Ganoderma applanatum, commonly referred to as Reishi Tea, is an ancient medicinal mushroom with anti-inflammatory and immune-enhancing properties that has long been revered. While many take these mushrooms in capsule form, you can make your own delicious and healing tea by steeping dried Reishi mushrooms in hot water – this easy recipe offers another simple and convenient way of adding Reishi into your daily regimen!

To achieve maximum effectiveness from your reishi, it is ideal to prepare it as a decoction instead of simply steeping, though simmering it for hours or even days as is traditional in Chinese schools of medicine may still bring additional benefits. This is because one of its primary active constituents, myco-beta-glucans, are very insoluble in water and become bioavailable only upon prolonged heat exposure.

Reishi is an effective antioxidant supplement that can assist with weight loss, improve mental clarity and cardiovascular wellbeing, protect against cancer, treat inflammation-based diseases such as arthritis and reduce anxiety. Furthermore, Reishi acts as an adaptogen – helping your body adapt to stress and change how it functions – making it an excellent supplement choice for anyone, especially those living with fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome.

Ganoderma extracts have been utilized in several studies to investigate their therapeutic properties and molecular mechanisms of action. Joseph, Sabulal, George, Smina and Janardhanan (2009) discovered that an aqueous and alkaline extract of Ganoderma lucidum could reduce nystatin-induced rat paw edema, Freund’s adjuvant-induced arthritis, and carrageenan-induced gastrointestinal ulcers in mice due to inhibited neutrophil migration as well as COX-2 expression as well as expression of COX-2 TNF-a iNOS and IL-6 in LPS-stimulated macrophages by this mushroom extracts.

Ganoderma extraction techniques depend on the polarity of both its solvent and material to be extracted [69]. Water extraction with alcohol precipitation is usually employed, though other techniques like dilute acids, alkali solutions or salts may also be utilized depending on material to solution ratio, temperature and extraction time – all factors which contribute to producing an extract yield of desired quality.