Medicinal Mushrooms

Gardeners and foragers who want to step outside the plant

kingdom will enjoy a foray into the world of medicinal

mushrooms. These fungi can be cultivated and/or foraged in

the wild. They thrive in cool, damp forests and shady places in

temperate climates. All edible and medicinal mushrooms contain

complex polysaccharide starches (including beta glucans) that

challenge the immune system in a good way, strengthening and

modulating its function. When consumed regularly they're an

excellent way to prevent everyday infections, strengthen the lungs,

reduce the severity of future infections, and prevent cancer.

GENERAL BENEFITS OF MUSHROOMS• Strengthen and modulate immune function,

particularly in cancer prevention and adjunct care as well as in low-functioning immune system support, prevention and recovery from everyday infections, and respiratory health

• Often beneficial in autoimmune disease and allergies, but not necessarily for everyone (see General Mushroom Cautions)

• Rich source of protein and fiber, providing a savory flavor for dishes, particularly the more tender, palatable mushrooms

• Protect against blood sugar spikes with high fiber and low carbohydrate contents as well as other compounds that promote blood sugar stability

• Produce and store high levels of vitamin D

when exposed to UV lamps or sunlight, more so for tender mushrooms turned upside down, such as shiitake (levels stay good, dried, for a full year)

GENERAL MUSHROOM CAUTIONS AND TIPS• Approach medicinal mushrooms cautiously if you

have a known mushroom allergy, though having an allergy to mushroom spores does not necessarily mean you’ll be allergic to medicinal mushroom preparations. People who react to high-FODMAP foods may find it difficult to digest mushrooms in large quantities.

• Although most evidence and traditional uses suggest that mushrooms help modulate and balance both excessive and deficient immune system function (including allergies and auto-immune disease), some experts believe mush-rooms are inappropriate in certain autoimmune cases due to their tendency to stimulate specific T cells. The research on this is in its infancy. Mushrooms are beneficial more often than not, but if they seem to aggravate flare-ups, discontinue.

• Benefits are generally inaccessible in raw mush-rooms and some otherwise safe mushrooms are moderately toxic when eaten raw. Powder and cook mushrooms to make benefits bioavailable. Eat the cooked mushrooms or mushroom powder or simmer in hot water.

Mushrooms generally extract best via hot water decoction (simmering), especially if they’re powdered.

Double-Extraction Tincture Directions on page 42 of Grow Your Own Herbal Remedies

1-5 ml, 1-3 times/day• Reishi• Chaga

Other mushrooms can also be used, though a straight hot water extract is preferable.

BEST MUSHROOM PREPARATIONS

Long Decoction or Concentrated Ice CubesWhether a “broth” or “tea,” the concept is the same. Grind up your mushrooms, and simmer for hours (even days). Strain and simmer uncovered to condense. One cube/cup, one to three times/day. Use/eat the mushroom dregs for additional benefit. Directions on page 81 of Grow Your Own Herbal Remedies. • All mushrooms (Shiitake tastes best)

RECIPE: Herbal Nutri-Broth with Mushrooms, page 81 of Grow Your Own Herbal Remedies

Tender, Tasty Edibles Perfect for sautéing and cooking into delicious dishes. Eat a few handfuls of fresh/reconstituted mushrooms daily or several times per week. • Shiitake (fresh or dried)• Maitake (tastier fresh)• Lion’s mane (so yummy fresh)• Oyster (especially fresh)

Other mushrooms can also be used.

Steamed or Cooked PowderAvoid using raw mushrooms, including raw fruiting body powder. Once cooked or steamed, mushrooms' benefits are more accessible. Commercial preparations including mycelium powder are available. At home, dehydrate and powder mushroom dregs after you’ve decocted them.• Shiitake• Reishi• Chaga• Lion’s mane

Other mushrooms can also be used.

