Mushrooms aren’t just on our dinner plates anymore! They’re in many supplements and natural health products. The benefits of medicinal mushrooms have become widely recognized, and we’re here to break down their powers in relation to maintaining healthy immunity and helping to alleviate stress and fatigue.

Mushrooms are Growing in Popularity
In recent years, we’ve seen a surge in mushrooms, from chaga hot chocolates to reishi sodas, but their healing benefits have been known for centuries. Now that they have entered the mainstream, you might be wondering what gives them these mighty powers and how one mushroom differs from another.

Introducing Reishi
Reishi is considered the “queen” of the medicinal mushroom family and is revered for its abundance of healing properties. It has also been dubbed the Mushroom of Immortality, 10,000-Year Mushroom or Mushroom of Eternal Life–thanks to its many vitality boosting properties.

Reishi has a wood and leather-like texture, and is often identified due to its reddish brown hue and fan-like shape. It is most often consumed as tea, in powder form, or ingested in capsule form.

Unique Benefits of Reishi
As one of the most well-researched medicinal mushrooms, we now know that Reishi contains close to 500 different ganoderic acids, which are compounds unique to Reishi and found within its fruiting body. Ganoderic acids are an integral part of what gives Reishi its stress relieving and immune boosting properties.

Reishi is classified as an adaptogen, which is defined in herbal medicine as a natural substance that works to help the body adapt to stress. Reishi has been shown through studies to not only help the body manage its response to stress but also to have a positive effect on fatigue.

Reishi contains an abundance of Beta-D-glucans which are a type of soluble fibre that has a powerful modulating effect on our immune system. Modulation allows the immune system to be agile and responsive to potential invaders. They are, therefore, a useful tool in priming the immune system and training resistance to invading pathogens.

Quality Control and Extraction Process
It’s important to note that the growth and extraction of mushrooms needs to be done in both sustainable and controlled ways.

The most potent part of any mushroom is the fruiting body which is the most mature and nutrient dense portion of the mushroom. When extracting for supplementation, the fruiting body is often chosen because it is larger and contains more nutrients.

There are several different extraction processes, including hot water extraction, dual extraction or micronization.

Hot water extraction is much like steeping tea. Because many of the beneficial properties of medicinal mushrooms are water-soluble, once steeped in hot water, you’re left with a concentrated liquid.

Dual extraction requires two steps, hot water, then a mixture of water and alcohol. After the hot water extraction process, the insoluble compounds are added to a water and alcohol mixture. This mixture is heated, steeped, and then added to the hot water extraction.

Micronization is a milling process that removes the parts from the mushroom that cannot be digested, leaving the vitamins, minerals and active ingredients. This provides the most bioavailable form for therapeutic purposes.

Supporting Your Daily Routine with Reishi
Adding medicinal mushrooms to your diet can be done in a variety of ways. There are mushroom powders, teas, tinctures, and capsules. But they are always best when paired with a healthy lifestyle.

Our top 3 ways to improve vitality, minimize stress and support immune health:

Start or end your day with a warming reishi elixir of your choosing, and take in the day before or behind you. Sip slowly and supplement your mushroom elixir with complimentary powdered adaptogens like ashwagandha, schisandra and astragalus.

Build stress reduction tactics into your day; carving out an hour for a lunchtime walk, winding down in the evening with gentle stretching, or debriefing your day with family or a friend for 10 minutes each evening.

Take your vitamins, drink plenty of water, ensure you’re getting enough fibre in your diet, and take a quiet moment daily to have a bowel movement. The gut-brain connection is real, and a slow transit time (the time it takes to pass a meal) and/or constipation can directly affect our mood and ability to manage stress.

Health First Reishi is certified organic and grown sustainably on wood. It contains 100% fruiting body, and its medicinal components are released via micronization, heat and double liquid extraction for optimal bioavailability. All Health First mushrooms are certified organic and 3rd-party tested for potency, consistency and efficacy.

Health First Reishi is a high potency extract in easy-to-swallow capsules, taken daily to support immune function and improve our abilities to withstand stress. Each capsule’s potency is equivalent to 800 mg and contains 34.2% beta-D-glucans. Including medicinal mushrooms in your daily routine is easy with Health First Reishi! Empower your body everyday with the “queen” of the mushrooms and a consistent, effective and quality product you know you can trust.

References:
Understanding Medicinal Mushroom Extraction | WMS
Immune Modulation From Five Major Mushrooms: Application to Integrative Oncology
Reishi Mushroom: Everything You Need to Know – Fungi Academy
Reishi: The Queen of Immortality – The Medicinal Mushroom Co.
Micronization in food processing: A comprehensive review of mechanistic approach, physicochemical, functional properties and self-stability of micronized food materials – ScienceDirect
Dietary modulation of immune function by beta-glucans
https://themedicinalmushroomcompany.com/blogs/the-medicinal-mushroom-co-journal/reishi-mushroom-queen-of-immortality

About the Author: Health First Network

Health First Network is Canada’s leading membership group for independent health & wellness retailers and the exclusive supplier of the premium Health First supplement brand. There are over 130 independently owned and operated retail Members across the country. Click here to learn more about Health First.