Boosts your immune system
Helps you relax and fight depression
Acts like an antioxidant
Reishi, the “Mushroom of Immortality”, has been one of the most widely used mushrooms in natural medicine for centuries. It is also known as Ganoderma lucidum and lingzhi, typically growing in various hot and humid climates in Asia.
Around 396 BC in the Changbai Mountains of Ancient China, Reishi was first discovered. Before long, it earned itself the reputation of an exclusive tool of the rich and powerful for anti-aging, as Chinese emperors sought immortality to preserve and prolong their legacies. Given how rare Reishi is in the wild, for nearly 2000 years it was reserved for ordained royalty in China. Today, its cultivation is significantly more widespread, and we regular folks can now conveniently access its potent plant magic, too.
It has a variety of potential health benefits, including boosting the immune system and fighting cancer. Within the mushroom there are several molecules, including triterpenoids, polysaccharides and peptidoglycans, that may be responsible for its health effects.
Over the past several decades, dozens of different studies have been conducted in Japan, China, the US, and the UK demonstrating that Reishi mushrooms are capable of protecting us against numerous diseases and illnesses. Because they work as an “immune modulator,” Reishi can help restore hormonal balance, bring the body back to homeostasis, and regulate activity in the immune system to help it to fight tumors and cancerous cells. Additional research indicates that Reishi acts as a normalizing substance, regulating various cellular functions and systems, such as the endocrine (hormonal), immune, cardiovascular, central nervous, and digestive systems.
Some of the research has shown that Reishi may have an effect on white blood cells, which are critical for the immune system. These studies came to the conclusion that this mushroom may alter inflammation pathways in white blood cells.
There have been tests with cancer patients that have shown that some of the molecules found in Reishi can increase the activity of a type of white blood cell known as a natural killer cell. The purpose of these cells is to fight against infections and cancer in the body.
A different study related to colorectal cancer showed that with the effects of Reishi mushrooms, there is an increase in lymphocytes (another type of white blood cells). The studies have been conducted with people fighting different illnesses, but it is believed that Reishi can help others as well in maintaining and improving their health.
Sources:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/reishi-mushroom-benefits
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingzhi_(mushroom)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicinal_fungi
https://mushroomhealth.org/2020/11/16/reishi-the-popular-one/