Reishi and Cordyceps: Functional Mushrooms Under the Evidence Lens

Scroll through any wellness feed this spring and you will meet a glossy red mushroom promising calmer nights, a tougher immune system and, in one widely shared clip, “the energy of a 25-year-old.” Reishi has gone from a dusty jar in a herbalist’s shop to a gummy, a coffee powder and a canned drink. Cordyceps, the orange fungus that grows on insect larvae in the Himalayas, is riding the same wave, with athletes crediting it for a quicker climb up the stairs.

As of spring 2025 the trend is driven less by new science than by new packaging. The sturdiest trials on reishi mushroom benefits are more than a decade old, and the most-cited systematic reviews were published in 2015 and 2016. What has changed is how loudly the claims are made.

So this is an evidence lens, not a sales sheet: what these two mushrooms contain, what studies in people actually measured, and where the gaps are.

Why are reishi mushroom benefits trending right now?

Three things collided. First, “functional mushroom” products moved from specialist shops into mainstream groceries and coffee chains, which put reishi and cordyceps in front of people who had never heard the word adaptogen. An adaptogen is a loosely defined marketing term for a plant or fungus said to help the body cope with stress; it is not a recognized medical category.

Second, sleep became the wellness topic of the decade, and reishi’s traditional reputation in East Asian medicine as a calming, “spirit-settling” herb fitted that story perfectly. Third, short-form video rewards confident, specific promises, and a 60-second clip rarely has room for the phrase “in a trial of 32 people.”

None of this is new to clinicians who follow supplements. Reishi, known scientifically as Ganoderma lucidum and in Chinese as lingzhi, has been studied for immune effects since the 1970s. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, part of the NIH, has long advised consumers that “natural” does not mean safe and that supplement claims are not reviewed for accuracy before products reach shelves.

What matters most for a reader is this: popularity and evidence are moving in opposite directions. The products are multiplying faster than the trials. That gap is where misunderstandings grow, so the rest of this article sorts the claims by how well they are supported, starting with what has actually changed in the record and what has not.

What changed recently in the reishi and cordyceps evidence?

Less than the headlines suggest. The two most rigorous summaries of reishi in people remain Cochrane systematic reviews. A systematic review is a study that gathers every eligible trial on a question and weighs them together, and Cochrane reviews are considered a benchmark for that method.

In 2015, a Cochrane team examined reishi for cardiovascular risk factors in adults with type 2 diabetes or high cholesterol. Five randomized controlled trials met their criteria, together involving roughly 400 participants followed for 12 to 16 weeks. The reviewers found no convincing evidence that reishi improved blood glucose, blood pressure or cholesterol, and judged the trials small and at risk of bias.

In 2016, the Cochrane review of reishi as a cancer treatment was updated. It included five trials with a combined 373 participants. Reishi was always given alongside conventional chemotherapy or radiotherapy, never alone. Some trials reported higher response rates and changes in white blood cell counts, but the authors rated the evidence quality low and concluded that reishi should not be used in place of standard treatment.

Since then, the literature has grown mostly through laboratory work on isolated compounds, small trials in China and Japan, and animal studies. For cordyceps, the human record is thinner still, built on a handful of exercise trials and studies of a cultured strain in kidney disease.

Regulation has not shifted either. In the United States both mushrooms are sold as dietary supplements under the 1994 supplement law, which means they are not approved to treat any condition and manufacturers, not the FDA, are responsible for safety before marketing. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements explains this framework in plain language.

What are reishi and cordyceps, and what do they contain?

Reishi is a woody, kidney-shaped shelf fungus with a varnished red cap. You cannot eat it fresh; it is as tough as cork and intensely bitter, which is why it has always been brewed as a decoction or ground into powder. Modern products use either the fruiting body (the mushroom you can see) or the mycelium (the thread-like root network), often grown on grain. The distinction matters because mycelium-on-grain products can contain large amounts of starch and far fewer of the compounds studied in trials.

Two families of molecules carry most of the scientific interest. Beta-glucans are long chains of sugar molecules found in fungal cell walls; in laboratory studies they bind to receptors on immune cells and can nudge those cells into a more active state. Triterpenes, including a group called ganoderic acids, are the compounds responsible for reishi’s bitterness, and in cell and animal studies they show anti-inflammatory and liver-related effects.

