Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - What You Need to Know About Mushroom Supplements

Episode Date: January 9, 2023

Mushroom supplements are more popular than ever. For really the last couple of years more and more influential people have been claiming that these supplements offer a wide range of benefits including improving your cardiovascular, metabolic, and brain health, reducing your risk of disease and dysfunction, improving athletic performance, and much more. But not everyone is so gung-ho about them. Fungi skeptics claim that the benefits of these supplements are often oversold and are not scientifically proven. Instead, they're based more just on folk wisdom rather than hard evidence. So in this podcast, you’re going to hear evidence-based answers. We’re going to talk about who is right, or at least who is more right than wrong given the current weight of the total evidence available to us. And I’ll be covering several types of popular mushroom supplements, including reishi, turkey tail, shiitake, chaga, lion's mane, and cordyceps. So tune in! Timestamps: (0:00) - Try Pulse today! Go to https://buylegion.com/pulse and use coupon code MUSCLE to save 20% or get double reward points! (3:26) - What are the benefits of the reishi mushroom? (7:11) - What are the benefits of turkey tail mushroom supplements? (8:10) - Do shiitake mushrooms have any health benefits? (8:57) - What are the benefits of the chaga mushroom? (10:23) - What are the benefits of lion's mane mushroom supplements? (11:55) - Are cordyceps mushrooms beneficial? Mentioned on the Show: Try Pulse today! Go to https://buylegion.com/pulse and use coupon code MUSCLE to save 20% or get double reward points!

Hello there and welcome to another episode of Muscle for Life. I am your host, Mike Matthews. Thank you for joining me today to learn about mushroom supplements, which have been having a bit of a moment, a long moment for really the last couple of years now. Mushroom supplements have been getting more and more popular and more and more people, influential people, have been claiming that these supplements offer a wide range of health benefits, including improving your cardiovascular, your metabolic, and your brain health, reducing your risk of disease and dysfunction, improving athletic performance, and much more. But not everyone is so fervent about the fungi. Skeptics claim that the benefits of these supplements are often oversold and are not scientifically proven. They're based more just on folk wisdom rather than

hard evidence. And so in this podcast, we are going to talk about who is right, or at least who is more right than wrong, given the current weight of the total evidence available to us. And I'm going to be talking about several types of popular mushroom supplements, including reishi, turkey tail, shiitake, chaga, lion's mane, and cordyceps. Before we wade into it, do you sometimes lack the energy and the motivation to get into the gym? Do you sometimes want to hit the snooze button instead of the squat rack? And are you sometimes just not able to give 100% in your workouts? If so, my pre-workout pulse is for you. It is a 100% natural supplement that increases energy, improves mood and sharpens mental focus, increases strength and endurance, and reduces fatigue. And the reason it's so effective is simple. Every ingredient in Pulse

is backed by peer-reviewed scientific research and is included at clinically effective levels. The exact amounts used in the studies that found benefits. Pulse is also naturally sweetened and flavored, and it contains no artificial food dyes or other chemical junk. And all that is why I've sold over 850,000 bottles of Pulse and why it has over 11,000 four and five star reviews on Amazon and on my website. So if you want some help getting fired up, zeroed in and ready to crush your workouts, then you want to try Pulse today. Go to buylegion.com, that is B-U-Y, legion.com slash pulse and use the coupon code muscle at checkout and you will save 20% on your entire order if it's

your first order with us. And if it's not your first order, you will get double reward points on the entire order. And that is 6% cash back instead of the normal 3% cash back that you get from our reward program. And know that if you don't absolutely love Pulse, just let us know, and we will give you a full refund on the spot. No forms, no return even is necessary. So you can't lose. Go to buylegion.com slash Pulse, order now, use the coupon code muscle, save 20%, try Pulse risk-free and see what you think. Okay, let's start off with a winner. Let's start off with reishi mushroom, which is a big dark mushroom with a glossy exterior and a woody texture. And studies show that the reishi mushroom's primary benefit is

