Reishi Mushrooms

Another Monday Research Review, another mushroom! If we keep this up, we’ll have to rename it “Mushroom Monday”.

But, there’s so much room for things to say, and these are fun guys to write about, as we check the science for any spore’ious claims…

Why do people take reishi?

Popular health claims for the reishi mushroom include:

• Immune health
• Cardiovascular health
• Protection against cancer
• Antioxidant qualities
• Reduced fatigue and anxiety

And does the science agree?

Let’s take a look, claim by claim:

Immune health

A lot of research for this has been in vitro (ie, with cell cultures in labs), but promising, for example:

Immunomodulating Effect of Ganoderma lucidum (Lingzhi) and Possible Mechanism

(that is the botanical name for reishi, and the Chinese name for it, by the way)

That’s not to say there are no human studies though; here it was found to boost T-cell production in stressed athletes:

Effect of Ganoderma lucidum capsules on T lymphocyte subsets in football players on “living high-training low”

Cardiovascular health

Here we found a stack of evidence for statistically insignificant improvements in assorted measures of cardiovascular health, and some studies where reishi did not outperform placebo.

Because the studies were really not that compelling, instead of taking up room (and your time) with them, we’re going to move onto more compelling, exciting science, such as…

Protection against cancer

There’s a lot of high quality research for this, and a lot of good results. The body of evidence here is so large that even back as far as 2005, the question was no longer “does it work” or even “how does it work”, but rather “we need more clinical studies to find the best doses”. Researchers even added:

❝At present, lingzhi is a health food supplement to support cancer patients, yet the evidence supporting the potential of direct in vivo anticancer effects should not be underestimated.❞

~ Yuen et al.

Check it out:

Anticancer effects of Ganoderma lucidum: a review of scientific evidence

Just so you know we’re not kidding about the weight of evidence, let’s drop a few extra sources:

• Ganoderma lucidum: a rational pharmacological approach to surmount cancer
• Ganoderma lucidum as an anti-cancer agent
• Extract from Ganoderma lucidum suppresses cervical cancer cell malignancy
• Ganoderma lucidum spore oil induces apoptosis of breast cancer cells
• Ganoderma lucidum enhances carboplatin chemotherapy effect
• Ganoderma lucidum inhibits prostate cancer cell migration
• Ganoderma lucidum fruiting body extracts inhibit colorectal cancer
• Inhibitory activity of medicinal mushroom Ganoderma lucidum on colorectal cancer
• Ganoderma lucidum (reishi mushroom) for cancer treatment

By the way, we shortened most of those titles for brevity, but almost all of the continued with “by” followed by a one-liner of how it does it.

So it’s not a “mysterious action” thing, it’s a “this is a very potent medicine and we know how it works” thing.

Antioxidant qualities

Here we literally only found studies to say no change was found, one that found a slight increase of antioxidant levels in urine. It’s worth noting that levels of a given thing (or its metabolites, in the case of some things) in urine are often quite unhelpful regards knowing what’s going on in the body, because we get to measure only what the body lost, not what it gained/kept.

So again, let’s press on:

Reduced fatigue and anxiety

Most of the studies for this that we could find pertained to health-related quality of life for cancer patients specifically, so (while they universally give glowing reports of reishi’s benefits to health and happiness of cancer patients), that’s a confounding factor when it comes to isolating its effects on reduction of fatigue and anxiety in people without cancer.

Here’s one that looked at it in the case of reduction of fatigue, anxiety, and other factors, in patients without cancer (but with neurathenia), in which they found it was “significantly superior to placebo with respect to the clinical improvement of symptoms”.

Summary:

• Reishi mushroom’s anti-cancer properties are very, very clear
• There is also good science to back immune health claims
• It also has been found to significantly reduce fatigue and anxiety in unwell patients (we’d love to see more studies on its benefits in otherwise healthy people, though)

Plant-based milks—what’s best?

You asked us to look at some popular plant milks and their health properties, and we said we’d do a main feature, so here it is!

We’ll also give a quick nod to environmental considerations at the end too (they might not be quite what you expect!). That said, as a health and productivity newsletter, we’ll be focusing on the health benefits.

