Reishi mushroom, Ganoderma lucidum or Ganoderma tsugae, is also known as “lingzhi,” which translates to “spiritual/miraculous/sacred/effective” “mushroom” in Chinese. It has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for over 2,000 years and is venerated as the “mushroom of immortality”.

The first textual mentions of reishi date back to the Han dynasty, over 2,000 years ago, when Chinese healers discovered medicinal properties. Ancient Chinese scripts documented the mushroom as an “elixir of immortality”. In addition to these texts, reishi has also shown up in ancient artworks related to Taoism. Going back even further, ancient carvings, paintings, and furniture featuring reishi have been discovered. One of the first texts to document the medicinal value of herbs was Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing, written during the Chinese Han dynasty. Within the book, botanical, zoological, and mineral substances are recorded. Reishi is featured in this text as a mushroom with tonifying effects. In 1596, the Bencao Gangmu, a compendium of medicinal material, was published listing 6 subspecies of reishi with varying medicinal benefits.

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Wild reishi remains a rare commodity, and before people began cultivating and growing it, access was mostly limited to Chinese nobility. As the years went by, it became a staple for many people across all of Asia. Reishi mushroom remains a commonly used traditional medicine across modern-day Asia, and its use in western cultures is drastically growing.  

Reishi is being increasingly used across the world to support general health and wellness. Over 279 bioactive compounds have been isolated from reishi since 2015. It is used to support the immune system, support positive stress management, support restful sleep, support the cardiovascular system and provide antioxidant support. Accordingly, research has been conducted to establish these properties. I will discuss this impressive research in the following sections.

Your immune system functions to fight off illnesses by identifying and seeking out potentially harmful organisms, foreign material, and mutated cells. As you age, your immune system reduces the production of immune cells and causes slower and less effective responses. Reishi contains three major immune supporting substances: triterpenoids, proteins, and polysaccharides like beta-d-glucans.

Reishi is an adaptogen. Adaptogens help the body maintain homeostasis by stabilizing physiological processes related to stress. Adaptogens support the neurological, endocrine, and immune systems and allow a more positive physical response to stress.

Reishi is well known for it's relaxing properties. It has been used as a meditative aid for centuries. If taken in the morning, reishi imparts a calm, collectedness throughout your day. If taken in the evening, reishi helps support restful sleep.

Antioxidants are essential to a healthy immune system. In a 1999 study, terpenes and polysaccharides were isolated from reishi and tested for their antioxidative properties. All samples were shown to have antioxidant activity, with terpenes having the highest activity comparatively. The terpene extract was further studied and found to contain ganoderic acids and lucidenic acid as the major components.

Here at Birch Boys, we only use 100% wild-harvested reishi mushrooms. We harvest our reishi from hemlock trees in the Adirondack Mountains of New York state.

Technically speaking, Red Reishi is a name that can refer to two subspecies of mushrooms, either Ganoderma tsugae or Ganoderma lucidum. G. tsugae is more often found in colder regions, such as the Northeastern United States. G. lucidum prefers warmer climates, such as Asia, South America, and Australia.

That begs the question, which one is better? In short, it depends on the quality of its habitat, among other environmental factors. Despite being recognized as two separate species, comparative analysis suggests that the bioactive components within the two mushrooms fall somewhere between ‘extremely comparable’ and ‘virtually identical’. The informed consensus is that you should worry less about the type of reishi you’re getting and more about where you’re getting it from.

Most Reishi products contain G. lucidum, as it has become highly commercialized. G. lucidum is most often sourced in bulk from Chinese farms that grow their reishi artificially on spawn-logs or from bags of mulch or wood-pulp substrate.

At Birch Boys, we do things differently to offer you the most natural and healthy products. We harvest the North American variant of reishi, G. tsugae, which is commonly referred to as the "Hemlock Bracket" because it grows on fallen hemlock trees. We work with loggers, foresters, and outdoor professionals to sustainably harvest reishi from its natural habitat. Our harvesting domain spans 220,000 acres of North American forest where we have exclusive mushroom foraging rights.

Want to try the fruits of our harvesting efforts? Check out our Wild Reishi Tea or dual-extracted Reishi Tincture.

Quick Tip: If you want to forage for reishi on your own, be sure to practice sustainable harvesting techniques. To do this, make sure that you have waited until after the mushroom has dropped its spores prior to harvesting. You'll know the spores have dropped by observing the dust of rusty-brown spore powder beneath the mushroom. See the image below for an example.

While we know there is so much more we can learn about reishi, one thing is for sure... this "mushroom of immortality" has one of the longest established histories of medicinal use of any mushroom in the world. Reishi has managed to maintain its permanence in Chinese medicine as well as catching on in the western world, where it is reaching new heights through scientific studies.