Ganoderma Lucidum or Reishi mushroom is also known as the “mushroom of immortality.” It can be found growing on the logs of deciduous trees such as maple, oak, plum, elm and even conifers throughout the world. It has the shape of a fan or a kidney and shows a colour between the shades of orange to red. While the top can be shiny and show any colours from reddish brown to purple, yellow, black, or blue, the bottom is generally white. Although considered edible, Reishi offers a rough texture and bitter taste due to the high concentration of triterpenes.

The origin of Reishi can be traced back to two thousand years when Chinese healers first mentioned its use and multitude of benefits in the texts written during the Han Dynasty. Reishi in the Chinese language is known as Lingzhi, referring to a combination of spiritual potency and the essence of immortality, representing success, well-being, great power, and longevity. Over the past centuries, we have found Reishi mushrooms growing across Europe, Asia, and North America while it is highly revered in China and has been utilised in Chinese traditional medicine for thousands of years.

Scientists have determined that Reishi mushrooms are beneficial for supporting longevity and wellness and are extremely abundant. This fungus contains over four hundred different bioactive compounds including triterpenoids, polysaccharides, nucleotides, sterols, steroids, fatty acids, proteins, peptides, and trace elements, which assist the body in numerous ways.

Reishi mushroom is a popular and rich source of numerous potential health benefits. It is known to boost the immune system, fight cancer cells, improve several body functions and promote wound healing due to the presence of triptanes. Moreover, Reishi mushroom contains triterpenes that can enhance mood, reduce anxiety, relieve depression, calm the mind, and alleviate stress. Besides these, there are several other advantages that one can obtain from using Reishi mushrooms. The Reishi mushroom is an excellent source of important minerals, vitamins (especially vitamin D and B-complex vitamins), amino acids, micronutrients, antioxidants, and protein, despite being non-animal-based.

The bioactive compounds in Reishi including polysaccharides, triterpenes and peptidoglycans are known to possess immunomodulatory properties, which help regulate immune responses, promoting a balanced and robust immune system. Reishi mushrooms are renowned adaptogens that can help your body adapt to stress and maintain overall homeostasis by enhancing resilience against physical, mental, and emotional stressors, promoting a sense of well-being and vitality. Reishi mushrooms are believed to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects that help protect the body against harmful free radicals, reduce oxidative stress and support overall cellular health.

Reishi mushrooms are known for their anti-inflammatory properties and potential cardiovascular benefits. They are also believed to promote mental and emotional well-being. Traditional beliefs suggest that Reishi mushrooms have the ability to calm the mind, enhance focus, and promote inner balance and tranquillity. Taoist monks in China used Reishi mushrooms to promote centred calmness, improve meditation, and attain a long and healthy life. Some of the benefits of Reishi Mushrooms include:

• Helps patients with health conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Cancer, diabetes.
• Used in anti-tumor drugs to prevent Cancer.
• Reishi mushrooms are adaptogens.
• Supportive for sleep and a restful mind
• Supportive of lung and respiratory health
• Maintains blood sugar levels.
• Supports immune system.
• Supportive of the lower urinary tract

It is essential to understand that although Reishi mushrooms have potential health benefits, their effects may differ from person to person. As with any natural remedy, it is recommended to seek advice from a healthcare professional before incorporating Reishi mushrooms into your wellness routine, especially if you have any underlying health conditions or are taking medications.

At Organic Mushrooms, we offer the goodness of Reishi mushrooms in the form of health supplements available as capsules, tinctures, supplement gummies and extract powder.

Despite a good meal, your body is devoid of essential nutrition in terms of vital minerals, vitamins and essential bioactive compounds

Imagine consuming a five-course meal with the best of appetizers, salad, main course and desserts. You spent a lot of money on the meal for the experience and liked it too, but your body is still searching for those essential vitamins and minerals critical for the proper functioning of your body. General meals (dine-out or home-cooked) provide you with the best proteins along with essential and non-essential fats that act as fuel for your body but mostly lack Vitamins A, B, C, D, E and K also important minerals like Iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium and more. In addition to essential minerals and vitamins, your body needs bioactive compounds to ensure the proper functioning of your body. Constant lack of bioactive compounds leads to issues in digestion, sleeping and skin while leading to an unhealthy heart, depression and anxiety among many other health issues.

According to general estimates, the human body’s biological ageing process is not steady and differs for everyone. There is generally a steady decline in muscle growth post the age of 30 and major changes can be felt around the ages of 34, 60, and 78. Metabolism tends to slow down as you get older contributing to weight gain, increasing the risk of health issues such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. Stress is another problem that adds to the overall deterioration of your body. Loss of muscle mass leads to fatigue and slows you down in day-to-day activities. As you age, the digestive system becomes less efficient at breaking down and absorbing nutrients from food. While older adults generally have lower calorie needs, but similar or even increased nutrient needs compared to younger adults. This is often due to less physical activity, changes in metabolism or age-related loss of bone and muscle mass all leading to an accelerating need for essential nutrition yet lesser ways to fill the nutritional gap in the body. This is where health supplements come in handy and help you take care of your overall health and wellness or target specific ailments and health issues.

