Medicinal Mushrooms

Reishi in Chinese texts

A 2026 review of mushrooms used in dietary supplements states that reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) has a documented history of use spanning more than 2000 years. It reports that the oldest written evidence of reishi, dated to 25 to 220 AD, is found in the Shennong Bencao Jing, a text that the review says draws on earlier oral knowledge. It adds that the Ming dynasty compendium Bencao Gangmu, written by Li Shizhen, describes reishi as eaten by deities to attain immortality.

These dates and attributions come from a secondary review and not from a translation of the original texts. The Shennong Bencao Jing is a layered compilation, and the sources opened for this page do not examine how its mushroom entries were dated or which fungus the historical name refers to. The Cochrane review of reishi for cancer repeats the general statement that the mushroom has been used in Asia for over 2000 years, which is not independent confirmation of continuous use.

Turkey tail in Chinese and Japanese medicine

The same review states that turkey tail (Trametes versicolor) holds a prominent status as a medicinal mushroom in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine. It gives the Chinese name as Yunzhi and the Japanese name as Kawaratake, which it translates as mushroom by the riverbank. The review does not give a dated first record for turkey tail in the passages opened.

Movement into the wellness market

A review of integrative oncology notes that medicinal mushrooms are widely used in East Asia, including in complementary cancer care, and that interest has grown in Western countries. A cancer center's herb-information website reported that chaga, reishi and Coriolus versicolor were among its ten most searched supplements of 2018. A study of the Italian market reports that medicinal mushrooms in Europe are mainly sold as food supplements and that large-scale cultivation takes place mainly in China. The sources reviewed give no dated sales figures for the global market.

Common names and species

The term medicinal mushrooms, also functional mushrooms, covers many species sold for health purposes. Reishi and lingzhi are names for Ganoderma lucidum in the Cochrane review. Lion's mane is Hericium erinaceus, called Yamabushitake in a Japanese trial. Turkey tail is Trametes versicolor, and PSK (polysaccharide-K, also called polysaccharide-Kureha) is a preparation derived from it that is used in oncology research. Cordyceps, chaga, shiitake and maitake are other species named in reviews of this field.

Species naming on products is not always reliable. In an Italian study, DNA sequencing matched the labeled species in only 6 of 19 supplement samples, and samples labeled as Ganoderma lucidum had sequences closer to Ganoderma resinaceum and Ganoderma sichuanense.

Fruiting bodies, mycelium and extracts

Reviews distinguish products made from the fruiting body (the visible mushroom) from those made from mycelium, the fungal growth that can be cultured on grain or in liquid. Lion's mane research, for example, describes bioactive compounds from both fruiting bodies and mycelia. A 2026 review lists lack of extract standardization as a fundamental challenge, noting that studies use very different materials, and it describes AHCC as a standardized extract of cultured shiitake mycelia.

This page does not cover mushrooms taken for psychedelic effects. That subject has its own Machipedia page, Psilocybin Mushroom Ceremonies. The research, history and product studies summarized on this page concern the supplement species named above.

Product forms

Products described in the sources include dried mushroom powder in capsules or tablets, extracts, and traditionally boiled preparations. A Thai pathology report notes that its two patients had taken boiled reishi without any toxic effect before switching to powder. A Japanese trial used tablets of dried lion's mane powder, and the Cochrane review of reishi describes the use of its extract.

In the United States and Italy, mushroom products are sold as dietary or food supplements, and the studies of those markets found that contents varied from what labels stated. This page gives no doses or product advice.

Relationship to other Machipedia pages

Medicinal Mushrooms is a member of the wider family described on the Dietary Supplements page, and that page covers supplement categories in general. Mushrooms are also used within Herbal Medicine and in Traditional Chinese Medicine, where reishi and turkey tail have the historical records described above. Some practitioners place mushroom products within Nutritional Therapy, although the sources reviewed here do not describe that practice.

Traditional and marketed uses

A review states that reishi has a documented history of use in conditions including hypertension, diabetes and insomnia. The Cochrane review describes reishi as widely used and recommended by Asian physicians and naturopaths for its supporting effects on the immune system. Lion's mane is promoted for cognition and mood, and a systematic review of the mushroom lists neuroprotection, gut health and mood among the topics studied.

