Most effective ways to prepare medicinal mushrooms?

[ms_manic_minxx]

I'm about to go full badger badger with Reishi and Cordyceps. Does anyone know the best way to prepare/consume medicinal shrooms?

Tea? Tea with lemon? Eaten plain? Boofed? I will do whatever it takes for some sweet polysaccharides. I'm looking at powders, slices, and whole mushrooms for sale.

Bonus content: pubmed study about five different medicinal mushrooms.

Immune Modulation From Five Major Mushrooms: Application to Integrative Oncology

This review discusses the immunological roles of 5 major mushrooms in oncology: Agaricus blazei, Cordyceps sinensis, Grifola frondosa, Ganoderma lucidum, and Trametes versicolor. These mushrooms were selected based on the body of research performed on ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Jozeh]

Hi ms_manic_minxx,

A great study you found there, bookmarked for future reference. I haven't yet got round to looking in to Reishi or Cordyceps. From my readings in Lions mane mushrooms it is a bit more trickier than just the preparation. Sometimes companies selling these supplements aren't as honest as you would hope for the claims they make/link to.

For example some of the more potent active constituents are found in the mycelium (Erinacines for lions mane) and some times the goodies are found in higher quantities in the fruiting bodies (Psilocybin in psilocybin mushrooms). Further to this each compound will require a certain extraction method (which I'm glad to see, your linked study details) based on its solubility in different solvents. i.e no point having a water extract on an alcohol soluble compound.

I wouldn't purchase any product that does not list 3 things:
1) if it is fruiting body or mycelium, or both.
2) if it is water or alcohol extract, or both.
3) and the beta-glucan content of the product. (beta glucans are a constituent of the cell walls of fungi, alpha glucans will be simple sugars the mycelium has been grown on, the higher the beta-glucan percentage the more fungi cells and more active constituents in your product.)

If you are to eat whole mushrooms I would try to increase surface area (powdering) as much as possible. I briefly touched upon consuming powdered mushrooms with a source of chitinase, to further increase the bioavailability of powdered mushrooms.

Great thread, these two mushrooms are definitely on my radar

The Truth Behind Polysaccharides in Medicinal Mushrooms

Find out why polysaccharides are a poor measurement of quality and why many of these polysaccharides may actually be coming from grains.

www.realmushrooms.com

 

[doodlekid]

For chaga I use this extraction route:

First grind the pieces into powder.

Put the powder in 96% or 98% ethanol (whatever you have but must be 95+). For a month, shake daily.

After this decant the ethanol and use a cloth to squeeze out the remainder from the mass. Put it away.

This mass is now going to be steeped in water and heated au-bain-marie. Until the whole setup starts to jump (from the reaming alcohol in there). Try to keep it going by stirring, it will jump if don't do this (if you don't know what I mean, you will understand).

It doesn't have to boil since 1 month of pure ethanol has sufficiently attacked the cell structure. An hour max but 20 min seems to be enough.

After this combine the alcohol, water and mass. Put it in a closed jar and let it sit for another month or so. Shake daily.

This way you get a dual extract (both water soluble and fat soluble parts). Without destroying too much of the good stuff by heat.

The amounts of water and ethanol need to come down to about 50/50. I don't have a clear method for this, usually I get it right between 40% to 60% alcohol in the end result.

Leave it in the solution for bio availability seems to be best in a solution. Drop some of this in your chaga tea or in water.

 

[slane]

For reishi I prefer to use dried slices, broken up into 1-2 inch long pieces and simmered for approximately 2h. The tea is finished when the mushrooms sink down to the bottom of the vessel.

The resulting tea is woody to say the least, but seems to be more immediately invigorating than other supplementation modes that don't involve the extended cook time.

 

[Wolfnippletip]

I take a mix of mushroom extract powders (Cordyceps, Maitaki, Lion's Mane, Chaga, Reishi, Turkey Tails) daily. I mix the extract powders, add to almond milk in a water bottle and shake well.