Tea Decoction One cup, one to three times daily. See page 36 of Grow Your Own Herbal Remedies for directions. Nice with Chai Base, page 78 of the book, as well as adaptogens like ashwagandha.• Chaga tastes good• Turkey Tail and Reishi are palatable

in formula

RECIPE: Deep Immune Chai, page 10 of this booklet

Plugged LogsUse recently cut “fresh” logs approximately 4 to 6 inches in diameter. Drill evenly spaced holes per the size of your mush-room plugs. Insert the plugs and cap them with wax or leave them uncovered. It generally takes 9 to 12 months for the mycelium to colonize the log and put forth fruiting bodies. Moisture and temperature will determine when and how often logs “fruit” — soaking the log in water will help force it to fruit. You can lay the logs down as woodland path or garden edging or prop them up at an angle for maximum production.

StumpsPlug fresh-cut stumps as you would a log, or use the totem tech-nique (next column). Stumps are less apt to dry out compared to logs.

Totems Use fresh-cut logs 9 to 14 inches in diameter and approximately 24 inches long. Saw across the grain into two or three sections. Stand the first log on the ground (like a stump) on top of a piece of card-board, pack the top with sawdust spawn, place the next log on top, sandwiching the spawn. Repeat. Place a large brown paper bag over the totem for 3 to 6 months until the log chunks fuse together with whitish mycelium or the totem disintegrates on its own.

Inoculated WoodchipsWoodchips make excellent mulch for trees and shrubs, and do double duty when inoculated with sawdust spawn (although most medicinal mushrooms prefer to grow on solid wood as described previously). This is also one of the easiest methods for a lazy

gardener, although it works better for culinary rather than medicinal species, such as wine caps. Apply fresh hard-wood woodchips to the garden, moisten the area, and dust it with sawdust spawn.

MUSHROOM CULTIVATIONYou can welcome the kingdom of fungi into your landscape via a variety of methods. Choose the techniques and species that suit your garden, commitment level and desired uses. Consider taking a class with a local mushroom grower, or seek out detailed cultivation guides including those available at fungi.com and blogs.cornell.edu/mushrooms. Mushrooms grow best in shady, moist sites. Be sure to match the type of wood to your mushroom’s favored host tree. Use fresh-cut wood, not logs and stumps that have been sitting around and are already colonized by various unknown mycelium.

Popular methods of mushroom cultivation include plugged logs or inoculated sawdust.

MUSHROOM FORAGING TIPS• Always ensure the identity of your mushroom 100

percent! Invest in local mushroom field guides, take classes, go on identification walks, and practice keying mushrooms out. Start with polypore rather than gilled mushrooms, which are generally non-toxic and often medicinal.

• Don’t harvest mushrooms that have “gone by” or begun to rot.

• Look for a creamy white outer edge (see photo below), which indicates that the mushroom is still growing and, thus, is still fresh. Consider waiting until the mushroom produces spore (this looks powdery), which helps encourage future mushroom propagation.

• Leave the majority of the population present. Cut, rather than pull, your mushrooms to remove them. This helps keep the mycelium intact for future growth.

• Consider freezing the mushrooms for a few days before or after you dry them to kill any larvae that might be present inside. MUSHROOM RESOURCES

• The Fungal Pharmacy by Robert Rogers• Mushrooms for Health by Greg Marley• Medicinal Mushrooms by Christopher Hobbs• The Complete Mushroom Hunter by Gary Lincoff• Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation

by Tradd Cotter• Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms by

Paul Stamets• All That the Rain Promises and More by David

Arora• The Ancient Reishi by Nathan J. Searles• Local mushroom field guides such as those by the

National Audubon Society, Timber Press, and/or Peterson

• Wichland Woods: Northeast source for mushrooms, spawn, and plugs — wichlandwoods.com

• Fungi Perfecti: Northwest source for mushrooms, spawn, and plugs: — fungi.com

Turkey tail mushrooms are abundant and common in temperate forests, but you should rule out lookalikes. Note the creamy white edge of active growth.

