Functional mushrooms are known for their immense range of health benefits, and they’re rising stars in the health supplement world. We’ll discuss the connection between mushrooms and COVID and give you some great reasons to try functional mushrooms.
Our experience with the COVID pandemic encourages a communal mindset to pay closer attention to our everyday immune health. The immune system and its proper function to fight off harmful, foreign invaders is an imperative mechanism to help keep you at your healthiest. Although strengthening your immune system does not guarantee the prevention of contracting the COVID virus, it generally equips it to recognize and respond to pathogens, including viruses like SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID). We will discuss the connection between functional mushrooms, like Reishi and Turkey Tail, and the immune system with their relations to COVID below.
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The connection between mushrooms and COVID:
1. Immune modulation
The immune system is the body’s primary defense mechanism against infectious agents: fighting disease-causing germs called pathogens, removing them from the body, and recognizing and neutralizing harmful environmental substances. Before becoming popularized in Western cultures in the health supplement world, functional mushrooms were used for centuries in Eastern cultures for their many health benefits, including immune system support. Functional mushrooms like Reishi and Turkey Tail contain bioactive compounds, including beta-glucans, polysaccharides, and triterpenoids, which may stimulate your immune system to recognize and destroy pathogens.
The connection between mushrooms and COVID:
2. Anti-inflammatory
Inflammation and immunity are closely interconnected in your body, with inflammatory mediators being a natural response of the immune system to remove pathogens, initiate tissue repair, and restore homeostasis. However, chronic inflammation may elicit harmful effects on immune function, leading to tissue damage and possibly an overactive immune response. The beta-glucans present in functional mushrooms may have anti-inflammatory properties. Reishi mushrooms may reduce inflammatory responses, while the Krestin (PSK) and polysaccharide peptides (PSP) in Turkey Tail mushrooms may also contain anti-inflammatory properties.
The connection between mushrooms and COVID:
3. Stress response
Many functional mushrooms contain adaptogenic properties alongside their medicinal benefits. Adaptogenic mushroom supplements are often used in Western cultures as a natural way to “adapt” the body when stress is introduced. Adaptogens appear to normalize cortisol levels in the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (HPA). Cortisol is a hormone that increases when the body is introduced to physical, chemical, and biological stressors.
Recently, much research has been conducted on the relationship between chronic stress and immune function. Studies reveal that high cortisol levels for extended periods may suppress your immune system by preventing the production of inflammatory mediators.
The connection between mushrooms and COVID:
4. Antioxidants
Functional mushrooms contain an abundance of antioxidants. Antioxidants maintain a crucial role in the overall health of your immune system. Antioxidants prevent cells from being damaged by free radicals: unstable molecules that increase oxidative stress in the body. Excessive oxidative stress may lead to the dysfunction of immune cells and impair the immune system’s ability to defend against pathogens effectively.
The connection between mushrooms and COVID:
5. Respiratory support
Certain functional mushrooms like Reishi have been traditionally used in Eastern cultures for respiratory conditions. Studies show these natural substances’ anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and immune-modulating benefits may contribute to respiratory health. Although research in this area is limited to animal or laboratory studies, hopefully, further research will be conducted to show precisely how the bioactive compounds in these mushrooms may support respiratory health. Possible benefits include minimizing the COVID symptoms that may impair the respiratory system, including shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.
The connection between mushrooms and COVID:
Supplemental support
The immune system is our vital ally in combating illness. Although COVID may affect your body even if you have strong immunity, the upkeep of your immune health may assist in navigating this virus. Daily supplements are one way to access immune system support from functional mushrooms. You can easily access the natural support of these forest botanicals through daily, easy-to-take pills, capsules, powders, or even gummies.
As the benefits of functional mushrooms are identified in the Western world, the supplement market is exploding with multitudes of products containing misleading qualities. Many products contain vast amounts of fillers with little to no active compounds, often including the grain substrate that the mushrooms are grown on within the formula, labeling it the mushroom product. These fillers yield a diluted product with far fewer active ingredients than promised. In 2017, Nature conducted a study on Reishi supplements and found that 74% of the products were inauthentic mushroom substances, with 68% containing fillers.
Real Mushrooms is a company combating this trend. This standout company is founded on providing quality research and products. They aim for consumers to access all the information they need to demand the highest quality mushroom products. Real Mushrooms creates only 100% pure organic mushroom extracts, like Reishi and Turkey Tail, with no added grain substrates or fillers and >20% beta-glucans in each formula.
According to founder Skye Chilton, “Real Mushrooms is driven by the desire to deliver the best possible functional mushroom extracts in their purest form, without any carriers or grain fillers. We strive to make sure our products are analyzed for the important medicinal compounds like beta-glucans and are consistent with the existing body of mushroom research.This ultimately means that when you try our mushroom products, you will have the best possibility to experience the unique benefits that these mushrooms have to offer.”
Final words
COVID has inspired us to pay closer attention to our immune health and seek out natural ways to support our capacity to resist disease. The immune system is our vital ally in the survival against illness. Combining a strong immune system with other preventative measures like a healthy lifestyle is essential to protect yourself from COVID. Functional mushrooms offer a healthy means of supporting our immunity while providing many other health benefits. Although research into functional mushrooms is ongoing, hopefully, we will continue seeing the benefits they bring to the body’s immune system and many other systems.
Further reading for additional reference:
Johns Hopkins: The Immune System
Nature: Stress and immunity-the circuit makes the difference
VeryWell Health: What is Beta Glucan?
Important Note: The information contained in this article is for general informational purposes only, and should not be construed as health or medical advice, nor is it intended to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure any disease or health condition. Before embarking on any diet, fitness regimen, or program of nutritional supplementation, it is advisable to consult your healthcare professional in order to determine its safety and probable efficacy in terms of your individual state of health.
Regarding Nutritional Supplements Or Other Non-Prescription Health Products: If any nutritional supplements or other non-prescription health products are mentioned in the foregoing article, any claims or statements made about them have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and such nutritional supplements or other health products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
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