Health Benefits of Reishi Mushroom Extract

Reishi functional mushroom extract capsules - grown in the UK by Mushroom Culture

Reishi Mushroom Background

Reishi (Ganoderma lucidium) is one of the most valuable mushrooms in Traditional Chinese Medicine and has been used for thousands of years across Asia (1). Reishi translates as the “divine mushroom of immortality”. Reishi contributes to well-being in numerous ways, including: reduced stress and fatigue, improved sleep, reduced anxiety and depression, improved metabolic function, healthier gut microbiome and an alleviation of inflammation.

Key compounds found in Reishi

The important physiologically active components found in Reishi are polysaccharides (water soluble), triterpenoids (alcohol soluble). Reishi also contains glycopeptides, polyphenols and phenolic acids (2) which convey health benefits.

Over 150 triterpenoids have been found in Reishi, the diverse range in these health promoting compounds demonstrates Reishi’s usefulness (3).

Reishi is also rich in fibre and minerals such as potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, selenium, iron, zinc and copper (4).

What are the benefits of taking Reishi mushroom extract?

Enhanced sleep and relaxation
Healthier metabolism
Reduced fatigue
Improved mental well-being
Improve Liver and Kidney health

These key benefits of Reishi extract are explained further below, describing how they work along with the relevant studies.

Sleep and relaxation

Reishi is known for improving sleep quality and enhancing relaxation and has been used in China to help with insomnia and restlessness for many years. Studies in the U.S show 15-35% of adults suffer from sleep issues (5) and, even for those that don’t, we always feel better after a restful night's sleep, which Reishi can help achieve.

So, how does Reishi work to improve sleep?

Reishi works to improve sleep in three main ways:

Increased the amount of sleep promoting neurotransmitter 5HTP
Increased amounts of good gut bacteria (Bifidiobacterium) which have been associated with improved sleep
Reduced amount of lipopolysacchardie (LPS) in blood (People with sleep apnea tend to have elevated levels of LPS) (6).

A recent animal study found that mice taking Reishi mycelium alcohol extract had longer sleep times and managed to fall asleep faster. Researchers noted that the alcohol extract of Reishi seemed to be better than that of the water extract for improving sleep (7).

Improved metabolism

Another benefit of taking Reishi is that it can help improve metabolic function.

How does Reishi improve metabolism?

Reishi encourages growth of beneficial gut microbes (e.g bifidiobacterium) while suppressing growth of harmful varieties (e.g proteobacteria)
Reishi can improve blood glucose regulation and insulin resistance

This animal study found that Reishi mycelium extracts reduced obesity in mice. The effect was mainly due to Reishi improving the microbiome. The mice taking Reishi extract also experienced health improvements as they were shown to have reduced inflammation, less insulin resistance and lower levels of fatty acids in the blood than others in the experiment. The researchers credited high molecular weight polysaccharides (obtained from hot water extract) to be the cause of this beneficial effect as these compounds act as prebiotic agents (8). Reishi’s support of good bacteria such as Bifidiobacterium is important as these microbes are responsible for internal B-Vitamin production, help produce antioxidants and aid normal metabolism (9).

(This demonstrates the importance of using separate mushroom material for the hot water and alcohol extract processes as, hot water extract encourages extraction of these high molecular weight polysaccharides whereas alcohol extraction can damage high molecular weight polysaccharides but can extract other important, unique compounds such as terpenes (10)

This review of many scientific studies demonstrated Reishi extracts can help lower and stabilize blood glucose levels by improving metabolic function (11).

Reduced fatigue from Reishi

Reishi is credited for improving relaxation and sleep, this can help with fatigue levels during the day. In this study investigating the use of a Reishi extract blend (also containing smaller amounts of cordyceps and Turkey Tail) for people with chronic fatigue syndrome, people took a reasonable dose of 5.4g of Reishi extract blend per day for 8 weeks. People were assessed using the well-established Clinical Global Impressions (CGI) scale. Results demonstrated Reishi extract was significantly superior to placebo for improving fatigue and well-being scores. In this study, they also noted that the supplement was well tolerated in the 123 participants (12).

Animal studies in otherwise healthy mice demonstrated reduced fatigue in those taking Reishi compared to those that were not. The mice taking Reishi extract were able to swim for longer and tests showed they had less lactic acid build up. This demonstrates Reishi could be useful for improving exercise performance (13).