While we can give a broad overview, please note that individual brands may vary, especially in two important ways:

• Pro: many (most?) brands of plant milks fortify their products with extra vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin D and calcium.
• Con: some brands also add sugar.

So, by all means use this guide to learn about the different plants’ properties, and/but still do check labels later.

Alternatively, consider making your own!

• Pros: no added sugar + cheaper
• Cons: no added vitamins and minerals + some equipment required

Almond milk

Almond milk is low in carbs and thus good for a carb-controlled diet. It’s also high in vitamin E and a collection of minerals.

Oat milk

Oats are one of the healthiest “staple foods” around, and while drinking oat milk doesn’t convey all the benefits, it does a lot. It also has one of the highest soluble fiber contents of any milk, which is good for reducing LDL (bad) cholesterol levels.

See for example: Consumption of oat milk for 5 weeks lowers serum cholesterol and LDL cholesterol in free-living men with moderate hypercholesterolemia

Coconut milk

Coconut has a higher fat content than most plant milks, but also contains medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs). These raise HDL (good) cholesterol levels.

Read the study: How well do plant based alternatives fare nutritionally compared to cow’s milk?

Hemp milk

Being made from hemp seeds that contain a lot of protein and healthy fats (including omega-3 and omega-6), hemp milk packs a nutritious punch. It’s carb-free. It’s also THC-free, in case you were wondering, which means no, it does not have psychoactive effects.

Pea milk

It’s very high in protein, and contains an array of vitamins and minerals. It’s not very popular yet, so there isn’t as much research about it. This 2021 study found that it had the nutritional profile the closest to cow’s milk (beating soy by a narrow margin) and praised it as a good alternative for those with a soy allergy.

This is Research Review Monday so we try to stick to pure science, but for your interest… here’s an interesting pop-science article (ostensibly in affiliation with the pea milk brand, Ripple) about the nutritional qualities of their pea milk specifically, which uses particularly nutrient-dense yellow peas, plus some extra vitamin and mineral fortifications:

Read: Ripple Milk: 6 Reasons Why You Should Try Pea Milk

Soy milk

Perhaps the most popular plant milk, and certainly usually the cheapest in stores. It’s high in protein, similar to cow’s milk. In fact, nutritionally, it’s one of the closest to cow’s milk without involving cows as a middleman. (Did you know three quarters of all soy in the world is grown to feed to livestock, not humans? Now you do).

And no, gentlemen-readers, it won’t have any feminizing effects. The human body can’t use the plant estrogens in soy for that. It does give some isoflavone benefits though, which are broadly good for everyone’s health. See for example this research review with 439 sources of its own:

Read: Soy and Health Update: Evaluation of the Clinical and Epidemiologic Literature

Quick note on flavor: nut milks have the flavor of the nut they were made from. Coconut milk tastes of coconut. The other milks listed above don’t have much of a flavor—which in many cases may be what you want.

Note on environmental considerations:

A lot of us try to be as socially responsible as reasonably possible in our choices, so this may be an influencing factor. In a nutshell:

• Oats and Soy are generally grown as vast monocrops, and these are bad for the environment
  • They are still better for the environment than cow’s milk though, as for example most soy is grown to feed to cows, not humans. So including cows in the process means four times as much monocrop farming, plus adds several other environmental issues that are beyond the scope of this newsletter.
• Almonds are particularly resource-intensive when it comes to water use.
  • Still nowhere near as much as cows, though.
• Peas are grown in places that naturally have very high rainfall, so are a good option here. Same generally goes for rice, which didn’t make the cut today. (Nor did hazelnuts, sorry—we can only include so much!)
• Hemp is by far and away the most environmentally friendly, assuming it is grown in a climate naturally conducive to such.
• Making plant milk at home is usually most environmentally friendly, depending on where your ingredients came from.
• Literally any plant milk is much more environmentally friendly than cow’s milk.

See the science for yourself: Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers

See also (if you like graphs and charts): Environmental footprints of dairy and plant-based milks