I’m not the biggest fan of mushrooms. I can appreciate them in the sense they’re incredibly versatile and offer a multitude of benefits to those of us who consume them, but I just cannot get past their texture. I can do button mushrooms from time to time, but not the bigger, badder guys. Blagh.
Despite my reluctancy to eat mushrooms, I realize a lot of us do, in fact, enjoy ingesting them. So, when I read an article from The Good News Network detailing some different types of mushrooms and the benefits they provide, I thought I would share with all of you.
Reishi mushrooms
- “Studies have shown reishi mushrooms strengthen and improve the ‘competence’ of the immune system through their content of triterpenes. They can protect the liver, significantly inhibit all four types of allergic reactions, and activate immune cells, particularly ones which kill tumor cells, and invasive bacteria.
- “While it doesn’t demonstrate anti-senescence, lengthen telomeres, or boost NAD+ levels— hallmarks of the modern understanding of longevity—any one of the things it can ameliorate could just as easily end a life, so in a sense, the ‘mushroom of immortality’ earns its moniker.
Agarikon mushrooms:
- “Stamets is referring to a little-known mushroom called agarikon, which he has worked to protect in North America. He notes that ancient Greek physician Dioscorides actually described agarikon in his works, calling it the elixir of long life—particularly when used to treat tuberculosis.
- “Now Stamets believes that agarikon and the old-growth forests in which it thrives should be protected and cultivated for use as a public health remedy for coronaviruses, as well as other respiratory illnesses, due to its role as a potent immune system aid.
Chaga mushrooms
- “As fun to say as it is good for you, chaga has actually been extensively studied for use as a therapeutic intervention. Lacking only accreditation as a nootropic, mood regulator, or for other brain-related effects, there is one very important role which chaga can perform—as an inhibitor of DNA damage.
- “A South Korean study found that 40% less DNA damage was observed in human lymphocytes when treated with compounds brought about by the consumption of chaga. Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell, and one of the main immune cells.
Lion’s mane mushrooms
- “In a study from the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry that is close to receiving 100 citations, the authors note that they are sequestering a large and scattered body of literature to present the nutritional compounds and effects of the lion’s mane mushroom.
- “The reported benefits, according to the researchers, include, antibiotic, anticarcinogenic, antidiabetic, antifatigue, antihypertensive, antihyperlipodemic, antisenescence, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, nephroprotective, and neuroprotective properties and improvement of anxiety, cognitive function, and depression,'” the article explains.
I guess mushrooms are even better for us than I realized.
ontheedgeofeverything 