Improved mental well-being

The above mentioned benefits of Reishi including; improved sleep and relaxation, improved metabolism and gut health as well as reduced fatigue can all lead to improvements in mental well-being. Alongside these indirect benefits, Reishi extracts can directly improve mood and mental well-being in a number of ways:

Reishi can increase the amount of the serotonin precursor (5HTP) - enabling our bodies to make more serotonin (depleted serotonin levels are common in those experiencing mood disorders) (7)
Reishi extract can also improve inflammation in the brain which can improve anxiety and depression (14) , (15)
Reishi extract has been found to increase Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) levels - this encourages the growth of new neurons and improves brain functioning (16)

There are a number of studies that demonstrate Reishi extracts positive effect on mood and mental well-being. In this study of woman with fibromyalgia, those taking 6g per day of Reishi had a distinct trend of improved levels of happiness, life satisfaction and reduced depression (17).

Many animal studies have found improved mental well-being from taking Reishi. Interestingly, these studies often use different parts of the mushroom and different extraction methods yet find promising results, this suggests each part of the mushroom (mycelium and fruit body) are important and both alcohol and hot water extract draw out unique beneficial compounds.

Using a hot water extract of Reishi mycelium, antidepressant-like effects were seen in rats and the animals had a reduction in stress induced anxiety compared to the control group. The beneficial effects on mood were credited to Reishi mycelium extract’s interaction with serotonin receptors (18). Other studies (in mice) found fairly high doses of Reishi extract (equivalent to 12-18g in humans) reduced anxiety levels comparable to diazipam (a commonly used pharmaceutical anti-anxiety drug) (19). Another study used an alcohol extract of Reishi fruit body high in triterpenoids. They studied Reishi’s ability to improve anxiety and depression symptoms in mice that had undergone a stressful event early in life. The study found improvement in depression-like behaviours (measuring by things like grooming behaviour and nest building activity). Supplementing with Reishi extract also improved anxiety scores for mice - measured by how adventurous they are in a commonly used maze test (20).

Improved liver and kidney health

Reishi has long been thought to improve the health of important organs in the body, now there are many scientific studies demonstrating Reishi’s ability to improve liver and kidney health and function.

The benefits to liver health caused by Reishi are mostly due to the triterpenoids found in the mushroom. Reishi extracts improve liver health in several ways:

Reduce oxidative stress in the liver
Alleviates inflammation in the liver (21)
Reduce the amount of collagen deposited at the liver (These connective tissues accumulate in liver fibrosis disease) (22)

Reishi extract can be useful to detoxify the liver - this helps prevent and protect the liver from alcohol induced damage (23).

Reishi also plays a significant role in preventing and treating various kidney diseases (24).

Safety

Reishi mushroom has a long history of use dating back 2000 years demonstrating it is a tried and testing natural remedy. This study demonstrated no adverse effects from taking 2g Reishi extract for 10 days (25). And a study mentioned earlier in the report found Reishi was well tolerated in all 123 study participants (12). This recent review of Reishi found that, at appropriate doses, the mushroom extract does not trigger toxicity, side effects, or pose safety problems for individuals (26).

What is the extraction process?

In order to obtain the health benefits of functional compounds in mushrooms, some treatments are needed to make these substances available for our bodies. Mushroom cell walls contain chitin (which also makes up insect exoskeletons). Chitin can’t be easily broken down by our bodies. Eating raw mushrooms isn’t recommended and can cause stomach upset. In order to make the mushroom extract, fruit bodies and mycelium undergo a two part extraction using alcohol as well as hot water. This treatment helps break down the tough chitin in the cell wall.

The use of alcohol and hot water allows maximum extraction of beneficial compounds - Reishi mushrooms contain a wide range of beneficial compounds - some of which are water soluble while others won’t dissolve in water but dissolve readily into alcohol. The water and alcohol are then evaporated off, and the remaining powder is ready to be used or made into capsules for easy consumption. Learn more about our extraction process here.

Conclusion

Evidence from the scientific literature supports the safe use of Reishi mushroom extracts to treat a number of ailments and in promoting general health and well-being. There has been a lot of research into Reishi as a functional mushroom but more human clincal trials are needed to increase our knowledge . Taking Reishi mushroom extract regularly appears to be a great way to improve sleep and relaxation, enhance our metabolism and microbiome, reduce fatigue, improve mental well-being and improve liver and kidney health . Check out our Reishi Extract Capsules and Reishi Extract Powders to enjoy the benefits!