Buying Reishi Supplements: What Consumers Need To Know

The Reishi mushroom, or Ganoderma Lucidum, has been used in Asia for its medicinal value for nearly a millennia. It’s a woody fungus coined categorically by the Chinese as Lingzhi, but widely known in America as the Reishi or Immortality mushroom.

While this fungus has many health benefits for the human body, the science behind this herb tells us it’s extremely difficult to process into a supplement. The problem appears to lie in extracting the compounds of the Reishi that are actually beneficial to our bodies.

Recommended Product: Life Extension Reishi Extract Mushroom Complex

By finding the products that use the best practices for scientifically extracting it, you can obtain a superior supplement for your body. Remember, not all Reishi products are created equal. In fact, some of the herbal remedies you’ll find are not authentic for containing the G. Lucidum Fruiting body and/or powder.

What is a Reishi Mushroom?

As earlier mentioned, Ganoderma Lucidum is a medicinal mushroom traditionally used as an herbal remedy in Asian provinces. It grows in very elevated, remote areas that are found in most regions of the world. Yet, many of the Reishi varieties found growing in most regions are uncommon for medical use.

The Lingzhi has massive medicinal benefits for the human body, like immune system booster, reduces fatigue and inflammation, fights Rheumatoid Arthritis and has cancer killing properties. It also has anti-oxidant properties that help with slowing the aging process (mostly why it’s coined the mushroom of immortality).

Today, technology has provided us with the ability to create Reishi in laboratories across the world. There are also grow kits that allow you to harvest them within your own home. They vary greatly in color, from a brick-red to a deep purple. Many in the scientific field believe the color plays an important role in the medicinal value of G. Lucidum.

While there are literally dozens of species of Ganoderma mushroom out in the wild, there are only a few being used in herbal commerce. The G. Lucidum or Red Reishi is our focus here because it contains the chemical composition most sought after for herbal remedy.

The Convoluted Science of Ganoderma Lucidum

The science behind the Reishi mushroom does not properly represent the products (or labeling) out in the marketplace. Not only does this make it difficult to receive the actual benefits of the pill, tea, extract, botanical or powder you are purchasing, but it appears difficult to delineate between which supplement form is more beneficial for targeting a specific remedy.

Compound this with the fact that this mushroom is quite profitable, yielding a world trade value greater than $2.16 billion. To put this into perspective, the Reishi industry accounts for approximately 2% of the worldwide dietary supplement sales. With such a lucrative market, the motivation for producing products may outweigh the legitimacy of the science behind developing them.

In the United States, the marketing and production of fungal medicinal products are not regulated by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA). This could create a market where buyers need to beware due to the integrity of the product relying solely with the manufacturer. The rapidly changing science on Ganoderma Lucidum leaves even well-intentioned manufacturers unable to ensure that their product contains the labeled species.

This was clearly identified in one major study where 20 manufactured supplement products and 17 Grow your own (GYO) kits were closely analyzed. These products all pretty much had marketing statements claiming to “support immune system,” “detoxify,” and provide “botanical immune support.” The overwhelming majority of the products claimed to be made from Ganoderma Lucidum; yet, none of the dietary supplements and only one of the GYO kits actually contained G. Lucidum sensu stricto (or just the specific species).

A close examination of these products contains many supplemental Reishi species among them. Chiefly among them was the substitution of Ganoderma Lingzhi, which is a genetically distinct chemical from that of G. Lucidum. These findings imply significant differences in both the quality and quantity of the medicinally relevant compounds among the products being sold.

Do Real Reishi Mushroom Supplements Exist?

With recent studies indicating that nearly 75% of products labeled as Reishi mushrooms did not actually contain genuine G. Lucidum, the prospect of finding a legitimate supplement may be difficult but not impossible. These findings have signaled manufacturers to implement newer analytical and extraction techniques to ensure labels better represent their products.

So what do consumers need to look for in order to find a solid Reishi product?

There are a few key things to keep in mind when searching for a good dietary product. The initial factor for any product is to have clear supplemental facts. The second important factor to look out for is the ratio of spore vs. extract (fruit body) in amount per serving.

This can be shown best using an example of an elite Reishi product shown below:

The Reishi Extract Mushroom Complex by Life Extension is an example of what a typical consumer should be looking for with a capsule form supplement. In looking at the supplement facts of this product on amount per serving, it shows that 980mg of the daily dosage contains 13.5% polysaccharides and 6% triterpenes. Polysaccharides and Triterpenes are the major chemical components that provide medicinal value within Ganoderma licidum or various supplemental Ganoderma compounds found in this type of herbalism.

Another important factor for consumers is to get an understanding of the company from which the product(s) are manufactured. The company used in our example, Life Extension, provides a Certificate of Analysis (COA) for every product they sell on their website. This COA defines their exacting standards for developing formulations using the latest scientific findings.

Following these guidelines will provide consumers with the best results possible for buying products with the most effectiveness. A company that chooses to go the extra mile in order to engage in rigorous development standards deserves your business.

Summary

The Reishi mushroom is a powerhouse herbal supplement that may offer consumers health benefits. While it has come a long way in development since being used in traditional Asian herbalism, the scientific community concludes that it’s still problematic to manufacture. Best course of action is to find companies that engage in rigorous research and development of their products before choosing to buy any supplements.