Mushrooms possess both nutritional and medicinal values. While there are numerous mushroom benefits, you shouldn’t take these fungi in their raw form since many of them are known to be poisonous. You can now get the mushroom supplements benefits in different medicinal mushroom powder forms or even in capsule forms.
Mushroom supplements help reduce cardiovascular disease risks, boost the immune system, and prepare the body to fight against toxins, free radicals, and mutagens. Read the entire piece to know about different mushroom extract benefits in detail.
How Do Mushroom Supplements Work?
Mushroom supplements are available in powder, liquid and capsule forms. Mushroom contains a component called polysaccharide, which is known to help improve body immunity. There are mushroom supplements for cancer that are often prescribed by the doctors.
Mushroom has minerals, folate, niacin, and vitamins B1, B2, B12, C, D, and E. Also, mushrooms are one of the few natural vitamin D sources. All mushroom supplements have beta-glucans in them that not only help improve the immune system but also help fight against inflammation. Mushroom has an enzyme called aromatase that fights off different hormone-related cancers. Mushroom supplements also have a lectin compound that prevents cancer cells from branching out.
Benefits of Mushroom Supplements
There are many mushroom health benefits and different mushrooms produce different effects on the body. The most common types of mushrooms used in the supplements are:
- Chaga
- Turkey Tail
- Reishi
- Shiitake
- Cordyceps
- Lion’s Mane
- Button Mushroom
The mushroom supplements benefits are discussed in the following section.
1. Works as an Antioxidant Enhancer
Free radicals injure the structures in the body cells, causing several health issues like aging. Mushrooms have ingredients that help reduce the adverse effects of free radicals. Supplements with reishi mushroom neutralize this kind of radical activities in the body and they, furthermore, fortify and calm the mind and the body. Supplements with Chaga compounds are great for their antioxidant properties. They, too, hunt down the free radicals.
The polysaccharides in the Cordyceps supplements help enhance the antioxidation process and thus save our bodies from immunosuppression. They improve the total antioxidant capacity in the body.
The white mushroom health benefits are also many. They contain vitamins phosphorus, copper, B2 and B5. They not only contribute to the skeletal health but they also fight oxidation. Thus, they save the body from genetic mutations and protect cell membranes.
2. Strengthens the Immune System
Our immune system works overtime to clear the debris out of our body, to defend our body from cancer cells, and to allow our body to function in a healthy way. The immune system is highly complex and it begins to work less effectively with age since it wears down slowly.
There are mushroom supplements for the immune system that help enhance the activities and the components of the immune system. They prepare the immune cells to work more effectively, so they can respond better to different attacks and infections. A Chaga supplement increases the macrophages in the body. Macrophages are the white blood immune cells in the body that eat away the debris from the cells, unfamiliar substances, cancer cells, and any unhealthy component that might hurt the immune system.
Getting Chaga mushroom supplements for 24 consecutive days increases the number of white blood cells in the bone marrow. These protective cells actually help build up a stronger immune system.
There are also organic reishi mushroom capsules that help increase the production rate of the natural killer cells and other immune system components. The killer cells eliminate the cancer cells and the virus-infected cells inside the body. Reishi mushroom is known as the mushroom of immortality.
The Shiitake supplements contain Lentinan, a type of polysaccharide. Lentinan is an immunopotentiator that improves the quality and extends the span of life. Consuming Shiitake supplements for four weeks will increase both the number and the effectiveness of the natural killer cells and the T immune cells in your body. You’ll have a far better immune system and lesser chances of inflammation if you take Shiitake supplements regularly for one month.
3. Maintains Blood Sugar Level
Mushroom supplements are also able to maintain your blood sugar at a safe level. The Cordyceps supplements help to attain this balance in the blood sugar levels. These supplements are proven to show potent hypoglycemic activity in diabetic mice. They also reduce the plasma glucose level, thus maintaining a perfect glucose level in the body.
The Cordyceps supplements also contribute to maintaining balanced cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The polysaccharide in the mushroom lowers the levels of cholesterol and triglyceride, thus offering a healthy balance to the body.