Cordyceps is a different organism altogether. The wild species, Ophiocordyceps sinensis, parasitizes caterpillar larvae high in the Tibetan plateau and is now so scarce that most supplements use either a cultured mycelium strain known as Cs-4 or a related species, Cordyceps militaris, grown on grain. Its signature compound is cordycepin, a molecule that resembles the building block adenosine, plus its own beta-glucans.

Here is the honest caveat that every product label skips: the amount of beta-glucan or triterpene in a capsule varies enormously by species, growing method and extraction. Two bottles labeled “reishi” can be chemically quite different, which is one reason trial results are hard to generalize to the jar in your kitchen.

What the evidence actually says: grading the reishi mushroom benefits

Evidence comes in tiers. Randomized controlled trials, where people are assigned by chance to the mushroom or a placebo, sit at the top. Observational studies, which watch what people choose to take, come next and cannot prove cause. Animal and test-tube studies sit below that, and expert opinion or tradition below those. Grading each reishi claim by that ladder gives a sobering picture.

Immune function. Several small randomized trials, mostly in people undergoing cancer treatment, found changes in immune cell counts or activity. Whether those lab changes translated into fewer infections or better survival was not shown. Grade: low-quality trial evidence for surrogate markers, no evidence for hard outcomes.

Fatigue and quality of life. A few trials in cancer patients and one in people with fibromyalgia reported improvements in fatigue or well-being scores. Trials were short, small and often not blinded. Grade: very low to low.

Blood pressure, glucose and lipids. The 2015 Cochrane review found no reliable benefit. Grade: low-quality evidence of no effect.

Sleep and anxiety. No adequately powered randomized trial in healthy adults with insomnia has been published. Supporting data are traditional use, a few animal experiments and small Asian trials of combination products. Grade: tradition and animal data only.

Liver protection. Lab and animal studies suggest antioxidant effects, yet human case reports link some reishi products to liver injury. Grade: contradictory, inadequate.

Cordyceps follows a similar pattern: small exercise trials with mixed findings and modest kidney studies of uncertain quality. The gap between a plausible mechanism and a proven benefit is exactly where most functional-mushroom marketing lives.

Can reishi strengthen the immune system or help during cancer treatment?

This is reishi’s most studied claim and also its most misunderstood. The idea that a food can “boost” immunity is itself a simplification; a healthy immune system is balanced, not maximized, and an overactive one causes autoimmune disease and allergies.

What the trials measured were markers: numbers of natural killer cells, levels of signaling proteins called cytokines, and the activity of white blood cells in a lab dish after participants took reishi extract for several weeks. In the 2016 Cochrane review, people receiving reishi alongside chemotherapy were more likely to show these changes than those on chemotherapy alone, and in some trials more likely to have their tumor respond on imaging.

Why does that not settle the question? Because the trials were small, some did not describe how participants were randomized, and none was large enough to show whether anyone lived longer or had fewer infections. The reviewers also noted that reishi did not shrink tumors on its own in any study. Their conclusion was carefully worded: reishi might be a useful addition to conventional treatment because of possible effects on immune markers and quality of life, but the evidence is weak and it is not an alternative to standard care.

For a reader with cancer, that translates into one practical rule. Any mushroom supplement should be discussed with the oncology team before it is started, because some extracts can interact with chemotherapy drugs, affect blood counts or complicate blood clotting around procedures. Oncologists are used to this question and generally prefer to be asked rather than surprised.

For a healthy adult hoping to avoid winter colds, no trial has tested that outcome. The honest answer is that we do not know.

Does reishi make you sleepy? Reishi for sleep and stress

The sleep story is the one that sells the gummies, so it deserves a close look. Reishi’s traditional name in Chinese medicine, lingzhi, translates loosely as “spirit mushroom,” and classical texts describe it as calming the mind. That history is real. The clinical evidence is not yet there.

In rodents, reishi extracts have been shown to lengthen sleep time and increase non-REM sleep, the deeper, slower phase of the sleep cycle. One proposed mechanism involves the gut microbiome influencing signaling in the brain; another points to triterpenes acting on receptors that quiet nerve activity. These are interesting leads from animal work, which historically predicts human results poorly in sleep research.

In people, the data consist of a few small trials, mostly from China, often using reishi combined with other herbs and often without a placebo group. No well-designed randomized trial in adults with diagnosed insomnia has measured objective sleep with overnight monitoring and found a clear benefit from reishi alone.