In addition to providing essential nutrition, Organic Mushrooms health supplements are enriched with bioactive compounds that help in improving some of the vital functions of the average human body. Bioactive compounds possess antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties which offer a range of health benefits. You can look at Bioactive compounds as the extra-nutritional constituents that are found in small quantities in some superfoods providing health benefits beyond the basic nutritional value of the food item.

Functional mushrooms are an important source of Antioxidants, Beta-glucans, Prebiotics, Proteins, Fibre, Digestive enzymes and Bioactive compounds. While functional mushrooms have been used for centuries in terms of preventive healthcare, recent and ongoing studies have validated their properties that may boost immunity, energy levels, cognitive performance, sleep and gut health, while helping cope better with stress. Health supplements based on organic mushrooms do not have any side effects and incorporating them in your diet regime has multiple benefits. Here are some of the benefits of Organic Mushrooms health supplements:

• Help relieve depression and anxiety
• Improves gut health and aids in the digestion process
• Improves Heart Health
• Helps you achieve your Fitness Goals
• Preventive healthcare – prevent cancer cell growth
• Support and balance the body’s immune function
• Help in better cognition and restful sleep
• Help in controlling weight
• Improve your skin

Health supplements made by extracting the goodness of organic mushrooms are beneficial to supplement your overall health and wellness. Regular intake of health supplements can help fill the essential nutrition gap in your body and help you enhance your mind and body.

The type of fungi that offer adaptogenic and medicinal properties in addition to nutrition are categorized as functional mushrooms. The exact composition of bioactive compounds and specific benefits for the human body differ for each mushroom type. What makes each mushroom type unique is also the shape and where it grows in nature. Let us look at some functional mushrooms and how to spot them in their natural habitat.

Hericium Erinaceus commonly known as Lion’s Mane is a functional mushroom that has the appearance of a white spherical fungi with long shaggy spines, resembling an actual Lion’s Mane. If you are walking the untouched jungles of Asia, Europe and North America, there is a possibility you might find Lion’s Mane growing on hardwood trees such as birch, maple, oak, walnut and sycamore. A lion’s Mane is easy to identify with its white colour and snowball-like shape from which the spines of the Manes grow out. Though Lion’s Mane is an edible mushroom it has a mild and slightly sweet flavour similar to that of seafood and its size can range anywhere between a softball to a volleyball.

Cordyceps Sinensis or Ophiocordyceps sinensis, commonly known as caterpillar fungus, is a rare combination of a caterpillar and a fungus found at high altitudes.  The term cordyceps comes from Latin words meaning club and head.

Walking through the wild, you can see these mushrooms grow as parasites on insects. The base of the mushrooms originates from an insect larva as its host and usually shows indistinct light yellow or yellowish-brown colour with pitchy stripes and abundant hyphae.

Cordyceps Sinensis has been described as an exotic medicinal mushroom and has been used for centuries in traditional Chinese and Tibetan medicine.

Ganoderma lucidum or Reishi mushrooms is also known as the “mushroom of immortality”. It can be found growing on the logs of deciduous trees such as maple, oak, plum, elm and even conifers throughout the world. It has the shape of a fan or a kidney and shows a colour between the shades of orange to red. While the top can be shiny and show any colours from reddish brown to purple, yellow, black or blue, the bottom is generally white. Although considered edible, Reishi offers a rough texture and bitter taste due to the high concentration of triterpenes.

Lentinus edodes or Shiitake mushrooms can be seen growing on the hardwood surfaces of oak, maple, and ironwood trees. These mushrooms have twisted stems and umbrella-shaped, tan to brown caps with the edges rolling inwards. While the cap offers a shade of brown, the underside and stems are generally white in colour. Shiitake was probably the first mushroom cultivated by humans for mass use. Considered edible, Shiitake mushrooms offer an earthy, smoky flavour and a soft meaty flavour when cooked. It is widely used in cooking as it is also high in protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals in addition to its bioactive compounds.

Inonotus obliquus commonly known as Chaga and referred to as “the king of the medicinal mushrooms,” grows as as a black, charcoal-like mass (called a conk) with a woody, rusty-brown interior generally protruding out of the bark of birch trees. It is generally found growing on white and yellow birch trees in cold climates in Siberia, Alaska and northern Canada. Chaga is a polypore fungus characterized by having numerous pores instead of a typical laminar gill structure. The average size of a fully grown Chaga mushroom is 15 to 20 inches and they can also grow larger. Although considered edible, Chaga has an earthy, bitter flavour just like its exterior.

