Although many people may be suspicious of them, fungi are an excellent way to boost your immune system and have many other health benefits, which we will discuss.
We know that choosing the best fungus to consume can be a difficult task, especially since there are fungi that can actually damage or poison your body, which is the opposite of what we want.
To help people with this problem, we will talk about two excellent mushrooms to maximize your health: Chaga and Reishi.
Chaga – A Mushroom with Wonderful Benefits
Chaga, one of the fungi with the most potential benefits, is one that we highly recommend using.
Chaga fungi can be found in white birch trees. They initially grow inside the tree, but after a while, they begin to grow outside and look like a dark spot on the tree.
To introduce ourselves to the wonderful benefits of Chaga, let’s talk about a well-known case.
In the twelfth century, Tsar Vladimir Monomakh, a Russian ruler, used Chaga Tea to cure his lip cancer.
This mushroom has so many benefits that it is called The King of Mushrooms.
Its potential lies in betulinic acid, a very powerful antioxidant. (Note: maybe go into this a little more—what is betulinic acid? Clarify: does Chaga contain betulinic acid?)
Now that we have become familiar with this fungus, let’s learn a little about its health benefits.
– Chaga Protects Your Immune System
This mushroom promotes the formation of proteins called cytokines, which fulfill the function of regulating the immune system.
Also, Chaga mushrooms promote the formation of white blood cells, which are responsible for fighting bacteria.
– Chaga Helps with Anti Aging
It is normal that as the years go by, our skin begins to show certain signs of sagging, grey hairs begin to appear in our hair, and we acquire more wrinkles.
This is due to oxidative stress, which is inevitable in the long term.
However, Chaga has antioxidant and antifungal properties, which are beneficial for delaying aging.
The best way to enjoy these wonderful benefits is to prepare this mushroom in the form of tea.
– Chaga Helps Reduce Levels of Sugar and Cholesterol
Here (https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5305591), you can read about a study conducted on laboratory rats that demonstrates how this mushroom can reduce the level of LDL cholesterol while raising the level of antioxidants.
High cholesterol is one of the most common problems nowadays, along with high blood sugar. Chaga is effective at combatting high cholesterol, as well as high blood sugar. We can verify in this study(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28087233) how this fungus has been useful for managing diabetes.
– Chaga Can Help Prevent And Help Treat Cancer
This fungus is very frequently used in many tribes in Russia, and it is likely not coincidence that these same tribes have one of the lowest rates of cancer worldwide.
It has been proven how this mushroom can help reduce and treat colon, prostate and liver cancer. You can learn more from the studies below:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18203281
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308814613000526
REISHI – MIRACULOUS MUSHROOM
Now it’s time to talk about Reishi, so we can appreciate the differences between these two mushrooms.
– MANY INFLAMMATORY PROPERTIES
The Reishi mushroom has magnificent anti-inflammatory properties.
It can function as an alternator of the inflammatory pathways of white blood cells. (Note: maybe go into further detail on this; what does this mean?)
– CAN HELP YOU AGAINST FATIGUE AND DEPRESSION
Not only does it have beneficial properties for your immune system, but it can also help you in other areas of your life.
Reishi mushrooms can reduce fatigue and reduce depression, which automatically translate into a better quality of life.
A study of people with neurasthenia resulted in considerable improvement after using this mushroom. You can read more about the study here (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15857210).
And to further emphasize these effects, there is another study (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22203880) in which fatigue was diminished and there was an improvement in the quality of life in 48 cancer survivors.
While the reishi mushroom can be promising for people with certain diseases or ailments, it is not clear if it would benefit those who are otherwise healthy. (Note: consider just deleting this paragraph as it doesn’t necessarily add anything to your article)
ANTI-aging PROPERTIES
Reishi mushrooms are full of antioxidants which can help slow down our body’s aging process. Antioxidants are molecules that can help reduce cell damage.
CONCLUSIONS …
As we can see, these two mushrooms are excellent for improving our quality of life.
However, we can conclude that Chaga has more health benefits, although this may be because there is more information available on it.
The purpose of this article was not to put the Chaga above the Reishi, but it was more difficult to find studies that support the benefits of Reishi.
At the end of the day, though, the benefits these mushrooms give us are very similar, such as increasing and improving the immune system and delaying aging. So feel free to use whichever you want!
If you are interested in using Chaga, we invite you to read our other articles, where you will learn more about the benefits of this mushroom, how to prepare a tea with this mushroom, and much more!