So does reishi make you sleepy? Some people report feeling drowsy or relaxed after taking it, and drowsiness appears among the side effects noted in clinical sources. That is worth knowing if you drive or operate machinery after an evening dose. It is not the same as treating a sleep disorder.

The same caution applies to stress. Reishi is marketed as an adaptogen, but no validated biological test defines adaptogenic activity, and trials measuring cortisol or anxiety scores in healthy adults are scarce. If sleep or anxiety is a persistent problem, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia and a conversation with a clinician have far stronger evidence behind them than any mushroom.

Reishi for blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol

Metabolic claims are where reishi has been tested most rigorously, and where it has performed least impressively. The logic sounded good: triterpenes relax blood vessels in isolated tissue, and polysaccharides improve insulin sensitivity in diabetic mice. Marketers took those findings and built a “heart health” shelf around them.

The 2015 Cochrane review set a higher bar. It included only randomized trials in adults who already had type 2 diabetes or high cholesterol and lasted at least 12 weeks. Across five trials, reishi did not reliably lower fasting glucose or long-term glucose (measured as HbA1c, the average blood sugar over about three months), did not lower blood pressure, and produced inconsistent changes in cholesterol. One trial reported improvement in HDL, the protective cholesterol fraction, but others did not. The reviewers judged the overall certainty low and called for larger, better-designed studies.

Since then a few more small trials have appeared, some reporting modest reductions in triglycerides or inflammatory markers over eight to twelve weeks. None has been large enough or long enough to change the overall verdict. Compare that with the evidence base for lifestyle measures the American Heart Association recommends, where reductions in blood pressure from dietary sodium limits or regular aerobic activity have been shown in trials involving tens of thousands of people.

There is also a safety wrinkle. Because reishi may have mild effects on blood pressure and blood sugar in some people, it could add to the effect of prescribed medicines for those conditions. That is not a reason to panic, but it is a reason to mention reishi to whoever manages your prescriptions, especially if you monitor your glucose or blood pressure at home and notice readings drifting lower than usual.

Cordyceps benefits: can it really improve energy and endurance?

Cordyceps owes its modern fame to a 1993 story: Chinese distance runners broke world records and their coach credited, among other things, a cordyceps tonic. The runners were later linked to doping scandals, but the mushroom’s reputation survived.

The scientific case rests on a plausible idea. Cordycepin and related compounds resemble adenosine, a molecule involved in cellular energy transfer, and animal studies show increased ATP production and better oxygen use in muscle. The question is whether a human athlete can measure the difference.

Human trials are few and small. A randomized, placebo-controlled study of healthy adults in their 50s to 70s who took the cultured Cs-4 strain for 12 weeks reported a modest improvement in metabolic threshold, a measure of how hard someone can exercise before lactate accumulates, but no significant change in VO2 max, the gold-standard measure of aerobic capacity. In contrast, trials in young trained cyclists and endurance athletes have generally found no performance benefit over placebo. A small trial of a mushroom blend containing cordyceps reported improved time to exhaustion after three weeks, but the blend makes attribution impossible.

The fairest summary of cordyceps benefits for exercise is this: possible small effects in older or sedentary adults, no demonstrated effect in trained athletes, and no trial large enough to be sure of either.

Cordyceps has also been studied in chronic kidney disease, mostly in China, where a cultured product is used alongside standard treatment. A Cochrane review of those trials found that cordyceps might improve some lab measures such as creatinine, but rated the evidence very low in quality because of poor reporting and short follow-up. For the kidneys, as for the lungs and libido, the claims run well ahead of the data.

Is Lion's Mane or reishi better? A functional mushroom comparison

People searching “Is Lion’s Mane or reishi better” are usually asking which to buy, but the honest answer is that they are being marketed for different things and none has strong human evidence. Lion’s mane (Hericium erinaceus) is a white, shaggy edible mushroom whose compounds, hericenones and erinacines, stimulate production of nerve growth factor in laboratory cells. A handful of small trials in older adults with mild cognitive impairment reported better scores on memory tests after several months, with scores falling again after stopping. The trials were tiny and need replication.

The table below lays the three side by side, graded on the same evidence ladder used throughout this article.

