Common Medicinal Mushrooms Part Two: Shiitake
Debra Hultgren
While Shiitake (also known in Latin as Lentinula edodes) is a commonly known gourmet mushroom, it also has beneficial medicinal qualities. As a major adaptogenic fungus, it's non-toxic, normalizing and non-specific - meaning that it doesn’t go after just one health issue, it goes after all of them.
More specifically, shiitake as an adaptogen is especially beneficial to heart health. In addition to this - all or most edible mushrooms are major supporters of our bodies immune system. One benefit here is sheer simplicity - because shiitake are edible, you don’t have to take them as medicinal products, they’re best used when included in soups, stocks, and other culinary preparations.
Also, like all mushrooms, shiitake are rich in polysaccharides. Polysaccharides are the key thing you’re looking to capture when creating mushroom extracts or other medicinal products from mushrooms.
Shiitake grow on hardwoods, including maple and oaks - all over the world. Can be grown at home too in mushroom buckets. In general, mushrooms are high in antioxidants which in turn makes them combatants to free radical damage. Shiitake is not native to the United States - only are they native to East Asia - so if you’re looking to find them in your woods, you’re out of luck. Stay tuned for the next update in this series of Common Medicinal mushrooms - Maitake. Also, I was fortunate enough to come across one of the best medicinal, and gourmet mushroom distributors around - Motown Mushrooms booth at the Connecticut Flower and Garden show. Make sure to check them out and support your local growers. For more information about Shiitake mushrooms, feel free to take a glance at this link.