In traditional Japanese and Chinese medicine, Reishi is one of the best known medicinal mushrooms for its many health benefits.
This mushroom has been used for medicinal purposes for over 1000 years.
In this article, we look at the benefits of reishi and the scientific studies that have been conducted on it.
Reishi
Reishi has many names: Ganoderma lucidum is the best known.
It is also called Ling Zhi, Luminous Polypore...
The name "reishi" is given to mushrooms of the Ganoderma type.
Here we will focus on red reishi.
It is a Chinese mushroom that grows on plum and oak trees between the months of June and November.
Its cap can reach thirty centimetres in diameter.
Reishi belongs to the Ganodermaceae family.
Reishi is now produced in China and in Asian products.
It is used in traditional medicine to prevent and treat various diseases.
In Asia, Reishi is considered the mushroom of long life.
The composition of Reishi
Reishi is composed of various alkaloids, glycoproteins and polysaccharides.
It also contains heteroglycans, hyperoxidised triterpenes and sterols.
These sterols include lysine, provitamin D2, nucleosides, fatty acids and steroids.
Finally, there is a specific type of mushroom called adenosine.
It is this set of active ingredients and components that we owe the many benefits of reishi.
In addition, this exceptional mushroom also contains high levels of RNA (fights viral diseases), oleic acid and LZ-8 proteins.
It is known for its immunomodulatory effects.
Finally, we can also mention the presence of vitamins, minerals and pantothenic acid in the composition of Reishi.
These include iron, phosphorus, calcium, vitamin C, vitamin D and B vitamins.
Reishi indications
Reishi is generally indicated for pain, myopathy and allergic conditions.
It can also be taken for high blood pressure, heart failure and arteritis.
In herbal medicine, Reishi can be used to accompany oncological treatments, to treat central neurological disorders, to combat immunosuppression and AIDS...
The uses of this mushroom are as numerous as its virtues.
It is often used against mental and physical asthenia, diabetes and plethoric conditions.
Reishi benefits
Reishi is used as part of a Chinese preparation to help patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
In this context, it is associated with other traditional plants.
After several weeks of treatment, many patients experience relief from joint pain.
Taking reishi can provide real relief from the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that affects a large number of people worldwide.
This disease affects the joints.
Scientists claim that the polysaccharides in the mushroom help to relieve the pain it causes.
Several clinical trials are investigating the benefits of reishi in cardiovascular protection.
Some of them show positive results: they are beneficial at the cardiovascular level.
People suffering from coronary heart disease can use reishi treatment to relieve their symptoms: shortness of breath, palpitations, chest pain, etc.
Other researchers have observed the same hypotensive effect of reishi in patients with high blood pressure.
The mushroom also seems to affect patients' cholesterol levels and blood pressure.
In the 1990s, a clinical study in healthy people with atherosclerosis concluded that reishi helped to inhibit platelet aggregation in both cases.
However, a second study published fifteen years later invalidated these conclusions, stating that this effect was only observed in healthy people.
Research is continuing in this area.
Its benefits against cancer
In recent years, there has been a proliferation of studies looking at the possible use of reishi in the treatment of cancer.
Traditional Chinese medicine has been using it for centuries, and research is looking at the effects of the substances in this mushroom.
Researchers are particularly interested in the triterpenes and polysaccharides.
They could inhibit the growth of tumours, but that is not all.
These molecules also block the spread of tumours in the body: a phenomenon known as metastasis.
The anti-cancer effects of reishi have been observed in prostate and breast cancer.
However, more research is needed in this area.
It should also be noted that the mushroom helps to improve the quality of life of cancer patients.
Its use helps to strengthen the immune system against diseases.
This can be weakened by radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
In traditional Chinese medicine, reishi is known and used for its ability to stimulate the immune system.
So far, observations in immunocompromised patients, such as cancer patients, tend to support this.
Other studies have focused on healthy people.
They also confirm a possible ability of the mushroom to modulate immunity.
Reishi seems to change the ratio of certain immune cells to help the immune system regulate itself.
It should also be noted that Reishi has antiviral properties, especially in herpes labialis and genital herpes.
As a natural painkiller, it helps reduce pain of all kinds.
Reishi's ability to strengthen intestinal immunity is also worth mentioning, thanks to its effects on molecules that have antimicrobial activity.
A hepatoprotective mushroom
Reishi has hepatoprotective properties: it prevents the increase of alkaline phosphatases and the increase of transaminases.
It thus helps to support the liver in its work and protect it from the many conditions that can affect it.
Red Reishi extract is highly sought after for its hepatoprotective properties.
Reishi's other benefits
In China, studies have shown that reishi is effective in relieving the symptoms of neurasthenic patients. The latter suffer from chronic fatigue.
Proteinuria
Proteinuria is the excess of protein in the urine.
Studies in this chapter show that diabetics with severe kidney disease can use reishi to reduce proteinuria.
Researchers have tried to determine the effectiveness of this mushroom in treating asthma.
The results are considered satisfactory enough to warrant further research and clinical trials.
Reishi is very likely to have antidepressant properties, as well as interesting neuroprotective effects.
It supports and regenerates the neural transmission network.
As an important antioxidant, it also helps to protect the body's cells from the damaging effects of free radicals.
Contraindications
Although the benefits of reishi are many, this mushroom remains contraindicated for pregnant and breastfeeding women.
It should therefore be avoided in these specific cases.
Similarly, people on immunosuppressants or transplant recipients should avoid this mushroom.
As a potent CYP3A4 inhibitor, reishi is completely incompatible with targeted therapies and protein tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
In fact, it may have the effect of increasing plasma levels.
In theory, the effects of reishi can be added to those of plants, supplements and drugs that have antiplatelet, anticoagulant, immunomodulatory and hypotensive effects.
Therefore, it should be used with extreme caution when not used alone.
Due to the possible anticoagulant effect of reishi, it should not be used in cases of thrombocytopenia, or before childbirth or surgery.
Finally, as it may lower blood pressure, reishi should be avoided by people with low blood pressure.
Side effects
Side effects of reishi are rare.
However, they may include dry mouth, diarrhoea, nosebleeds and itching.
If these symptoms occur, stop taking Reishi.
If they persist, consult a healthcare professional.
Reishi forms
Reishi can resemble many other mushrooms, such as the fleshy Ganoderma (Ganoderma carnosum).
The latter is found under trees, which reishi is not.
It can also resemble the Valais ganoderma (Ganoderma valesiacum), which is found under larch trees.
It is important to distinguish between these different fungi.
It is also important to know that reishi is available in the form of capsules, tablets and extracts.
Ideally, you should choose a mushroom from Asia that has been cultivated under conditions that respect nature.
In fact, it is extremely rare in nature, due to its success, but also due to its endemic habitat.
Reishi grows only in mountainous forests, on the trunks of rotting plum trees.
Only two or three trunks of several thousand dead plum trees contain Reishi.
We must therefore resort to production that respects nature and tradition.
Buy your reishi products from reliable sellers who have passed strict controls.
They must therefore meet European and Portuguese standards.