Now mushrooms are called the new oil. These are quite expensive raw materials, which have long been ground into dietary supplements and various drinks. With the help of mushrooms they rejuvenate, try to turn themselves into a superbrain, and break sports records.
Legion Media
Therapies that were treated many thousands of years ago in the East have suddenly become in demand today in the West. Some types of mushrooms were used in production so often that they were already included in the Red Book. Dietary supplements, tea, coffee, cocoa and even beer are made from fashionable raw materials. But one of the most popular topics is mushroom tea in the wake of the fashion for everything organic and environmentally friendly.
The history of mushroom tea on an industrial scale can be traced back to the 90s in the USA. Then everyone began to talk loudly about the dangers of AIDS, and word of mouth began to convey that kombucha or kombucha helps in preventing a dangerous disease.
Everyone rushed to grow “jellyfish” at home and drank liters of the healing drink. Marketers of beverage brands have figured out how to use this boom and make extra money. To make life easier for people, they were given a ready-made kombucha drink in a jar. Of course, not just like that, but for 3 dollars apiece.
Since the early 90s, in search of a source of eternal youth and the treatment of diseases, participants in the biohacking movement have taken up the study of higher mushrooms. Already at the beginning of the 2000s, at the instigation of the followers of biohacking and the mycologists (mushroom specialists) who joined them, teas, cordyceps supplements, tremella, and reishi entered the European market. Initially, the products were popularized through celebrities, then social networks played into the hands of manufacturers. The emergence of TikTok has opened a new “window to Europe”. After all, it has become easy to promote mushroom products through influencers with a huge audience.
Now in fashionable social networks, teas from cordyceps, tremella, and reishi are praised by bloggers in every possible way. And a number of scientists say that mushroom treatment is the future, and it is not far off. Why do people give up pills and try to get rid of depression, colds and other diseases with the help of such organics? And what do scientists and doctors think about mushroom teas?
Tremella
Tremella tea
“Snowflake”, snow mushroom or “tree jellyfish” were used by healers in the Ancient East. The first mention of the mushroom is found in an ancient legend. When Emperor Xuanzong's most flamboyant wife, Yang Guafei, was asked the secret of her beauty, she replied, “Tremella.” The girl drank infusions based on the mushroom, made creams from it and went down in history as an incredible beauty with smooth and radiant skin like the sun.
Many centuries later, or rather now, an incredible tremella boom occurred in the cosmetics industry. Beauty experts predict that the mushroom will soon replace hyaluronic acid in cosmetics, because it works much better. A study conducted in one of the Chinese clinics in 2020, albeit on animals, showed that the polysaccharides of the fungus penetrate into the deep layers of the skin. There they give a magical foam to fibroblasts. They produce more hyaluronic acid in response. The production of collagen and elastin also increases. Tremella polysaccharides suppress free radicals, which provoke aging, and also fight skin stress.
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“Tremella works in a similar way if you take dietary supplements from this mushroom or drink tea. It retains moisture in the skin well, prevents dryness, and this is one of the main actions against aging,” says Olga Fomenko, nutritionist, specialist in laboratory diagnostics and clinical biochemistry.
It’s not surprising that Kim Karadashyan simply prays for tremella. She demonstrates on social media how she makes masks using it. Periodically drinks tea from this mushroom.
But tremella fights not only for beauty. For example, it helps restore mental balance. Studies conducted in a number of Chinese institutes have shown that tremella contains adaptogens and poisaccharides, which energize, help protect brain cells from neurodegenerative diseases, restore memory, and fight depression.
Online, one girl shared her story about how she tried to overcome the blues with the help of tremella tea, but had the opposite effect. She drank three cups a day for a week, and after that she began to do everything slowly, without enthusiasm. I didn’t want to go, let alone go to work, or even meet with friends. Experts do not think that in this case all the blame should be placed on tremella. The body's reaction to any dietary supplement is individual.
“You must understand that there is such a raw material as mushroom. But when preparing tea, additional components are added. This is no longer a mushroom in its pure form. Together, the composition can have unpredictable effects on the body. Plus, the girl could have health problems that she didn’t know about. For example, tremella should absolutely not be used if you have anemia or autoimmune diseases. Therefore, before drinking even tea with a medicinal plant, you need to consult a specialist,” explains Olga.
Reishi tea
In ancient Egypt it was called the “plant of immortality”, in China – “the creator of eternal youth”. Ancient Chinese healers included reishi in the book about miraculous medicinal plants. After all, its beneficial properties are very versatile.
It was used to treat Chinese emperors for everything from indigestion to colds. And Japanese geishas, in order to be slim, used reishi infusions for weight loss.
It is precisely as a means for weight loss that bloggers lobby for it on social networks, as well as manufacturers of teas and various dietary supplements. Those who fell for the advertisement write in the comments that reisha works wonders due to its laxative effect. We lost weight because we often ran to the secret room, and when we stopped drinking tea, the lost kilograms returned.
Reishi has not yet been tested on humans as a means of weight loss. So there is no evidence of such benefits.
