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Boost Your Immunity With a Mushroom Tea Recipe
Mushroom tea can help to strengthen immunity while soothing away stress. Its easy preparation makes it an enjoyable treat that can be tailored to meet the specific needs of every individual.
Mushroom tea made with BrainMD’s Smart Mushrooms powder can make an excellent addition to your wellness regime. Packed with organic red reishi, cordyceps and lion’s mane mushrooms – three powerful sources of vitamins and nutrients – mushroom tea helps reduce stress while increasing oxygen consumption and improving endurance and vitality.
Chaga
Chaga is one of nature’s most effective immune boosters. Packed with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial compounds that strengthen your natural defenses against chronic illnesses while supporting digestion health and energy levels, chaga has proven particularly helpful to people suffering from autoimmune disease or cancer.
One way chaga can be enjoyed is as tea. This beverage can be enjoyed on its own or mixed with other beverages like coffee and cocoa; additionally it makes an ideal addition to smoothies and soups. Plus, when stored in the fridge it can easily be reheated without losing flavor or nutritional value!
Choose high-quality chaga that has been properly harvested. Search for pieces with dark colors and thick textures, without bleached surfaces or treated with pesticides. If chaga can’t be found locally, online health food stores or specialty retailers may sell it as an alternative option.
Make a herbal infusion using chaga, such as tea made with herbs and other ingredients, using chunks of the mushroom boiled in water as part of the best recipes for making chaga tea. It can remain infusing up to four hours after boiling – an ideal alternative to coffee! Additionally, this tea may serve as an effective remedy against sore throats while strengthening immunity systems.
This recipe for making Chaga tea at home is straightforward. First, gather and wash a large chunk of Chaga thoroughly to remove any dirt or debris before placing it into your crockpot with some water (1-3 chunks or 15-20g per litre of water should suffice) allowing to soak on low for at least 4-6 hours or overnight for optimal results.
Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) is a parasitic fungus found on birch trees throughout northern United States and Canada, appearing as a dark mass on their bark that often gets mistaken for burnt wood. Chaga is one of the most nutritionally dense adaptogens available today, packed with antioxidants, polyphenols, betulinic acid and other compounds known to support healthy digestion and immunity; traditionally utilized as part of traditional medicine in Siberia and Baltic nations for centuries.
Cordyceps
Cordyceps fungus has quickly gained the trust of Goop-pill users for its wide-ranging health benefits, which include increasing stamina, appetite, immunity, longevity, libido and sleep quality. As an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory substance it plays an integral part of Chinese medicine history for centuries; moreover it boasts over 350 species that parasitize insect larvae for growth and reproduction; C. sinensis is probably its best-known member that’s widely used today.
Other members of this genus produce bioactive compounds with immunomodulatory activity, including adenosine, b-glucans, cordycepin and ergosterol which have been linked with immunomodulatory properties (Zhu et al. 2004). They include Ophiocordyceps unilateralis – the zombie-ant fungus featured in video game The Last of Us as well as M.R. Carey’s The Girl With All the Gifts by way of infection before killing off its victims before killing them off altogether (Zhu et al. 2004).
Although many believe fungus is an effective cure for cancer, research results are mixed. However, it may assist in treating other diseases; such as increasing immune function and tumor size reduction while improving liver function; acting as an antidiabetic and helping prevent oxidative stress.
Cordyceps mushroom is often combined with Reishi mushrooms for their brain-enhancing effects, and both products are often sold together as supplements claiming they help increase energy and mental clarity.
Fatigue is a symptom of numerous illnesses, and long-term accumulation can even result in “karoshi”, or the Japanese concept of death by overwork. Cordyceps fungus has been shown to alleviate tiredness and increase endurance while helping prevent chronic fatigue syndrome and speed recovery from physical and mental exhaustion (Chaudhuri et al. 2007).
