Since the Reishi Mushroom is known in ancient Eastern medicine as the "Mushroom of Immortality" and the "Medicine of Kings," you'd expect reishi to offer you some pretty astounding health benefits, right? Your assumptions are correct. This prized fungus may be able to boost your immune system, help fight cancer, ward off heart disease, calm your nerves and relieve both allergies and inflammation. In meditative use, it has the added benefit of calming the mind, while improving memory, concentration, and focus.

The Reishi has undergone rigorous medical and clinical tests worldwide to either prove or debunk this amazing plant. Research clearly shows that the polysaccharide beta-1,3-D-glucan in reishi boosts the immune system by raising the amount of macrophages T-cells, which has major implications for people suffering from AIDS and other immune system disorders, not to count those of us who are subject to daily stressors.

This immune-boosting action also reportedly possesses immense healing powers in the treatment of cancer, as the T-cells are then able to fight cancer cells more effectively. In addition to boosting the immune system, the glucan in reishi helps immune cells bind to tumor cells. Many experts believe that it also actually reduces the number of cancerous cells, making it easier for T-cells and macrophages to rid the body of them.

There is also another alkaloid in reishi, called canthaxanthin, that slows down the growth of tumors, according to many experts who have conducted numerous clinical trials. As a result of these amazing anti-cancer abilities, laboratory research and traditional medicinal usage of reishi to fight cancer is so positive that the Japanese government officially recognizes it as a cancer treatment!

Besides cancer, reishi can reportedly help treat one of the world's leading killers; heart disease. How can it do this? By preventing several risk factors, because of its high content of heart-saving substances like sterols, ganoderic acids, coumarin, mannitol and polysaccharides. Experts believe that the ganoderic acids in particular lower triglyceride levels, remove excess cholesterol from the blood, lower blood pressure, reduce platelet stickiness and even help correct arrhythmia. In fact, for 54 people with hypertension unresponsive to medication, taking reishi extract three times a day for four weeks was enough to significantly lower blood pressure, according to a study reported by Burton Goldberg in "Heart Disease."

While you protect your body against infectious disease, cancer and heart disease, your use of reishi can also help relieve your everyday discomforts. Do you have allergies? Japanese researchers discovered that the lanostan in reishi acts as a natural antihistamine. Do you suffer from muscle aches or arthritis? Dr. William B. Stavinhoa of the University of Texas Health Science Center found that reishi is as powerful as five milligrams of hydrocortisone, but with minimal side effects.

Take just 1 gram per day, ground into a powder and put into food, smoothies, or made into your favorite tea. Here at the shop, we grind up our Reishi's in a coffee grinder, then simply put one heaping tablespoon in our Chamomile Mint tea, with a dash of the Maca Energy Shot at the start of each day. The mushrooms grind up into a very fluffy consistency, so one tablespoon is much less than you imagine. Also, the Reishi's are heavy, so they sink to the bottom of your cup of tea, so you can enjoy the tea, and then leave the mushrooms behind, or you can eat the tasty mash at the bottom of the cup for even more healthy benefits.

Our Reishi is hand-picked from known untouched patches in the United States, and we only get these prized plants once per year, and in small quantities.