The only experiment that was carried out was on mice at Taiwan's Chang Gung University. The rodents were divided into two teams. All were prescribed a high-fat diet. True, the first group had additional reishi in their diet, but the second did not. According to the results of the race, in the first two months, team number one gained 35 kg, the second – 42 kg. University scientists said that reishi contains prebiotics that change the intestinal microbiome and improve flora. This affects metabolism, normalizes it, which promotes weight loss. But not all people from science are ready to completely agree with such statements.
“The gut microbiome, of course, influences weight gain or weight loss. With a normal microbiome, our cells receive enough energy from food, and this is a guarantee of good metabolism. But no mushrooms or any other dietary supplement will help you become slimmer if a person eats everything, including fast food, every day, drinks sweet soda, and does not exercise,” says microbiologist Colin Hill.
But in one experiment on humans, reishi proved to be an antidepressant. Chinese scientists recruited a group of 132 people with depressive moods, stress, and neurasthenia. For 8 weeks they received dietary supplements based on reishi. By the end of the eighth week, the mood and condition of the patients gradually improved. The study noted that polysaccharides, peptides, triterpines, which are contained in the mushroom, improve the functioning of the autonomic nervous system.
One of the psychologists told a story online about how he began to suffer from burnout, and reishi tea literally gave him back the joy of life. He drank three cups a day for three months instead of antidepressants. And it worked. Experts agree with this slow action of Reishi.
“Reishi is a mild antidepressant. It also lowers sugar, fights allergies, but is one of the slowest medicinal mushrooms. It should only be taken as a course, and you shouldn’t expect a quick effect,” says Mikhail Vishnevsky, Candidate of Biological Sciences, head of the Russian Mycological Society, founder of the Fungiline company.
It is also better not to start drinking tea without tests and consultation with a specialist to restore the nervous system. In certain situations there may be bad consequences.
“The main contraindication to use is low blood sugar. Reishi greatly reduces sugar,” notes Mikhail.
Cordyceps
In nature, a real parasite and invader. It scatters its spores on insects, mainly caterpillars. When the pupa is ready to turn into a butterfly, the cordyceps ruptures its body and matures. In appearance, the mushroom itself somewhat resembles the body of a caterpillar.
I feel sorry for the butterfly, but after such a story people are afraid to eat the mushroom. “What if it grows into my brain and I become a mushroom?” they ask questions on forums in all seriousness. “You won’t if you prepare it correctly,” answer lovers of cordyceps supplements. Indeed, it parasitizes insects, and not humans, and has been sufficiently studied. They began to use it in treatment as early as 620 AD. The mushroom has declared itself as a remedy that can overcome any infection and even tumors.
In the 90s there was a Cordyceps boom. The mushroom became interested as a natural steroid after Chinese runners set several world records at international competitions in 1993. When they began to be tested for doping, they found out that each of them ate turtle soup every day, to which cordyceps was added.
Cordycepsic acid, cordycepin, a complex of polysaccharides, vitamins, minerals, increase endurance, reduce the production of lactic acid, improve cell and tissue regeneration. Nowadays, the mushroom is often used by professional athletes before competitions as a permitted stimulant, which is not recognized as doping.
It seems that cordyceps has all been ground into dietary supplements, because it has already been included in the red book. True, the mushroom has a cultivated counterpart with the prefix “military”. Therefore, it continues to be used, but not only to improve performance in sports. During the pandemic, mushroom teas and coffee have become very popular for Covid prevention. It is believed that cordyceps perfectly improves immunity.
The story of how The mushroom helps restore immunity after the flu, shared a Russian blogger who lives abroad. She wrote that after her illness she often caught colds. I drank 3-4 cups of tea a day for a month, and after that, a rare cold disappeared in 1-2 days.
Increase or decrease?
Doctors are very annoyed when they play with the immune system with the help of dietary supplements. Because it turns out that it doesn’t always need to be raised. “Forget the expression “boost immunity.” It is abusive. Sometimes immunity does not need to be increased, but rather decreased. Because, judging by the latest research, too active immunity can harm the body. Cause various diseases, inflammation, fever, swelling.
Cordyceps actually lowers immunity. It contains cytostatics that suppress the excessive activity of the immune system. True, this does not mean that you can drink such tea uncontrollably and without a doctor. No one knows how the effect of cordycyps cytostatics will affect the body in the long term. The cytostats themselves in plants can be quite toxic and have a negative effect on the liver,” warns Alexander Lavrishchev, general practitioner, leading specialist at Semeynaya clinics.
Scientists mycologists agree with doctors. You cannot use a stimulant mushroom just like that. “Cordyceps is not indicated for insomnia. It can be used with caution for heart disease, like any stimulant. And you need to understand that absolutely any mushroom (even chanterelle) can cause an individual allergic reaction. I would recommend drinking cordyceps when necessary, for example, to improve workout results or if you have a difficult project at work and you need energy,” warns Mikhail Vishnevsky.
Text: Ekaterina Popova