All-natural non-prescription mushroom supplements may provide a wealth of benefits for those of us who need to relax but who have a difficult time relaxing. Read on for some insights into the best mushrooms for relaxation.
While stress and the inability to relax seem to be modern byproducts of our hyper-stimulated lifestyles, ancient wisdom might offer the solution to our unsettled state of being by way of mushrooms for relaxation.
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Mushrooms have been used in Asian cultures for thousands of years to heal almost every condition known to humanity. From cancer to mood disorders, mushrooms have been harvested as potential treatments for many age-old conditions. Today, these all-natural powerhouses of potent nutrients might offer a better, more viable option than conventional approaches to taking the edge off (like alcohol or prescription drugs). Mushrooms for relaxation are more readily available and tastier than ever before.
Which mushrooms for relaxation are best?
Figuring out which mushrooms for relaxation are best can be overwhelming for the average consumer. Considering how vast the mushroom world is and the complex natures of many health conditions, this decision might be challenging. However, a few time-tested specimens of mushroom magic have produced reportable results as mushrooms for relaxation.
Reishi, ‘the queen of mushrooms’
Reishi, the queen of mushrooms, has proven to be an effective remedy for stress-related symptoms like sleeplessness. In China it is called Lingzhi or ‘divine longevity,’ and has been deemed the ‘elixir of immortality’ due to its ability to detoxify the liver, increase cardiac output, enhance cognitive function, boost immunity, and aid in the body’s ability to adapt and regulate stressors.
Many medicinal mushrooms are adaptogens. Adaptogens are natural substances that help the body’s vital organs normalize and respond to stress, anxiety, fatigue, and overall well-being. Prolonged stress subjects your cells and organs to oxidative stress and contributes to the proliferation of chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and more. Incorporating adaptogens into your diet (like mushrooms for relaxation) can mitigate the effects of free radicals and induce a more relaxed state of well-being.
How the medicine is cultivated
Don’t let the large, reddish, fan-shape of the Reishi mushroom with its hard, glossy exterior and woody texture fool you; it’s full of robust relaxation ingredients. Direct from nature, Reishi mushrooms for relaxation won’t work; they are indigestible to humans due to the hard chitin they contain. However, through a double-extraction process that incorporates hot water and alcohol, the medicinal compounds can be released and made into tinctures, powders, capsules, or gummies. Then, voila, she’s ready to eat.
There are other mushrooms for relaxation that you can use to supplement your diet for medicinal purposes. Most, if not all, medicinal mushrooms can have a positive effect on a host of health issues. They are non-binary cures for the body’s overall ecosystem. Furthermore, mushrooms often influence more than one bodily function due to their highly receptive and informed germination.
What gives mushrooms their magic?
Mushrooms are born out of the mycelium, a dense superhighway of microscopic fibers beneath the earth’s surface. The mycelium carries natural plant-based goodness that has the potential to heal and cure illness as well as provide the necessary support to its surrounding hosts. Without the fruiting body that is the mushroom, life as we know it would not exist. That’s why it makes sense these funky fungi are fantastic options for supporting our overall health.
Reishi is rich in beta-glucan, a plant sterol that acts as a precursor to hormones that may help to down-regulate the nervous system and bring it back to homeostasis. This makes Reishi an ideal mushroom for relaxation. These mushrooms also contain polysaccharides, which help to protect DNA and block cell mutations while preserving cellular health. (This is good for cancer prevention.) You can also find triterpenes in Reishi. Triterpenes are acidic substances that turn off the body’s response to allergies.
Other mushrooms for relaxation
If athletic performance and/or sexual performance are sources of stress for you, Cordyceps might be a good choice. Cordyceps is purported as a mushroom for relaxation due to its ability to return your life force, Qi (or increase your ATP production). It’s a long, club-shaped mushroom that lives off caterpillars. Aside from its parasitic ways, it’s most notably known for improving athletic performance and has even been coined ‘Himalayan Viagra.’ In addition, ingesting it may help with feelings of vitality and cardiac output, which may induce a sense of well-being.
If lack of focus is a factor in your inability to take the edge off and achieve your goals, the fluffy Lion’s Mane mushroom might be the mushroom for you. It is a medicinal and edible mushroom also classified as a nootropic. The shaggy, mane-like appearance of Lion’s Mane accounts for its name and this helpful fungus is credited with stimulating mental function and the growth of brain cells. It’s widely used in nutritional supplements to help with cognition and the fortification of one’s life Qi.
Mushrooms For Relaxation: Supplements That Can Help is an original (HerHealthWatch) article.
The mushroom world offers many elixirs
For whatever stressor you might be experiencing, there is a mushroom that can help. However, the three aforementioned fungi are the most popular and widely used mushrooms for relaxation in ancient Eastern medicine. But if centuries of use don’t convince you that a mushroom can save you some suffering (or you’re concerned about taste), you might want to try westernized versions of these mushrooms for relaxation.
Western twist on Eastern elixirs
Troop, an up-and-coming nutritional supplement company, has melded modern and ancient traditions in their line of mushroom-infused gummies. Founders Stephanie Moyal and Jake Mellman are “all about the mush life,” and “on a mission to demystify mushrooms and make them approachable.” For Western palettes, a cute mushroom-shaped gummy that is berry-flavored seems like the wisest way to make that happen.
Troop’s philosophy takes cues from the aforementioned mycelial network, that vast underground root structure that connects multiple ecosystems and transmits potent medicinal properties through its microscopic fibers far and wide. This underground matrix connects pretty much every living system and can be an extremely responsive contributor to the needs of a specific ecosystem. Tapping into that nutritional matrix may help to create a healthier you and therefore a healthier world by way of responsible and renewable sources that reinforce our undeniable connectedness.
This isn’t hocus-pocus; it’s proven science. None of the mushrooms mentioned here contain psilocybin, the psychoactive chemical compound found in other species of mushrooms known to produce a hallucinogenic effect. Medicinal mushrooms like Reishi can be taken daily without fear or concern about tripping out. Instead, they just might be the best mushrooms for relaxation currently available.
Many benefits of mushrooms
Either way, it’s clear those funky-looking members of the fungi kingdom that dot the forest floor with their interesting shapes and colors are powerhouses of all kinds of medicinal ingredients. For centuries, they have been harvested by cultures all over the world to address almost every ailment or condition that is out there. From stress to infertility, cancer, heart function, inflammation, and cognition, mushrooms have been ingested as a potential treatment for almost everything, particularly the most prevalent and pervasive disorder of today: stress.
Try mushrooms for relaxation
If you are suffering from sleeplessness and having a hard time getting into a restful and relaxed state, ingesting some mushrooms for relaxation may be a wise option. They are a natural, safe, and plant-based alternative to other types of relaxants, such as alcohol or prescription medications. Perhaps tapping into this highly informed network of nutritional knowledge can help you achieve a bit of enlightenment by way of the mushroom.
National Library of Medicine: Ganoderma lucidum (Lingzhi or Reishi), A Medicinal Mushroom
Harvard Health: Mushrooms
AARM: Neurological Activity of Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus)
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.