Use alongside conventional care

In integrative oncology settings, mushrooms are taken alongside conventional treatment. Reviews of that use focus on quality of life, side effects of treatment and immune measures. These are the aims described in the literature, and not outcomes the sources establish. The reviews themselves state that evidence for most uses remains limited.

Reishi and cancer

A Cochrane review (Jin and colleagues, 2016) found five randomized trials of Ganoderma lucidum in people with cancer. No trial recorded long-term survival. Pooled data suggested that people given reishi with chemotherapy or radiotherapy were more likely to respond than those given the conventional treatment alone (relative risk 1.50; 95% confidence interval 0.90 to 2.51), and that some immune cell measures rose slightly. The authors rated the methodological quality as generally unsatisfying and found insufficient evidence to justify reishi as a first-line cancer treatment.

Reishi and cardiovascular risk factors

A Cochrane review (Klupp and colleagues, 2015) included five trials with 398 participants. Pooled analyses covered three trials in people with type 2 diabetes, comparing reishi with placebo for 12 to 16 weeks. They found no statistically or clinically significant change in HbA1c, cholesterol or body mass index, and no significant differences in blood pressure or triglycerides. Post-prandial glucose results were inconsistent. The authors concluded that the evidence does not support reishi for these risk factors in type 2 diabetes.

Turkey tail and PSK

A 2017 systematic review and network meta-analysis of PSK in gastrointestinal cancer pooled 23 randomized trials with 10,684 patients. Its authors report higher overall and disease-free survival with PSK, most clearly in colorectal and gastric cancer and when combined with chemotherapy, and no increase in side effects. A 2023 systematic review of mushroom studies in cancer care reported a survival benefit in four gastric cancer studies of adjuvant PSK but judged the evidence inconclusive for routine use, citing small samples and non-randomized designs.

Lion's mane and cognition

A double-blind trial (Mori and colleagues, 2009) randomized 30 Japanese adults aged 50 to 80 with mild cognitive impairment to lion's mane or placebo for 16 weeks. The mushroom group scored higher on a cognitive scale at weeks 8, 12 and 16, and scores fell after intake stopped. A 2025 systematic review found five randomized trials and three pilot trials in total, mostly small, so the evidence base remains limited.

Cordyceps and other mushrooms

A PubMed search for systematic reviews of Cordyceps sinensis and the CS-4 strain returned no results, and no controlled trial of cordyceps was opened for this page. A review of oncology trials covered eight randomized trials of five mushroom types and judged quality generally unsatisfying. Another reviewed 12 mushroom preparations and found small, often observational studies.

Liver injury reports

A Thai report describes fatal fulminant hepatitis after reishi mushroom powder, noting a similar case in Hong Kong in 2004. Both patients had also taken other agents and had previously used boiled reishi without a toxic episode. A 2023 case report describes acute hepatitis in a 47-year-old man who had taken reishi powder with alcohol; it resolved within two weeks with conservative treatment. These are individual reports and do not establish frequency or cause.

Other adverse events and interactions

In trials, adverse events were generally mild. The reishi cancer review noted nausea and insomnia in one study, a 2023 review of cancer studies reported mostly grade 2 or lower events such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, and a lion's mane review lists stomach discomfort, headache and allergic reactions as uncommonly reported effects. An integrative oncology review reported lower platelet counts in some cases. A Japanese review of case reports in cancer patients noted that allergic mechanisms predominated and that mushroom products were mostly involved.

Reviewers describe the safety data and the drug interactions of mushroom products as inadequately studied. The sources opened for this page do not report specific findings for anticoagulants or immunosuppressants.

Product quality and contamination

An analysis of 19 reishi supplement batches bought in the United States found that the measured triterpenes and polysaccharides matched labels in only 5 (26.3 percent), and the authors judged quality consistency poor. The Italian study found that labeled species and beta-glucan content often did not match, and it reported contaminants in some products, having tested for mycotoxins and heavy metals among other measures.

Care boundaries

Mushroom supplements are not a substitute for diagnosis or treatment, and they should not delay necessary care. The Cochrane reviewers advise that reishi extract be used judiciously with attention to cost and preference, and an oncology review calls for urgent study of safety and interactions. The oncology reviews present mushroom use as an addition to conventional treatment, which places it within the care of the treating team.