Reishi Mushroom Benefits List

We know mushrooms go well with everything: on top of our pizza, pasta, and every veggie dish. But there are many more benefits and different ways of consumption to them than you might think. 

Reishi mushrooms are pretty popular in Eastern medicine for their many health benefits. They grow in various humid areas in Asia and can be eaten fresh, used in powdered forms, or extracts containing specific molecules.

Key Takeaways

• Reishi mushrooms offer a range of health benefits, including boosting the immune system, fighting infections, and reducing inflammation.
• Consumption of reishi mushrooms can improve skin health by restoring ceramide levels, reducing irritation, wrinkles, and dehydration.
• Reishi mushrooms have calming and stress-lowering effects, aiding in better sleep, reducing anxiety and depression, and promoting overall well-being.

Reishi Mushroom Health Benefits

Reishi mushrooms contain several molecules like triterpenoids, polysaccharides, and peptidoglycans responsible for boosting health properties. Multiple tests have been applied and have shown that reishi mushrooms may fight infections, inflammation and boost the immune system. 

Whether you are ill or healthy, consuming reishi mushrooms may improve lymphocyte functions, which significantly helps athletes exposed to stressful conditions.

Reishi Mushroom Benefits for Skin

Reishi mushrooms have deeply hydrating and detoxifying ingredients to work against premature aging, redness, and fine lines. These mushrooms’ main components are beta-glucans, molecules responsible for attracting water from the environment to the skin to keep it hydrated.

For instance, your body synthesizes ceramide, which makes up the protective layer of your skin. However, that store of ceramide depletes over time due to sun damage and aging. Once it drains, your skin will start to look more irritated, wrinkled, and dehydrated. 

When consuming reishi mushrooms will restore your body’s natural supply of ceramides, and your skin will be less reactive to stress from your environment.

Reishi Mushroom Benefits for Blood Sugar 

China is one of the main countries that has been using reishi mushrooms to treat diabetes, enrich the blood, and detoxify the body. For example, people who suffer from diabetic kidney disease (DKD) have done trials that usually last eight weeks. After the established time, the patients exhibited noticeably reduced markers of kidney stress and lowered triglyceride and blood sugar levels. 

What’s best is that reishi mushrooms have regenerating effects on the pancreas, which may help the sensitization of the receptors responsible for insulin absorption. 

Reishi Mushroom Sleep Benefits 

The natural compounds found within reishi support stress management and calmness, which may help sleep better without making you feel drowsy compared to sedatives or melatonin supplements. 

When you consume reishi regularly, it interacts with essential sleep regulation compounds like the hypothalamus, the area that manages sleep and wake cycles, and the dorsal raphe nucleus, which is associated with learning and memory. 

Patients who have tried reishi mushrooms have displayed decreased spontaneous activity, like anxious behaviors, weariness, fatigue, headaches, irritability, and emotional disturbance. 

Reishi Mushroom Brain Benefits 

Mushrooms contain multiple vitamins that help the brain successfully work, such as vitamin B5, which is necessary for producing various hormones that play vital roles in a properly functioning brain. Reishi mushrooms may stimulate nerve growth and ehnance communication among the neurons. 

Overall, reishi mushrooms are a powerful resource to energize and enhance your mood, focus, and concentration capacity.

Reishi Mushroom Hair Benefits 

Stress and environmental toxins can contribute to premature hair loss, thin hair, and balding. Luckily, reishi contains antioxidants that may prevent and repair damage in your hair. 

These mushrooms contain anti-inflammatory compounds that protect fragile hair and promote hair growth by improving blood circulation in your scalp. When blood circulates efficiently to your scalp, your hair becomes stronger and retains hair color better, which may delay premature grey hair growth. 

Reishi Mushroom Benefits for Mood 

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), reishi mushrooms are used as a tonic herb to improve mood; this is thanks to their natural compounds polysaccharides and triterpenoids responsible for stress-lowering capacities. 

Reishi may manage stress levels by nourishing and calming the central nervous system. Its relaxing effects promote calmness and strengthen the nerves. At the same time, it balances the neurotransmitters which regulate mood, like serotonin, dopamine, GABA, and norepinephrine.