Mushroom	Main marketed claim	Key compounds	Best human evidence	Evidence grade	Notable cautions
Reishi	Immunity, sleep, stress	Beta-glucans, triterpenes	Small RCTs on immune markers in cancer patients; Cochrane reviews find low-quality evidence	Low to very low	Bleeding risk with blood thinners; rare liver injury reports; possible drowsiness
Cordyceps	Energy, endurance, kidneys	Cordycepin, beta-glucans	Small RCTs on exercise measures with mixed results; low-quality kidney trials	Low to very low	Possible effects on blood sugar and clotting; wild products often adulterated
Lion’s mane	Memory, focus, nerve health	Hericenones, erinacines	A few small RCTs in mild cognitive impairment	Very low	Rare allergic reactions; theoretical bleeding risk

Notice that the “evidence grade” column reads the same way for all three. That is not a dismissal; it means the question remains genuinely open. If a clear winner existed, it would appear in clinical guidelines, and none of these mushrooms does. Choosing between them is therefore a matter of which claim you care about, how you tolerate the product, and what else you are taking.

What happens if you take reishi every day?

Most of what we know about daily reishi comes from trials lasting a few weeks to a few months, so the first honest statement is that long-term daily use has not been formally studied in large groups of people.

Within that window, the picture is reassuring but not spotless. The most commonly reported effects are mild: dry mouth or throat, an upset stomach, dizziness, skin rash or itching, and nosebleeds. Some people describe drowsiness. Trials that tracked blood tests over several months generally found no consistent harm to liver or kidney function at the amounts studied.

Two rarer problems deserve attention. Liver injury has been described in published case reports, typically in people taking powdered reishi products for weeks, with recovery after stopping. Whether the mushroom itself, a contaminant or an unusual individual reaction was responsible is often unclear. The second concern is bleeding. Reishi triterpenes reduce platelet clumping in laboratory tests, and clinical sources advise caution for anyone with a bleeding disorder or an upcoming operation.

There is also a quality question that grows larger the longer you take something. Independent testing of mushroom supplements has repeatedly found products with far less beta-glucan than labeled, and some with none of the species named on the bottle. Products grown on grain can be mostly starch. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements recommends looking for third-party quality seals, which verify that the contents match the label, though they do not verify that the product works.

Finally, daily reishi may blunt your awareness of symptoms that need attention. Feeling calmer or sleepier does not mean an underlying sleep disorder, thyroid problem or depression has been addressed. A supplement taken every day should be something your clinician knows about and revisits with you.

What not to mix reishi with: interactions that matter

The interactions below come from pharmacology and case reports rather than from large studies, so think of them as reasons to have a conversation, not as proof of harm. Each one is listed in mainstream clinical references for reishi.

• Anticoagulants and antiplatelet drugs. An anticoagulant is a medicine that slows blood clotting, such as warfarin or the newer direct oral anticoagulants; antiplatelet drugs such as aspirin and clopidogrel work on the clotting cells themselves. Reishi’s laboratory effect on platelets could add to theirs and raise bleeding risk. Surgeons routinely ask patients to stop herbal products before operations for this reason.
• Blood pressure medicines. Possible additive lowering could cause dizziness or fainting, especially when standing.
• Diabetes medicines, including insulin. Small effects on glucose could tip someone into low blood sugar.
• Immunosuppressants. Drugs taken after an organ transplant or for autoimmune disease are designed to quiet the immune system. A supplement marketed to stimulate it is a theoretical opposing force, and transplant teams generally advise avoiding it.
• Chemotherapy. Some reishi compounds are processed by the same liver enzymes that handle many cancer drugs, which could in principle change drug levels.
• Other supplements with bleeding or sedative effects. Fish oil, ginkgo, high-dose vitamin E, valerian and melatonin can compound reishi’s possible effects.

Cordyceps carries a similar list, with additional caution around blood sugar and, in a few case reports, lead contamination of wild-harvested products.

Two groups should be especially careful. People who are pregnant or breastfeeding have no safety data to rely on, and clinical sources advise avoidance. People with autoimmune conditions such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis or multiple sclerosis should ask a specialist before taking anything marketed as immune-stimulating. Never stop or adjust a prescribed medicine because of a supplement; bring the bottle to your next appointment instead.

