My Favorite Medicinal Mushrooms... Reishi & Turkey Tail

Mushrooms are very in-tune with the environment around them and form Mycorrhizae which is a mutualistic relationship with the roots of most plant species.

Reishi Mushroom

This mushroom is also called in ancient Eastern medicine as the "mushroom of immortality" and the "medicine of kings" and it lives up to its name!  Reishi has a double-direction activity. It significantly improves the functioning of the immune system whether the immune system is deficient or excessive. It is thus called an immune modulator. Reishi contains unique, rare polysaccharides which have been proven to increase the RNA and DNA in the bone marrow, where the body makes B cells. Studies show that it promotes both B cells and T cells, specialized cells that are a critical part of the immune system. Therefore, Reishi not only stimulates the immune system, it regulates it. That is why this Reishi is beneficial for both the chronically ill and the healthy.

Turkey Tail Mushroom

Turkey Tail is one of the best-documented mushrooms in scientific research! With a wide spectrum of beneficial properties Turkey Tail shows much promise in supporting the immune system with its protein-bound and unique polysaccharides.  Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor) is an excellent source of cellular nutrients. In a recent clinical study funded by the National Institutes of Health Host Defenses Turkey Tail was shown to be immunologically active.