19/11/2025
Reishi: The “Tree of Life” Mushroom 🎑
Reishi is the global favourite in the world of functional mushrooms - and for good reason. Immersed in traditional wisdom and now at the forefront of scientific research, it has a lot to offer.
🌏Used for over 4,000 years in China, Japan, and Korea, Reishi has been revered in Traditional Chinese Medicine for its warming, nourishing, and detoxifying qualities. It’s believed to calm the spirit, strengthen the heart and lungs, boost vitality, and even lengthen the lifespan—earning it the title “the mushroom of immortality.”
🔬 Modern research over the past 70 years has uncovered why: Reishi** is rich in polysaccharides and triterpenoids (over 130 identified so far), among other beneficial active compounds, giving it a wide range of potential health benefits, including:
🛡️ Immune modulation
🎯 Anti-tumor activity
🌱 Anti-inflammatory effects
✨ Antioxidant support
🚫 Inhibition of viral growth
❤️ Cardiovascular & respiratory health support
😌 Relief from anxiety, insomnia & depression
⚡ Improved energy & vitality
And many, many more.
🧬Because Reishi’s cell walls are composed of chitin—a tough, fibrous material—the beneficial compounds locked inside aren’t easily accessible. To unlock them, we need to perform an extraction process, which breaks down the walls and releases the bioactive elements within.
1 - dried Reishi mushrooms, unknown
2 - my first ethanol extract experiment with Reishi, 2021
3 - the first Reishi I grew, 2021
4 - dried Reishi mushrooms, Sussex 2022
I recommend “Medicinal Mushrooms: The Clinical Guide” by Martin Powell and “Medicinal Mushrooms: The Human Clinical Trials” by Robert Rogers, which summarises the latest double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised human clinical trials.
**Note: “Reishi” covers all species within the Ganoderma genus. In modern research, it refers to Ganoderma lucidum, the species widely cultivated and studied in the West.