These beautiful shiitake mushrooms have been cultivated on a log. You can use plugged logs to line shade garden beds.

Immune-Boosting Mushrooms

Turkey Tail Chaga

MaitakeShiitake Reishi

ReishiTraditional Chinese medicine practitioners adore reishi. It’s a polypore, which is a mushroom that grows on trees and has pores on its underside. This mild adaptogen calms and strengthens the heart, acts as a lung tonic, and promotes longevity. Its anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating prop-erties make it particularly useful in addressing asthma, allergies, autoimmune disease, and cancer. Various reishi species can be used somewhat inter-changeably. They’re too tough to eat and taste a bit bitter, but they make excellent medicine. See more details in the profile on page 11 of this booklet.Best in: decoction, broth, syrup, double-extraction tincture, powder

ShiitakeThe second-most cultivated mushroom in the world, shiitake is delicious. Use it for general immune and anticancer support. Add the powder or fresh mush-rooms to broth, stew, and all sorts of recipes. With its mild flavor, you might not realize it’s in the dish. It doesn’t grow wild but is easy to cultivate. Cook or blanch extra mushrooms for the freezer. See more details in the profile On page 12 of this booklet.Best in: food, broth, powder

MaitakeFresh, sautéed maitake tastes a bit like chicken, hence its moniker “hen of the woods,” though it’s not as tasty once dried. Look for dense clusters at the base of old hardwood trees (especially oak). It will return most years, and you can gather quite a stash! It’s famous as an immune tonic and anticancer mushroom. See more details in the profile on page 13 of this booklet.Best in: food, broth, powder

Turkey TailThis small, papery polypore grows readily on downed hardwood trees and logs. It looks like turkey tail in full strut and tastes a bit like turkey dinner. Simmer this mushroom in broth or tea. You can powder before or after simmering to use in recipes — it’s too tough to really eat. The most rigorously stud-ied of all mushrooms, several human studies support its use for cancer prevention and as adjunct treat-ment, though you can use it as a general immune tonic. Turkey tail polysaccharide extracts are among the most prescribed cancer drugs in China and Japan. It’s incredibly easy to find wild or culti-vate. See more details in the profile on page 14 of this booklet.Best in: broth, decoction, powder, double-extraction tincture

ChagaThis sterile fungal growth—not technically a mush-room — grows on birch trees in northern climates. Chaga tastes pleasant with hints of vanilla, making it the best “mushroom” for tasty tea blends. It’s loaded with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory compounds in addition to immune-modulating polysaccharides and has an affinity for the lungs, gut health, and cancer care. Some find it energizing and revitalizing to the body. This slow-growing mushroom cannot be cultivated. Its popularity has made it increasingly scarce, so you should avoid over-harvesting it. See more details in the profile on page 15 of this booklet.Best in: decoction, double-extraction tincture, broth, powder

Double-Extraction Reishi TinctureReishi and chaga are particularly good candidates for a double-extraction tincture because they contain both immune-tonic polysaccharides (best extracted in hot water) and anti-inflammatory terpene compounds (which extract well in alcohol). See the instructions on page 42 of Grow Your Own Herbal Remedies for the double-extraction technique directions. Mushroom extracts work best if you simmer them for hours (even days!) in lots of water, strain (hold on to your dregs — don’t toss them), then simmer the “tea” without a lid to concentrate the hot water extract before proceeding with the alcohol part of the recipe. Use reishi or chaga tincture in formulas to strengthen the immune system, prevent infections and cancer, and support autoimmune disease, cancer, and lung health and function. Note that double-extraction tinctures are still not as effec-tive as hot water decoctions for polysaccharide potency.

Deep Immune ChaiR A ID YO U R S P IC E C A B IN E T to make my favorite chai base, then add in these tea-worthy, immune-tonic mushrooms. Astragalus makes a nice addition if you have it handy; it offers similar medicinal properties as the mushrooms and has a slightly sweet, woody flavor.