Diabetes eventually causes diabetes nephropathy. This devastating complication primarily causes kidney malfunction and eventually, it leads to kidney failure. Cordyceps supplements reduce the glucose levels in the blood and the markers for kidney breakdown and protect the renal function in the body.
4. Helps Improving Brain Health
Very popular traditional Chinese medicine, Lion’s Mane is a mushroom with a ball shape and has spines that look like icicles. The mushroom nutrition protein is more than 20% in the Lion’s Mane supplements. The components of these supplements activate the NGF (Nerve Growth Factor) inside the brain. NGF works for the maintenance and growth of the neurons.
The Lion’s Mane supplements trigger re-myelination in the neurons by stimulating and regrowing them. This keeps the neurons healthy since they can conduct the electrical signals among them more efficiently. Lion’s Mane supplements also help increase the cognitive function in mildly cognitive impaired persons. But you’ll get results only insofar as you don’t stop taking them.
As people age, they are more prone to losing long-term and visual recognition memory. The Lion’s Mane supplements prevent the breakdown of these memories and help delay the beginning of cognitive dysfunction.
5. Enhances the Exercise Performance
Mushrooms do not only help you live a longer life but they also ensure a better and quality life for you. The Cordyceps supplements dilate the aorta, which is responsible for supplying oxygenated blood to the circulatory system of the body. Thus, these supplements greatly increase the blood flow and endurance in the body.
The Cordyceps supplements also invigorate the Adenosine Triphosphate production in the cells. ATP is known as the energy currency of the body. An increase in the ATP production also leads to greater stamina while performing exercises.
6. Maintains a Lower Stress Level
Since Reishi is an adaptogen, Reishi supplements greatly help in balancing, restoring, and protecting the body. They enhance the body’s capacity to deal with stress more successfully by resisting the unwelcoming consequences of stress. These supplements deploy a tonic influence on the body that normalizes the body function. This effect reduces anxiety, chronic stress, hypertension, and insomnia. Reishi and Cordyceps supplements also help protect the equilibrium in the body.
7. Protects the Body from Stroke and Heart Diseases
Reishi mushroom contains ganoderic acids and other bioactive components like coumarin, polysaccharides and mannitol. These components help
- Maintain a good cholesterol level
- Maintain good triglyceride levels
- Prevent blood clots that may lead to strokes and heart attacks
- Correct the abnormal rhythms in the heart
- Maintain a good blood pressure level
8. Helps the Body from Cold, Allergy and Arthritis
Turkey Tail mushroom supplements are used for treating cold and flu. They also aid in improving the digestive system of the body and healing different infections. The polysaccharides and the triterpenes in Turkey Tail help maintain a good immune system by stimulating the formation of the antibody.
Turkey Tail supplements also contain PSK and PSP – two beta-glucans that are quite unique. PSK is used for treating cancer patients. Both PSP and PSK help rejuvenate white blood cells, and trigger the creation and the effectiveness of the T-cells, killer cells and macrophages. Thus, they constantly fight against different types of infections caused by the pathogens.
Reishi supplements also work against arthritis, help reduce inflammation and relieve pain. They also have mind-calming compounds that help in improving memory and focus.
Side Effects of Mushroom Supplements
The side effects of mushroom supplements may occur due to their components. However, mushroom powder supplements often have refined ingredients and the mushroom powder benefits trump the harmful effects of mushroom in every way. Here are some commonly seen side effects of the mushroom supplements:
- Stomach upset/ bad digestive system
- Taking too much Reishi powder can cause toxic effects in the liver
- Can cause dry mouth and throat
- Itchiness
- Nosebleed
- Blood with stool
- Rashes
- Allergies
If you get to experience any of the above-mentioned symptoms while you’re taking a mushroom supplement, contact your doctor immediately. Know everything about mushroom health benefits and side effects, and then decide for yourself which one is suitable for you.
To conclude, the benefits of mushroom supplements are many and you can be your best version by taking these supplements on a regular basis. They help in healing, recharging, and maintaining your body for a healthier you. The numerous mushroom supplements benefits have only recently been noticed due to their availability. You shouldn’t take mushrooms raw even if they’re cultivated and that’s where the supplements come in to fulfill your mushroom intake.