Common myths about reishi and cordyceps, corrected

Viral health claims tend to contain a grain of truth stretched beyond recognition. Here are the ones circulating most widely this year, with the stretch marked.

“Reishi fights cancer.” The grain: lab studies show reishi compounds can slow cancer cell growth in dishes, and small trials alongside chemotherapy show changes in immune markers. The stretch: no trial has shown reishi shrinks tumors on its own or lengthens survival, and Cochrane reviewers explicitly warn against using it in place of standard treatment.

“It is an adaptogen, so it balances everything.” Adaptogen is a marketing word, not a pharmacological class. There is no laboratory test or regulatory definition for it, and the concept of a single substance that normalizes stress in every direction has not been demonstrated in controlled human trials.

“Reishi is a natural sleeping pill.” Drowsiness is a reported side effect, and animal studies show sedation. Human insomnia trials of reishi alone are lacking. A side effect is not the same as a tested treatment.

“Cordyceps gives you the lungs of an elite athlete.” Trials in trained athletes show no advantage over placebo. The modest effects seen in older adults are on a laboratory threshold measure, not race times.

“Mushroom coffee replaces your supplements and your medicine.” Most coffee blends contain small amounts of mycelium powder, and no trial has tested them for any health outcome. Replacing a prescribed medicine with any food is a decision only the prescribing clinician should make.

“Natural means safe.” Reishi has documented interactions with blood thinners and rare reports of liver injury. The NIH’s integrative health center repeats this correction in nearly every supplement fact sheet it publishes, because the myth is so durable.

How to read a reishi or cordyceps supplement label honestly

If you and your clinician decide a functional mushroom is reasonable to try, the label is where quality shows or hides. A few details separate a serious product from a marketing exercise.

Species and plant part. Look for the full scientific name and whether the product is fruiting body, mycelium or a mix. Fruiting body extracts generally contain more of the compounds studied in trials. “Mycelium on grain” or “myceliated biomass” means the grain comes along for the ride.

Beta-glucan content. Reputable manufacturers state the percentage of beta-glucans measured by a validated assay. A label that lists “polysaccharides” instead may be counting starch, which is also a polysaccharide and has no claimed benefit.

Extraction method. Hot water extraction pulls out beta-glucans; alcohol extraction pulls out triterpenes. A “dual extract” uses both. Raw dried powder that has not been extracted is largely indigestible chitin, the material that makes up insect shells.

Third-party testing. Seals from independent laboratories indicate the product was tested for identity, contaminants such as heavy metals and microbes, and label accuracy. They say nothing about effectiveness. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements describes these programs and their limits.

Claims. In the United States, a supplement label may legally say a product “supports immune health” but may not say it treats or prevents any disease. If the packaging or the influencer promoting it crosses that line, treat the whole product with suspicion.

For cordyceps, add one more check: products claiming to be wild Himalayan Ophiocordyceps sinensis are either extraordinarily rare or mislabeled. Most honest products state they are cultured C. militaris or the Cs-4 strain, which is what the trials used anyway.

When to see a doctor about reishi, cordyceps or any functional mushroom

Supplements rarely feel like medicine, which is exactly why problems get missed. These are the situations where a mushroom product should prompt a call or an appointment rather than another week of waiting.

Seek urgent care if, while taking reishi or cordyceps, you notice yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, pale stools, severe pain in the upper right abdomen, or unusual tiredness with nausea. These are possible signs of liver injury, which has been reported with reishi products. Also seek urgent care for unexplained bruising, blood in urine or stool, bleeding that will not stop, or a nosebleed lasting more than 20 minutes, particularly if you also take a blood thinner. Swelling of the lips or throat, hives or wheezing after a dose can signal an allergic reaction and needs emergency attention.

Book a routine appointment before starting either mushroom if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or trying to conceive; have a bleeding disorder, autoimmune condition, liver disease or kidney disease; take anticoagulants, antiplatelets, diabetes medicines, blood pressure medicines, immunosuppressants or chemotherapy; or have surgery or a dental extraction scheduled in the next few weeks.

Tell your clinician if home readings of blood pressure or glucose drift lower after starting a mushroom, if daytime drowsiness affects driving or work, or if you started the product to manage insomnia, low mood, fatigue or frequent infections that have lasted more than a few weeks. Those symptoms can have treatable causes, including thyroid disease, anemia, sleep apnea and depression, that no supplement addresses.

