Reishi mushrooms are a powerful superfood that have quite possibly saved both my husband and my father from fatal illness. In this post I’m going to look at the incredible reishi mushroom and why it’s the most powerful superfood in the world and how my family takes reishi every day to keep both my husband’s cancer as well as my father’s prostate and blood pressure problems at bay.

There are a lot of amazing superfoods out there including a variety of other medicinal mushrooms like chaga and cordyceps, but if I had to only pick one superfood to take it would be reishi mushroom. It has the power to boost our immune system which protects us from illness. Reishi contains chemicals that fight against the formation of tumours and cancer. The following illnesses and conditions can all be treated by taking reishi:

Altitude sickness
Asthma
Avian flu
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)
Bronchitis
Cancer
Chronic bacterial prostatitis
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)
Chronic prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CPPS)
Clogged arteries
Colorectal adenomas
Diabetes
Fatigue
Flu
Heart disease
Herpes
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
HIV/Aids
Influenza
Insomnia
Kidney disorder
Liver disease
Lung cancer
Lung conditions
Poisoning
Prostate cancer
Prostate problems
Shingles-reated pain
Stomach ulcers
Stress
Swine flu
Tumors
Viral infections

Reishi also:
Alleviates allergies
Has anti-inflammatory effects
Helps with pain relief
Immune enhancing
Inhibits Bacteria
Is a strong anti-oxidant
Is also anti-ageing
Is anti-arthritic
Oxygenates the blood
Provides liver protection
Reduces blood fat levels
Reishi Contributes to Pain Relief
Reishi has Anti-Inflammatory effects
Reishi relieves Chronic-Fatigue Syndrome

You can get reishi in a variety of forms. There are powders, tinctures (drops), and dried chunks of the mushroom available to brew into a tonic or a tea. I like the powders and tinctures because you can easily add them to your green smoothie. Also, many forms of very potent reishi powders are very strong in flavour but disappears completely when combined with delicious banana and fruit.

Because reishi is rather expensive, particularly when you’re taking it every day, until recently I wasn’t taking it myself but was just putting it in Geoff’s green smoothie every morning to help ensure that his testicular cancer doesn’t return. However, recently I started to take reishi myself as well to treat my vocal nodules. Even though they’re calluses and not tumours, I’m currently working to heal my vocal nodules naturally and I’m using reishi as part of my healing regime. Geoff’s been taking reishi daily for a couple of years now and his health has been excellent. People are always shocked to learn that not just that he’s a cancer survivor but that he’s also 51. No one can ever guess his age. They’re always off by 10 years or more. Here’s a recent photo of him, happy and healthy:

With Geoff visiting Istanbul, happy and healthy.

I like to rotate the type of reishi and the source of reishi to make sure that Geoff’s getting as much of the available concentration of cancer fighting properties as possible. I do this because there are several kinds of reishi mushroom, and because every source is different. One morning I’ll include a tincture, then the next it will be a powder, and so on. I don’t really make the tea any more because I found it to be a bit impractical and not as strong.

At any given time I have at least 3 types of reishi in my smoothie cupboard, and sometimes as many as 5 or 6 different kinds. While it’s hard to know how strong some of the sources of reishi really are, we’ve tried and compared a lot of reishi products and I have no doubt in my mind that the strongest reishi product available are the ones available through Raw Food World. That stuff is potent! I’m not kidding. I’m not only saying that because the flavour is so strong and bitter (it is) but also because when we first started using it, it was like rocket fuel. Now we’re both accustomed to it so it doesn’t blast us the same way, and neither of us is actually sick, but I’m sure that if you took that stuff while you were sick with something you would get visible results. They have some pretty incredible statements and testimonials on that page about it. I highly recommend that you read through all of the information that they’ve provided.

No, the reishi spore oil, spore powder, and reishi triterpene crystals are not cheap, but what is your health worth to you? Not to mention the fact that the reishi is so highly concentrated that you don’t need very much. We take other, less expensive, kinds of reishi and we have to take 2 tablespoons of it where with the reishi spore oil, spore powder, and reishi triterpene crystals you only need a very small amount for it to be effective. They have a deal if you buy all 3 types of reishi products together and it’s really worth it. Click here for all of the information.  Raw Food World also has amazing at-cost specials every month:

Not as incredibly potent, but still a very good product, I’d like to mention for fellow Canadians that Giddy Yoyo offers a good reishi tincture. That’s also one of the items that’s always in my smoothie cupboard that I take in rotation with the other reishi, and I also recommend their chaga mushroom tincture. Plus, they have great cacao products. Click here to visit the Giddy Yoyo store. 

I’ll continue to add information here as more discoveries are made about reishi. For now, these are a few of my favourite go-to links for information about the benefits of reishi:

Sources:

1. http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-905-reishi%20mushroom.aspx?activeingredientid=905&activeingredientname=reishi%20mushroom
2. http://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2013/2/how-reishi-combats-aging/page-01
3. http://thelightcellar.ca/the-healing-power-of-medicinal-mushrooms/