Reishi for Focus & Burnout Relief

The “Mushroom of Immortality” Isn’t Going Anywhere

Reishi has been everywhere lately: we’ve seen it in teas, tablets and tinctures. It’s even cropping up in coffee substitutes! While many health trends come and go, reishi is here to stay. With a 2000-year history of use and the nickname “the mushroom of immortality,” there’s good reason to believe that this fungus is no fad. 

Reishi is also an ideal ingredient for midlife women because it’s an adaptogen that promotes balance and boosts mood. It’s excellent for women’s stress relief and is part of effective burnout treatments like our Wile Burnout Relief tincture. 

Stressed? It’s time for relief, and reishi is here to help.

Why We Love Reishi

• Researchers are constantly uncovering new information that backs up traditional knowledge about reishi. We love when scientists recognize the need for good, hard data on herbal medicine.
• Reishi is credited with a wide range of benefits, including stress relief, immune support, energy boosting and beyond. Read on to learn more about how reishi can help you!

Key Benefits: 

Women’s Stress Relief - Reishi is a popular adaptogen, which is great for women’s stress relief. Work, life and family demands make many women feel like we have to be “on” all the time. Without downtime, our nervous systems bear the burden and even make it hard to relax when we do get the chance. Adaptogens like reishi bring your body back down to homeostasis after moments of stress and train you to relax. This makes reishi great in women’s stress supplements and perfect in our Wile Burnout Relief and Un-Worry tinctures. 

Decreases Fatigue - Fatigue and feeling drained are huge indications of burnout. If you still feel tired after a full night of sleep or have trouble relaxing, reishi might be part of your perfect burnout treatment. Participants in randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trials reported a 28.3% decrease in fatigue after taking reishi. Animal and human tests have also found that reishi can decrease physical exhaustion during and after hard labor. 

Improves Mood - Ongoing stress or worry can really bring down your mood and eventually lead to symptoms of depression. However, multiple clinical trials have shown that reishi can decrease occasional symptoms of depression and anxiety. In one trial, participants reported a 38.7% increase in well-being compared to placebo users. It’s no wonder that reishi is so popular in women’s mood supplements, like our Un-Worry herbal tincture.

Boosts Immune System - One of reishi’s most popular uses is for immune support. The data shows that it increases white blood cell count, and even can affect genes in white blood cells to make them better at fighting disease. 

• Did you know that heart disease is the #1 cause of death for women? Not great news, especially if you’re already feeling burnt out or stressed. Thankfully, reishi is great for heart health and increases HDL, or “good” cholesterol. We can thank Traditional Chinese Medicine for this discovery, which has since been confirmed with modern data.

Traditional Uses:

Reishi use goes back at least to 25 CE, when ancient Chinese texts report its use. Its functions in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Traditional Japanese Medicine include:

• Promoting longevity (the reason for its nickname, the mushroom of immortality!)
• Improving memory
• Improving cardiac health
• Diabetes
• A general health tonic
• Increasing vital life energy

About the Plant: 

Reishi is a flat, fan-like mushroom that grows on hardwood trees like oak and maple across parts of Asia, Europe and North America. It is brown, shiny and has a woody texture. 

While reishi is edible, it’s very bitter. Most people consume reishi through powders, tablets or tinctures like our Burnout Relief tincture and Un-Worry tincture. 

We mentioned that one nickname for reishi is mushroom of immortality, but other common names include lingzhi, mannentaki, spirit plant and reishi antler mushroom.

Found In (Wile Products):

• Burnout Relief Tincture
• Un-Worry Tincture

Things to Know about Reishi:

Reishi is generally considered safe, but that doesn’t mean that it’s for everyone. Because reishi can lower blood pressure, it’s not recommended if you already have low blood pressure or are on medications for diabetes. It may also decrease blood clotting, so avoid it before surgery.

The dose in our Burnout Relief and Un-Worry tinctures is very safe, but too much reishi can have side effects. These include: 

• Nausea 
• Itchiness
• Dizziness
• Dry mouth
• Rash

Reishi isn’t recommended for pregnancy or breastfeeding. 

Clinical Research

• Matsuzaki, Hirokazu, Yuta Shimizu, Naohiro Iwata, Shinya Kamiuchi, Fumiko Suzuki, Hiroshi Iizuka, Yasuhide Hibino, and Mari Okazaki. “Antidepressant-like Effects of a Water-Soluble Extract from the Culture Medium of Ganoderma Lucidum Mycelia in Rats.” BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 13, no. 1 (December 26, 2013). https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6882-13-370.
• Pazzi, Francesco, Jose C. Adsuar, Francisco Javier Domínguez-Muñoz, Miguel Ángel García-Gordillo, Narcis Gusi, and Daniel Collado-Mateo. “Ganoderma Lucidum Effects on Mood and Health-Related Quality of Life in Women with Fibromyalgia.” Healthcare 8, no. 4 (November 30, 2020): 520. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8040520.
• Tang, Wenbo, Yihuai Gao, Guoliang Chen, He Gao, Xihu Dai, Jinxian Ye, Eli Chan, Min Huang, and Shu-Feng Zhou. “A Randomized, Double-Blind and Placebo-Controlled Study of Ganoderma Lucidum Polysaccharide Extract in Neurasthenia.” Journal of Medicinal Food 8, no. 1 (April 25, 2005): 53–58. https://doi.org/10.1089/jmf.2005.8.53.
• Zhao, Hong, Qingyuan Zhang, Ling Zhao, Xu Huang, Jincai Wang, and Xinmei Kang. “Spore Powder ofGanoderma LucidumImproves Cancer-Related Fatigue in Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Endocrine Therapy: A Pilot Clinical Trial.” Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2012 (January 1, 2012): 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/809614.
• Zhonghui, Zhao, Zheng Xiao-Wei, and Fang Fang. “Ganoderma Lucidum Polysaccharides Supplementation Attenuates Exercise-Induced Oxidative Stress in Skeletal Muscle of Mice.” Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences 21, no. 2 (April 1, 2014): 119–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2013.04.004.

Sources

• Benzie, Iris F. F., and Sissi Wachtel-Galor. Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects, Second Edition. CRC Press, 2011.
• Gaia Herbs. “Reishi Mushroom Benefits, Usage, and Side Effects,” February 8, 2021. https://www.gaiaherbs.com/blogs/seeds-of-knowledge/reishi-mushroom-benefits.
• Knudsen, Molly. “Reishi Mushroom: Benefits, Dosage, Side Effects.” Ro, November 23, 2021. https://ro.co/health-guide/reishi-mushroom/.
• Kubala, Jillian. “What Are Adaptogenic Mushrooms? Benefits, Risks, and Types.” Healthline, March 19, 2021. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/adaptogenic-mushrooms#types-potential-benefits.
• “Reishi Mushroom: MedlinePlus Supplements,” n.d. https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/natural/905.html#:~:text=Reishi%20mushroom%20can%20cause%20dizziness,%2C%20stomach%20upset%2C%20and%20rash.
• Tinsley, Grant. “6 Benefits of Reishi Mushroom (Plus Side Effects and Dosage).” Healthline, February 1, 2023. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/reishi-mushroom-benefits.

Photo courtesy of NoonBrew via Unsplash