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Friday, May 6, 2011

Reishi Mushroom

Blog request thanks to Thomas Daniel.

Reishi (also called Lingzhi) Mushroom are a medicinal mushroom in traditional Chinese medicine for more than 2,000 years, making it one of the oldest mushrooms known to have been used medicinally.

Because of Reishi presumed health benefits and apparent absence of side-effects, it has attained a reputation in the East as the ultimate herbal substance. Reishi is listed in the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia and Therapeutic Compendium.

It contains other compounds many of which are typically found in fungal materials including polysaccharides such as beta-glucan, coumarin,mannitol, and alkaloids.


Good for:

How to use it:

Due to its bitter taste, the mushroom is traditionally prepared as a hot water extract. Thinly sliced or pulverized lingzhi (either fresh or dried) is added to a pot of boiling water, the water is then brought to a simmer, and the pot is covered; the mushroom is then simmered for two hours. The resulting liquid is fairly bitter in taste, with the more active red lingzhi more bitter than the black. The process is sometimes repeated. Alternatively, it can be used as an ingredient in a formula decoction or used to make an extract (in liquid, capsule, or powder form). The more active red forms of lingzhi are far too bitter to be consumed in a soup.



Source: Wikipedia :)

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