With the changing of the seasons comes the inevitable shift in many people’s immune systems, often signalling the arrival of a nasty, lingering cold. The body’s immune equilibrium can be easily thrown off by the environmental and climatic variations at this time. Enter the kings of herbal immune defense: medicinal mushrooms. Some of these medicinal mushrooms such as shitake and reishi are quite well-known and popular, but there are many lesser-known yet equally beneficial fungal allies to help our immune systems. The medicinal mushrooms all share the common feature of cell wall polysaccharides—particularly the beta-glucans. These compounds act as “awakeners” of the immune system, activating macrophages and natural killer cells, thereby improving immune function. Singly, all these mushrooms possess this activity, however research also shows that multiple species in combination show a greater effect in immune response than one species at the same dose.

Benefits Beyond Immunity

In addition to the immune system benefits provided by these fungi, each mushroom species generally possesses additional health-promoting compounds. Reishi, for example, is a potent antioxidant as well as a liver protector and cardiovascular tonic. Lion’s Mane mushroom has been shown to stimulate production of Nerve Growth Factor, helping to regenerate neurons and thus improve neurological function. This exciting compound has applications for Alzheimer’s disease as well as general brain health. Cordyceps has been found to improve adrenal, kidney and lung function, benefiting asthma and nephritis among other conditions. As mentioned above, combinations of these mushrooms impart the most benefits, and Evergreen carries several respected companies’ products.

Familiar Favorites

The very popular New Chapter Lifeshield mushroom products, long out of stock, have very recently made a return. Their Immune Support blend contains seven mushrooms including Reishi, Turkey Tail and Chaga. This is also certified non-GMO, certified organic, gluten free and vegan. No shelf of medicinal mushroom products would be complete without Washington state’s Host Defense line and their flagship product, Stamets 7. Also containing seven mushrooms, including Royal Sun Agaricus, Lion’s Mane and Maitake, this formula was designed as a daily or general immune support blend. MyCommunity is a more comprehensive immune support blend containing 17 species.

Introducing Myco-Immunity

New to the market from the venerable HealthForce company comes Myco-Immunity, a blend of four revered immune-modulating mushrooms, hot-water extracted in the manner of Traditional Chinese Medicine to assure bioavailabilty of compounds. Healthforce guarantees at least 25% beta-glucans and the mushrooms are wood-grown so as to not contain fermented grain from the substrate. This product is non-GMO, gluten free and organic and is available in vegan capsules or powder form (which makes a flavorful addition to pizza, sauces and other savory dishes). Myco-Immunity is on sale for 20% off through the end of 2015, so it is a good time to support your body’s immune defenses with these wonderful medicinal mushroom products.

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