In fact, some monks and spiritual sages use reishi tea as part of their deepening and meditative practices because it lessens mental exhaustion along with fatigue, headaches, and irritability. Instead, reishi puts you in a relaxed state that some may describe as meditative.

Reishi Mushroom Benefits for Dogs

When it comes down to reishi mushrooms, everyone can use them, even your pets! The number of compounds, benefits, and multiple uses they have just prove that they can improve your dog's overall health. 

Some of the properties that also work for your pets, especially dogs, are: 

May Provide Liver Support

Reishi mushrooms may reverse liver fibrosis which is capable of nourish, detoxify, and protect the liver. The antioxidants effects reishi contains help renew liver cells, so the liver strengthens.

May Support Cardiovascular Health

As a vasodilator, reishi improves the blood supply and oxygen delivery to the heart by widening blood vessels, so the heart does not work as hard. It may also help reduce blood pressure as well as relieve heart arrhythmia.

May Help with Allergy Control

Allergies generate from an improper immune response and produce symptoms like itching and difficulty breathing. Reishi may ease and reduce these symptoms by relieving coughs and other respiratory issues, positively affecting the lungs.

Anti-Aging

Reishi mushrooms may increase longevity as they slow down the aging process and symptoms. Thanks to this fantastic benefit, reishi has received the name of ‘mushroom of immortality in some places. Its many properties prevent and reverse cognitive decline as well as helping with joint issues.

What is Reishi Mushroom Good for?

Thanks to the number of components that reishi contains, its benefits allow it to interact with the immune system, nervous, cardiovascular, and much more to alleviate the symptoms caused by chronic diseases that can limit our actions, well-being, and life.

The best of it all is that anyone can consume it, and there are different ways to do it. You can either eat it fresh, add it to salads, or even toyour favorite drink. Although traditionally it is made in a tea or an extract, it is up to your preferences. 

Reishi Mushroom Tea Benefits 

Reishi mushroom tea is mainly well-known for its soothing qualities. Many people like to drink it after a long and stressful day at work as the perfect way to unwind.  

This tea offers mood-boosting benefits as it helps people who struggle with fatigue and aids them to get a good night’s sleep to regulate sleep cycles. These sleep-promoting factors can also help reduce stress and anxiety, which often affects sleep quality in people.

Benefits of Reishi Mushroom Coffee

Powdered drink mixtures containing coffee and powdered extract from reishi offer a wide range of health benefits such as increasing energy, stamina, improving memory, relieving stress, and stimulate circulation.

By adding reishi to your morning coffee, you can get the perfect drink to start your day and maintain your health in good condition. 

Reishi Mushroom Liquid Extract Benefits 

Liquids extracts are the easiest way to consume reishi mushrooms as you can add them to anything you would like. Liquid reishi mushroom extract pairs well with drinks, mostly water. 

For instance, adding 20 drops to 4 ounces of liquid and taking them four times a day would be enough to boost your immune system. As the liquid extract contains a more concentrated amount of the mushroom, you can get the same benefits no matter what you add it to.

Reishi Mushroom Powder Benefits

Reishi powder contributes to a healthy diet as it helps the body process stress so that the immune system can function effectively. There is not a standard dosage to take as it depends on your biological conditions. However, you can start with one scoop with approximately  3 grams of powder and add it to a 6-ounce cup containing hot water, tea, or coffee.

Red Reishi Mushroom Benefits 

Being under chronic stress can tremendously wreak havoc on your immune system. Red reishi powder has been used to help enhance the immune system, reduce stress, improve sleep, and lessen fatigue.

One teaspoon of red reishi in your morning tea or coffee is all it takes to start feeling a boost in your energy and support your immune system. Red reishi is gluten-free, paleo-friendly, soy-free, dairy-free, and does not contain artificial growth hormones.

Purple Reishi Mushroom Benefits 

This is the rarest form of reishi mushroom and one of the favorites among reishi connoisseurs. Purple reishi is sweeter and less bitter than red reishi, and an excellent brain tonic for creativity and intelligence. In addition, it has great health properties for the liver and heart. 

Once you consume it, it will enter the kidney, spleen, and pericardium meridian, promoting longevity and fortifying joint health.

Reishi mushrooms have several benefits you should take advantage of. As nature continues to amaze us with amazing plants and fungi, knowing more of them will help us become the healthiest version of ourselves.