Review of Medical Uses of Reishi

INTRODUCTION

Reishi (Genus: Ganoderma; Family)

The immune system in many ways can be perceived as a non-local phenomenon. For us at the LionMan School of ReWilding, the significance of your host cells (human cells) to locate dangerous organisms (at the DNA level), surround them, and secrete substances that target solely those life forms, seems like magic!

Fungal consumption in the form of teas and tinctures can allow these myco-chemicals (e.g., “myco” meaning fungi) into your bloodstream, which then circulates throughout your entire body. All the while, the foreign, but friendly compounds interact with your immune system, and support the overall functioning and capacity for peak health. (Moardali, 2007) 

Some call the process, “immuno-modulation”. Taking the phrase, we see that these fungal chemicals can essentially read when your innate immune system is feeling over-burdened or can use a boost, at which point it then communicates with your DNA and seeks to up-regulate (signal your proteins to activate) to increase the production of hematopoietic stem cells, lymphocytes, macrophages, T cells, dendritic cells, and natural killer cells.

In the case that your being is feeling overworked (such as in certain auto-immune diseases), then these exogenous (external) natural chemicals work at slowing your processes down. We find precedents of human-fungal interactions if we look through historical records. Recent research has revealed that humans are more closely related to fungi than we are to plants. (Castresana, 2000) 

Another story that fascinates us revealed itself to the world in the late 21st century, when “Otzi the Iceman”, a frozen mummy from the early Copper Age (3,300 BCE), was found equipped with a variety of utilitarian mushrooms. He carried two species of mushrooms. The first, commonly known as the tinder fungus, or Fomes fomentarius, we think assisted in carrying fire. The second, commonly known as the birch polypore, or Piptoporus betulinus, we think assisted in ridding his body of parasites.

Ecologically speaking, fungi play a keystone role in most of the world’s ecosystems. Mushrooms that we buy in stores are usually semi-domesticated cultivars that are grown indoors and only give a glimpse at the wider picture. Underground, in intact natural ecosystems, one can find (only a few inches under the top soil) a network of threads that connect with other tree roots, bacterial colonies, and other species of mushrooms. In 1992, mycologists found one of the largest and oldest living organisms on our planet. One Armillaria bulbosa, or honey mushroom, was found to “occupy a minimum of 15 hectares, weighing more than 10,000kg, and has remained genetically stable for more than 1,500 years.” (Smith, 1992)

GROWTH CONDITIONS

The genus Ganoderma contains about 80 species. Let’s focus now on two of these 80 species. The first, named in Latin as Ganoderma tsugae, requires dead hemlock trees (Tsuga canadensis) to inhabit. The second, in Latin as Ganoderma lucidum, requires maple trees (Genus Acer) to grow from. 

In the LionMan School of ReWilding, we source only mushrooms in a form that can most closely resemble what our ancestors would have recognized. That said, we only source whole fruiting bodies of Ganoderma tsugae and Ganoderma lucidum.

CONSTITUENTS

Ganoderma lucidum and Ganoderma tsugae contain a host of biologically active compounds. These include ganoderic acids (triterpene), beta-glucans (polysaccharides), alkaloids, and ganoderiol (sterol). To receive these mycochemicals into our bodies, we recommend combining a double-extractive method because of the following reasons.

Fungi contain an indigestible matrix of natural fibers collectively called chitin. To get at the water-soluble polysaccharides that lie within the chitin, we use a hot water extract. To receive other chemicals, alcohol (ethanol) comes to the rescue. Brought together, we now have all of the available chemicals described above.
MEDICINAL ACTIONS

1. Antioxidant: In a 2012 study by Mohsin, both wild and domesticated (cultivated) Ganoderma lucidum forms, accepted accolades for showing significant ORAC values (oxygen radical absorbance capacity). However, the highest value went to the wild strain of Lingzhi. 
2. Anti-inflammatory: Merriam-Webster defines inflammation as “a local response to cellular injury that is marked by capillary dilation, leukocytic infiltration, redness, heat, and pain and that serves as a mechanism initiating the elimination of noxious agents and of damaged tissue.” In other words, inflammatory processes have traveled with hominids through time and space. However, we can find linkages between excessive (chronic) inflammation and disease. In 2009, Joseph et. al., highly revered Ganoderma lucidum for its ability to inhibit both acute and chronic inflammation. 
3. Adaptogenic: Historically, the only way we’ve survived before the advent of industrial medicines, came from herbal and fungal medicine (mostly in a preventative fashion). The following then corroborates what our hominid evolution tells us. Reishi can work positively in response to late-stage lancer cancer (in conjunction with chemo-therapeutic agents) (Gao, 2003). It can also protect “myelosuppression” (a side effect of chemotherapy), or the suppression of bone-marrow production and activity, which can dramatically deem the cancer-removal and subsequent healing, as a success or not.
4. Anti-neoplastic: One of the reishi’s triterpenes, ganoderic acids, shined in the laboratory of Yao and colleagues in 2012. Reishi (albeit a reduced version of the whole mushroom form) seemed to amplify the apoptosis (programmed cell death) rate of the chemo-therapeutic agent “cisplatin”. In addition, a β-Glucan (a complex sugar found in the woody material of reishi) seemed to improve the survival rate of mice post-radiation by 83% when combined with the drug amifostine. (Pillai, 2013)
5. Neurogenic: Paterson in 2006 found that compounds in reishi their extract, contained the potential to protect human neural cells from damage and could induce neuronal differentiation. Huie and Di in 2004, demonstrated that the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) received a targeting by reishi compounds, which initiated the up-regulation of this molecule. NCAM received admiration in this study for its role in the ability of human neurons to learn and memorize, for the synapses to respond healthfully to stressful events, and to induce neurite out-growth.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUDING REMARKS

At the LionMan School of ReWilding, we greatly take pride in providing our customers with the highest-grade products available. We would also encourage all of you to learn about the mushrooms that grow in your local forests. In this way, we can begin to see that our wellness depends on the health of our natural landscapes. Going from the “Walls of Green”, to the perception that our world contains (for free), medicines, foods, and other living needs! These realizations require time.  As my mentor, Arthur Haines once said, “It took us many generations to lose the knowledge of our capable, successful, and mobile ancestors, and so it’s also going to take many generations to relearn it all.”Don’t Miss Out on Rewilding Opportunities

Anushiik (thank you),

-Maximilian Gordon and the ReWilding Team

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