Author Nik: MarkhoRafael
Name: Dr. Markho Rafael
There’s a new star on the medicinal mushroom sky. It goes by Phellinus linteus in Latin. The little known English common name is Black Hoof Fungus. It’s far more common, even in America, to hear it referred to by its Japanese name as Mesima.
Known in English as Turkey Tail, Trametes versicolor is a contender for the title “World’s Most Common Mushroom.” You can find it from tropical rain forests to the Siberian taiga, feasting on dead wood.
Agarikon (Fomitopsis officinalis) is one of the largest and longest living mushrooms in the world, some individual specimens known to be as old as 50 years. This needs to be seen in perspective of the fact that Agarikon starts out growing on already mature trees. It requires old growth forests to survive.
Reishi extract has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to treat arthritis and other forms of inflammation for over 2,000 years. Also commonly known by its Latin name as “Ganoderma,” or Chinese “Ling Zhi,” Reishi is by far the most searched medicinal mushroom on the Internet with over 200,000 searches per month. And although it may not be the panacea (“cure-all”) that some hold it to be, the fact that modern research confirms it as an inflammation modulator may help explain why it has long been heralded as such in the Orient.
Medicinal mushrooms have been immensely popular in Asia for millennia. Today, Americans are waking up to these powerful nutraceuticals. In the wake of this new awareness follow issues of product quality claims made by competing brands.
Reishi is the most searched medicinal mushroom on the Internet, used in China for at least two millennia as a panacea to alleviate things from everyday nuisances like the common cold or skin disorders to terminal conditions such as cancer.
The white underside of the mushroom Artist Conk (Ganoderma applanatum) turns brown when bruised and can be intricately etched into detailed carvings, hence the English common name of this ubiquitous American tree fungus.
Reishi is frequently prescribed in Traditional Chinese Medicine as a panacea. It is widely used by both laymen and professionals in the Orient as a treatment for things as innocuous as stress or weight loss to more serious conditions such as arthritis and even cancer.