Bailing capsule, made with cordyceps mycelia, was found to improve renal and liver function, regulate hypoproteinemia and hyperlipidemia levels, stimulate hemopoietic function and promote growth among those suffering from renal failure (Wojcikowski et al 2004; Wu 2008). Furthermore, fermented C. sinensis mycelia broth has an antihyperglycemic effect in diabetic rats (Lo et al 2004); more studies must be conducted on these effects to confirm them as well as any possible protective effects (Lo et al 2004; Wu 2008).
Reishi
Reishi mushroom powder is an anti-inflammatory with numerous health advantages. It is widely known to strengthen immune function, reduce stress and fatigue levels, promote better sleep quality, be rich in antioxidants and help lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Reishi can be purchased as both tea and supplement form; you can mix it with ingredients such as honey, ginger or lemon to make delicious drinks or add it to soups and stews to add both flavor and nutrition.
Reishi mushrooms (Lingzhi in Chinese or Goji in English) are one of the oldest traditional medicinal plants known to humans, first mentioned over 2000 years ago in a Chinese herbal text and now widely recognized as an effective spiritual tonic to support mental clarity and vitality, longevity promotion, as well as reported improvements to immune function, treating asthma/cough symptoms, supporting liver health, among other benefits. Reishi mushroom supplements have long been utilized as nutritional supplements. Reishi’s name itself translates to “little soul”, making Reishi one of many popular dietary supplements.
Reishi can easily be identified by its shelf-like fruit body with varnished appearance that can be found on logs, stumps and trees. Reishi’s Latin binomial name Ganoderma lucidum translates to “shiny skin shining.” Although these fruit bodies have short lifespans compared to its mycelium production process – often months or even years – they may inoculate logs, trees or tree stumps where new fruit bodies might form again in time.
Studies have demonstrated that Reishi contains polysaccharides which may inhibit tumor growth by activating white blood cells to attack abnormal cells, including cancerous ones. Reishi may also offer other potential health benefits, including reduced oxidative stress levels and improving cardiovascular performance as well as potential hepatoprotective and antiviral properties.
Reishi has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine as an anti-inflammatory remedy, making it an integral component of many tonic formulas available at herbalist stores and now in capsules and liquid extracts.
Reishi is generally safe for most individuals; however, pregnant and nursing mothers should not consume it. Furthermore, it may interact with medications like blood thinners; also not recommended if suffering from liver or kidney diseases.
Lion’s Mane
Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus) is a white mushroom with long, shaggy tendrils resembling those seen on lions; hence its name. These mushrooms grow in clusters along tree branches or trunks up to 30cm across, reaching up to 30 cm across in total. Lion’s Mane is widely used as an tonic in traditional Chinese medicine for heart, liver, spleen and lung function; in recent years however it has also become popular as a supplement; research suggests it can aid cognitive functions as well.
Lion’s Mane has been found to have protective effects against neuron damage in laboratory studies and may boost immunity. Additionally, some reports have demonstrated its ability to help manage symptoms of anxiety and depression; some marketers even market it as an adaptogen that balances stress hormone levels within the body.
Mushrooms can be found fresh at many farmers markets and upscale grocery stores, or can even be grown using an easy kit at home. With its meaty texture and mild natural flavor, this mushroom can be enjoyed raw or cooked – its subtly sweet crab-like taste makes them an excellent accompaniment or replacement in salads or other fish-based dishes.
Add some lion’s mane to a soup or salad for an nutty flavor and boost of vitamins! Plus it goes great in sandwiches or toast for lunch; pasta dishes; or for smoothies that provide immunity-boosting power drinks!
Research on lion’s mane supplements is promising, yet more clinical trials must take place to establish their efficacy. One small randomized trial found that taking one daily for 16 weeks improved cognition in older adults; however, the benefits did not remain after treatment had concluded.
Lion’s mane is generally safe to consume as food, though children or anyone with compromised immune systems should avoid taking it raw; doing so can cause gastric upset or intestinal irritation and can trigger allergic reactions in some people – taking supplements in powder form may reduce or eliminate such side effects.