1 tablespoon ground chaga (optional)

1–2 slices reishi

2 cinnamon sticks

5 whole cloves

1 star anise pod

2 cardamom pods

4 slices astragalus root (optional)

Suggested tools: Small pot, fine metal hand strainer

Simmer the ingredients in 8–16 ounces of water for 20 minutes or longer. Strain. Add sweetener and cream if desired — maple syrup or honey and milk, coconut milk, or almond milk all add to the decadent chai experience.

Reishi Ganoderma spp.

Polypore

Body Systems: Immune,

Respiratory, Cardiovascular,

Inflammation, Liver, Cognition/

Brain

Varnish Shelf Mushroom This genus of tough, woody mush-rooms grows on various species of decaying trees. Sometimes called shelf mushrooms, they jut out from trees and logs like little platforms for a frog or woodland fairy to rest upon. Classic reishi species include G. lucidum, which prefers hardwoods and is cultivated in China, and hemlock-loving G. tsugae, which grows throughout the Northeast and Northwest. Both have a shiny varnished appearance, ranging in color from orange brown to maroon. Various other Ganoderma species, including artist’s conk (G. applanatum), offer similar overall uses but tenden-cies differ. Cultivate reishi on logs and stumps by drilling holes in the wood and inoculating them with plug

or sawdust spawn, making sure to match the species with its preferred tree type.

Mushroom of ImmortalityReishi is one of those “all that and a bag of chips” mushrooms. It offers all the usual medicinal mushroom benefits (see page 3 of this booklet), yet it also has some special bonuses. It calms the “Heart Shen,” which tonifies the physical and emotional heart, improves circulation, nourishes the spirit, quells anxiety, improves sleep, and restores the body. Known as the “mush-room of immortality,” reishi offers adaptogenic properties for stress and longevity. It reduces inflammation and has been studied in cancer care, asthma, and allergies. It is generally beneficial in underfunc-tioning immune conditions as well as autoimmune disease. It seems to protect and support the liver. It has a long history of extensive use in Asia, and there’s quite a bit of preliminary research on it, but more human stud-ies would be nice. Reishi (as well as chaga and cordyceps) has a strong affinity for the lungs, improving their function and oxygen utilization,

making it useful long term for people prone to bronchitis and pneumonia as well as in chronic obstructive pul-monary disease (COPD), fatigue, and altitude sickness.

Bitter, Blood ThinningReishi is extremely safe and well tolerated by most (see General Mushroom Cautions on page 3 of this booklet.) However, it’s hard as wood and tastes more bitter than other mushrooms mentioned here, which makes it more appropriate for medicinal blends than for food-based remedies. When adding reishi to food, you may want to limit the quan-tity to ensure the recipe remains pal-atable, though certainly larger doses would be safe. It may have blood-thinning properties, so avoid before surgery and alongside blood-thinning medications.

Harvesting and Preparing Reishi

Cut the fruiting body while it’s growing (it will have a light yellow/white outer edge). Typically used dried. Freeze to remove beetle larvae. Best sliced into thin strips before drying—some species are impossible to process once dried.

ShiitakeLentinula edodes

Gilled Mushroom

Body Systems: Immune, Blood

Sugar, Cardiovascular

Cultivated DeliciousnessYou won’t find shiitake growing in the wild, but it’s very easy to cultivate and is the second-most commonly grown mushroom worldwide. It grows easily on plugged hardwood logs or on stumps implanted with plug or sawdust spawn. It’s also very easy to find commercially, fresh and dried. Among all the mushrooms, shiitake

is one of the most delicious. A classic addition to soup, shiitake work well in any dish calling for ’shrooms, whether they’re fresh, frozen, or reconstituted. I love to use the powder in broth, stews, casseroles, and sauces — the flavor is so mild and pleasant that people who don’t like mushrooms probably won’t notice it’s there.

