal mushrooms, hopefully, this post has opened your eyes to their incredible health effects. While they’re considered safe, medicinal mushrooms are still a potent natural medicine, so avoid taking more than the dose recommended on a product’s label. If you’re on medication be sure to check with your doctor before you try medicinal mushrooms, since there can be interactions.