Trametes versicolor or Turkey Tail Mushroom is a fungus in the shape of semi-circular caps that typically grows on decomposing trees of oak, white birch and maple trees, sometimes even conifers in forests across Asia, North America and Europe. The Turkey tail caps are thin yet tough and showcase velvety concentric rings in multiple colours varying between yellow, grey, purple, green, brown or black. The mushroom finds its name from the colours which generally resemble turkey’s feathers. Although classified as an edible mushroom, Turkey Tail has an extremely bitter taste and a chewy texture.

Next time, you are out in the wild, keep an eye out for these functional mushrooms.

Mushrooms are a rich source of bioactive compounds such as polysaccharides, peptides, proteins, terpenoids and phenolic compounds which offer a multitude of benefits such as restricting bad bacteria and viruses, strengthening immunity, preventing and delaying cell damage and lowering bad cholesterol etc. These bioactive compounds are found in functional mushrooms which are less palatable due to their taste and texture. Different types of extraction methods are used for the extraction of bioactive compounds from Organic Mushrooms’ fruiting bodies and are used to make health supplements that offer direct and specific benefits to the individual.

Through the ages, the extraction process has evolved and we can separate the non-edible and non-functional components from the fruiting body and extract the beneficial bioactive compounds. Look at it as a way more sophisticated mining process to extract valuable minerals from the rock. Extraction is vital in the case of functional mushrooms as not all components of the fruiting body are edible and digestible by the human body.

The body needs bioactive compounds for their variety of health benefits and the same can be extracted by treating the mushrooms through hot water, alcohol or both known commonly as double and triple extraction methods. In the case of hot water extraction, the fruiting bodies of mushrooms are boiled in a pot of water at high and low temperatures for a specific period. A common example can be boiling the fruiting bodies in water at a temperature of 140 degrees for 40 minutes and then letting it rest to collect the bioactive compounds at the bottom of the pot as residue to achieve the best results. Various practices around the world follow different boiling temperatures and times ranging between 30 minutes to 2 days. After the boiling process, the fruiting bodies of the mushrooms are discarded and only the mushrooms infused water is kept. Polysaccharides called Beta-glucans are extracted using the hot-water extraction process.

Some of the components of a fruiting body are not soluble in water and require extraction using alcohol. For the alcohol extraction process, the fruiting bodies of mushrooms are soaked in food-grade alcohol for anywhere between one to six weeks. The alcohol extraction method is particularly useful in cases of functional mushrooms such as Chaga and Reishi and helps unlock bioactive compounds such as Terpenoids, Triterpenoids, Ergosterols, Sterols, Phenolics and Inositols. Alcohol extraction may not work well for compounds that are not soluble in alcohol and that is the reason why sometimes both alcohol and hot water together (known as the double extraction method) are used.

A double extraction method involves using both alcohol and water to extract the full spectrum of bioactive compounds, especially from functional mushrooms like Chaga, Cordyceps, Turkey Tail and Reishi. This is however an elaborate and diligent process and differs for different mushroom types. Whether the fruiting bodies will go through water or alcohol first differs for each mushroom type like the duration and temperature range to ensure that the bioactive components are extracted in the best possible manner and have a longer shelf life.

There is also a triple extraction process in which the fruiting bodies of the mushrooms are first fermented and then double extracted or first treated through water, then alcohol and lastly heat to further improve bioavailability and potency. Once you get the extracted liquid, it is further treated to take the water solvent out of the extracts leaving behind a potent and fine extract powder that is also used in capsules.

One of the most important bioactive compounds called Beta-glucans helps in lowering bad cholesterol, improving heart health and digestion. A higher concentration of Bet-glucans in the health supplements is beneficial. A lab test of our health supplements by a third party reveals that the quantity of Beta-glucans differs in all mushroom types and varies between 8% to 30% of the mushroom extracts. For Lion’s Mane, Turkey Tail and Shiitake, it is always over 30% Beta-glucans. For Cordyceps and Reishi, Beta-glucans composition stands at 25% while it is at least 8% for the revered Chaga mushroom extract. Our flagship Daily VitaMush offers over 20% Beta-glucans in the blended natural mushroom extracts.

Organic Mushrooms offers the goodness of revered mushroom types such as Lion’s Mane, Cordyceps, Chaga, Turkey Tail, Reishi, Shiitake and our flagship VitaMush (a combination of 5 potent medicinal mushrooms) through 100% organic, non-GMO and gluten-free health supplements made in Canada from start to finish. You can order health supplements and wellness bundles in the form of capsules, gummies, tinctures, extract powder or even dried mushrooms.