Bring the actual bottle to the visit. Decisions about whether to start, continue or stop a functional mushroom, and about any change to a prescribed medicine, belong to the clinician who knows your full history, not to a label or a feed.

Frequently asked questions

What happens if you take reishi every day?

Short-term daily use over weeks to months is generally tolerated in trials, with mild effects such as dry mouth, stomach upset, dizziness, rash or drowsiness in some people. Long-term daily use has not been studied in large groups. Rare liver injury has been reported in case series, and reishi may add to the effects of blood-thinning, blood pressure and diabetes medicines, so daily use should be known to your clinician.

Is Lion's Mane or reishi better?

Neither has strong human evidence, and they are marketed for different purposes. Lion’s mane has a few tiny trials suggesting short-lived memory score improvements in mild cognitive impairment. Reishi has small trials showing changes in immune markers during cancer treatment and weak data on fatigue. Both sit at the low or very low end of the evidence ladder, so the choice depends on the claim you care about and your medicines.

What not to mix reishi with?

Clinical references flag anticoagulants such as warfarin, antiplatelet drugs such as aspirin and clopidogrel, blood pressure medicines, diabetes medicines including insulin, immunosuppressants and chemotherapy. Supplements with sedative or blood-thinning effects, including fish oil, ginkgo, valerian and melatonin, may compound reishi’s effects. These cautions rest on pharmacology and case reports rather than large trials, which is why a conversation with your pharmacist or prescriber matters.

Does reishi make you sleepy?

It can. Drowsiness and a feeling of relaxation are among the side effects reported with reishi, and animal studies show increased non-REM sleep. That does not make it a tested insomnia treatment, because no adequately designed randomized trial in adults with sleep disorders has evaluated reishi alone. If you do take it, avoid driving or operating machinery until you know how it affects you.

What are the main cordyceps benefits according to research?

The best-studied cordyceps benefits concern exercise capacity, where a 12-week placebo-controlled trial in adults in their 50s to 70s found a modest rise in metabolic threshold but no change in VO2 max, and trials in trained athletes found nothing. Low-quality trials in chronic kidney disease suggest possible improvements in lab markers. Claims about lungs, libido and longevity rest on tradition and animal studies.

Can reishi help with anxiety or stress?

The evidence is weak. Reishi is labeled an adaptogen, a marketing term without a scientific definition or validated test. Human trials measuring anxiety scores or stress hormones in healthy adults are scarce and small, and most come from combination herbal products. Cognitive behavioral therapy, regular physical activity and clinical assessment have far stronger evidence for persistent anxiety than any mushroom supplement.

Is reishi safe for the liver?

Animal and laboratory studies suggest antioxidant, liver-protective effects, yet published case reports describe liver injury in people taking powdered reishi products for several weeks, with recovery after stopping. Whether the mushroom, a contaminant or an individual reaction was responsible is often unclear. People with existing liver disease, or anyone who develops jaundice, dark urine or upper abdominal pain, should stop and seek medical advice promptly.

Can I take reishi or cordyceps during cancer treatment?

Only after discussing it with your oncology team. Small trials of reishi alongside chemotherapy report changes in immune markers and quality of life, but Cochrane reviewers rated the evidence low quality and stressed that reishi is not a substitute for standard treatment. Some mushroom compounds share liver enzymes with cancer drugs and may affect clotting or blood counts, so your oncologist should decide.

Is mushroom coffee with reishi or cordyceps worth it?

No trial has tested mushroom coffee for any health outcome. Most blends contain small amounts of mycelium powder, often grown on grain, which supplies little of the beta-glucans or triterpenes used in research. If you enjoy the taste and tolerate it, it is generally considered a food, but it is not a tested treatment for energy, focus or immunity and should not replace any medicine.

Who should avoid reishi and cordyceps altogether?

Clinical sources advise avoidance during pregnancy and breastfeeding because of absent safety data, and caution for people with bleeding disorders, low blood pressure, autoimmune disease, organ transplants or scheduled surgery. Anyone taking anticoagulants, immunosuppressants or chemotherapy should not start either mushroom without the prescribing clinician’s agreement. A known allergy to mushrooms or molds is also a reason to steer clear.

References

• NIH NCCIH: Using Dietary Supplements Wisely
• MedlinePlus: Herbal Medicine

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified doctor about your individual situation.