Immune SupportShiitake’s polysaccharides — espe-cially isolated lentinan and AHCC — are well researched for their use-fulness in applications that target the immune system, including cancer treatment and prevention. When

given to patients with HIV and AIDS, it increased T4 cell counts, and it may also help people fighting viral and bacterial infections.

Safe for Most PeopleExtremely safe for all ages and animals. See General Mushroom Cautions on page 3 of this booklet.

Harvesting and Preparing Shiitake

Slice whole fresh mushrooms off logs and stumps. You may use or remove the stem. Cook fresh. Freeze cooked or blanched mush-room slices. Dried mushrooms can be used sliced/reconstituted or (better medicinally) powdered in cooked recipes.

MaitakeGrifola frondosa

Polypore

Body Systems: Immune, Liver,

Cardiovascular, Blood Sugar

Hen of the WoodsSometimes called hen of the woods, maitake tastes a bit like chicken and is considered a gourmet edible (though I don’t care for its aroma and flavor once dried). Maitake means “dancing mushroom,” and forag-ers reportedly would dance with joy when they found it. One mushroom can provide quite a feast! It grows on hardwood stumps and at the base of old oaks and maples. While the

bulk of the mushroom is off-white, the parts exposed to sunlight turn shades of brown gray. Cultivate it by inoculating logs, stumps, or bagged sawdust. Hen of the woods is not the same as the neon-orange (also edi-ble) chicken of the woods (Laetiporus sulphureus).

Dance with JoyMaitake and its polysaccharide glu-can fractions have been well studied for therapies that target immune function, particularly cancer treat-ment. Studies confirm its usefulness as an adjunct in HIV care and in supporting general immune health in cases of respiratory infection. It also has cardio-metabolic benefits,

reducing blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar if consumed regu-larly. Tender and fleshy, it does a great job manufacturing vitamin D with sunlight exposure, which will also make it slightly darker in appearance.

Safe for Most PeopleVery safe. See General Mushroom Cautions on page 3 of this booklet.

Harvesting and Preparing Maitake

Cut fresh maitake when it’s still happy and growing. Process promptly to maintain freshness. Chop to cook fresh, freeze cooked or blanched, or dehy-drate. This is a versatile, savory mushroom, best for eating fresh and hot water extracts. The dried mushroom slices never rehydrate well, so you’re better off powder-ing them for soups and broth.

Turkey TailTrametes versicolor

Polypore

Body Systems: Immune,

Cardiovascular

Turkey Tail FansAlso known by its old name Coriolus versicolor, turkey tails are small, papery mushrooms that grow on downed trees and logs and that do indeed look like little turkey tails. They thrive in hardwood forests, par-ticularly on oak, beech, maple, and birch and will come back for several years. They are easy to cultivate on plugged logs and bags of sawdust spawn. The stripes of color vary from gray to brown, sometimes violet, light and dark. A light outer edge indicates active new growth. Turkey tails are

widespread and common, but many similar-looking mushrooms exist. You know you’ve got the real deal because the color varies (not just variations of the same color), the stripes alternate between hairy and smooth (look very closely), and the underside is white to off-white with many small pores. Turkey tails taste mild, hinting of tur-key dinner, and work well in broths as well as in tea blends.

Deep ResilienceTurkey tail doesn’t get the credit it deserves. This mushroom is actually the most well studied in humans. Isolated extracts called PSK and PSP are widely sold in Asia as adjunct drugs for cancer prevention, treat-ment, and remission care. Taking turkey tail dramatically improves outcomes and reduces the risk and

Harvesting and Preparing Turkey Tails

Harvest fruiting bodies in late summer while they still show active growth (light outer edge). Dry to use whole, or simmer, then dry and powder.

severity of relapse for many types of cancer. It can also be used as a general immune tonic and as a sup-portive therapy for autoimmune conditions. It may help leaky gut and improve or repair tissue damage in cases of hypothyroidism. It’s worth considering in hypertension, diabetes, other cardio-metabolic conditions. Think of turkey tails as enhancing resilience and reducing fragility, par-ticularly in the immune system.

