4 Mushrooms You Need To Know

When you stop to think about it, mushrooms are remarkable. They’re closer to animals than plants on the tree of life. They can break down plastic and petroleum. The single largest organism on the planet is an underground honey fungus spanning almost 3 miles in the the state of Oregon. They carry messages along their underground fungal networks using neurotransmitters that are very similar to the ones our brains use. They’re a kind of “forest internet” which plants and trees use to communicate with each other. They’re delicious. And, as it turns out, they possess and confer some very impressive health and therapeutic effects. Several years ago, I highlighted the culinary varieties and explored their considerable health benefits . Go read that, then come back here because I’m going to talk about the different types of adaptogenic mushrooms today. These are the real heavy hitters, the ones that appear to supercharge immune systems, stimulate neuronal growth, improve memory and focus, pacify the anxious mind, increase the libido, and enhance sleep quality. Let’s go through the most important adaptogenic mushrooms and the evidence for each. I’ll primarily stick to human studies, but may relay some animal studies if they seem relevant. Reishi Reishi has been used in traditional Asian medicine for hundreds of years to treat diseases of the immune system. (Reishi is its Japanese name; in China, it’s called lingzhi and in Korea, it’s yeongji.) Other folk uses include all the regular stuff you expect—aches, pains, allergies, “qi”—but the majority of modern clinical evidence focuses on immunity, cancer, and inflammation. But the interesting thing to remember is that inflammation figures into pretty much every modern ailment. Even conditions like depression and anxiety are often characterized by a surplus of systemic inflammation. If reishi can soothe the inflammation, it could […]

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