Safe for Most PeopleVery safe. See General Mushroom Cautions on page 3 of this booklet.

ChagaInonotus obliquus

Sclerotium

Body Systems: Immune,

Respiratory, Nervous/Adrenal,

Anti-inflammatory, Pain,

Antimicrobial, Gut

Birch ClinkerThis sterile fungal growth, called a “sclerotium” (which is not technically a mushroom or fruiting body), grows on birch trees in northern climates across the globe. This is where its other common name, birch clinker, comes from. A “clinker” is a hard mass of stony, black material that forms on a furnace, which is what chaga looks like. Chaga resembles a burn scar on a tree, black on top,

brown inside. Once ground, it resem-bles instant coffee. Chaga is primarily wildcrafted. It grows slowly, and while it may be locally abundant, overhar-vesting of this highly popular species could decimate the supply. To ethi-cally wildcraft, harvest only sporadi-cally where it’s abundant, and do not remove the whole growth. Instead, remove a small outer por-tion, allowing the sclerotium to con-tinue growing and complete its life cycle. Chaga tastes pleasant, some-what vanilla-like, and is the most tea-friendly of all our mushrooms.

Lungs, Energy, InflammationAlthough chaga offers many of the same benefits of other fungal medicines, like reishi it has various special perks. It may act as an adap-togen, providing a mildly stimulating,

Harvesting and Preparing Chaga

Harvest only where abundant, removing just a portion of the growth (see above for more). Dry. Grind with a meat grinder or wood chipper, or cleave off chunks that can be simmered several times and refrigerated or frozen between uses.

energizing effect (more stimulating than reishi, less than cordyceps). Rich in anti-inflammatory terpenes, chaga may help with chronic pain. In Russia and Baltic countries, chaga remains popular for use with cancer and gas-tric conditions. It also has an affinity for the lungs, combining well with rei-shi and/or chaga to manage chronic bronchitis, asthma, and recurrent pneumonia and for people who get respiratory infections regularly. It may gently address dysbiosis and Candida overgrowth and reduce blood sugar.

Safe for Most PeopleVery safe. Since it is not a spore-producing mushroom (fruiting body), chaga may be okay for people with mushroom allergies. See General Mushroom Cautions on page 3 of this booklet.

Additional Mushrooms

Lion’s ManeWe know lion’s mane (Hericium erinaceus) and its relatives bear’s head (H. americanum) and coral tooth fun-gus (H. coralloides) as choice gourmet mushrooms. Sautéed in butter and garlic, they have a crab-or lobster-like flavor and consistency. Yum! Although Hericium species share other mush-rooms’ immune properties, they’re more famous for their unique nerve-healing properties. Studies have found lion’s mane useful in dementia as well as post-stroke and other nerve damage situations. You’ll find these toothed white mushrooms sin-gly or in tight clusters on hardwood logs, stumps, and live trees. You can cultivate them on logs or stumps by implanting plugs or sawdust spawn in the wood. They are best in food, decocted tea, broth, steamed or cooked powder, and perhaps decoc-tion tincture.

OysterMany species of oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus spp.) can be wildcrafted or cultivated. One of the easiest to grow, it's not picky about its sub-strate. Cultivate on plugged logs or sawdust spawn. Kits are commonly sold. This tasty, tender edible grows wild on sugar maples, poplar, and aspen, returning annually with a hefty bounty of food. Although oyster mushrooms are considered more food than medicine, they do offer general mushroom benefits, can manufacture vitamin D from UV lamps or sunlight, are rich in protein and fiber, and contain natural statins. These statins will modestly reduce cholesterol if consumed regularly in

substantial quantities. Oysters may also decrease blood sugar and improve other cardio-metabolic factors. They are best cooked for food, blanched and frozen, or used in broth.