that it can help modulate your immune system, meaning that it reduces major fluctuations in immune function. It keeps your immune system working more stably or in a more stable, healthy range, I suppose you could say. And so what that means is with reishi mushroom, you are less likely to have an overactive or an underactive immune system, which is a good thing. Studies also show that reishi mushroom can stimulate or enhance the function of immune cells, and that helps you better maintain your general health. It helps you fight conditions such as cancer, rheumatism, renal disease, and so forth. And each of those things have been studied in particular. Now, people often claim that reishi mushroom also helps reduce fatigue and while some studies show

that it may help cancer patients deal with fatigue associated with chemotherapy there's little evidence that it helps healthy people combat the fatigue that is caused by the rigors of everyday living that said some people do report these effects. So there's some anecdotal evidence, but the scientific evidence is not there. Now, there isn't scientific evidence to show that it does not do that, but there is not evidence to show that it consistently reduces fatigue in healthy people. Now, another common claim made about reishi mushroom is that it can help detox your liver. And that sounds wrong. Of course, that sounds like pseudoscientific nonsense. But detox is not the right word because while reishi does not remove toxins from your body, it doesn't literally detox your body. Some research does suggest that it contains potent antioxidants that can help prevent oxidative damage to the liver, which can help your liver remain healthy and functional. So in that way, reishi mushroom may support your body's natural detoxification

mechanisms. Some other common benefits that are associated with reishi mushroom include improving anxiety, improving depression, improving blood sugar control, cardiovascular health, sleep, kidney health, cholesterol levels. There are quite a few of these claims out there, and there are studies to suggest that reishi mushroom may be able to do these things, to suggest that reishi mushroom may be able to do these things, but they are mostly animal and in vitro studies. So these claims are weakly supported by human research. Now, if that research does get done, those claims may pan out. Reishi mushroom may indeed be able to do all of those things, but we just don't know yet. And so I would say there are quite a few potential rather than proven benefits with reishi mushroom. That said, since you asked my opinion, there is enough high quality human

research on reishi mushroom to warrant its use. There are plenty of proven benefits, and that's why I've included three grams, which is a clinically effective dose of reishi mushroom, that's why I've included three grams, which is a clinically effective dose of reishi mushroom in every serving of my 100% natural greens supplement called Genesis, which you can learn more about over at by legion, builegion.com slash Genesis. And by the way, the reason that supplement is green is not because it contains powdered vegetables, which I think is useless. It's because it contains spirulina, which is not useless. You can learn about spirulina's many benefits over at bilegion.com slash genesis. Okay, let's move on to the next type of mushroom supplement, which is the turkey tail mushroom supplement. And this is

primarily promoted as an anti-cancer mushroom, as an anti-cancer treatment. And several studies have identified that turkey tail mushroom is an effective adjunct therapy, which is an additional treatment that's used alongside primary cancer care for people with various types of cancer, including breast, blood, lung, and gastrointestinal cancers. That said, the evidence of turkey tail's efficacy with cancer is not strong enough to say that it is a cancer treatment in and of itself. So don't listen to anybody who says that you don't need to get chemotherapy, for example, because you can just swallow turkey tail mushroom supplements instead. Instead, work with your oncologist and ask them about turkey tail mushroom and if it would make sense to add that into your regimen. All right, next is the shiitake mushroom, which is not just used in cooking. It is often promoted as a way to improve your health and improve your longevity. to improve your health and improve your longevity. And while there is evidence that some of the compounds present in shiitake protect against cancer, prevent weight gain, and improve cardiovascular and metabolic health, most research conducted on shiitake mushrooms, unfortunately,

was with animals or in vitro, so in a test tube. And so until we have human trials to see if those benefits are present in humans and ideally healthy humans, it's uncertain whether shiitake mushroom supplements are worth adding to your routine. Next on my list is chaga, which is getting a lot of attention these days. And in Russia, Poland, and most of the Baltic countries, chaga is traditionally used to treat gastrointestinal cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. And in Western Siberia, it is commonly employed to alleviate worms, tuberculosis, liver or heart disease, stomach ailments, and it's also used as a laxative. Now, what does the scientific literature have to say? Quite a bit, actually. Research shows that chaga is rich in antioxidants that protect against

oxidative genetic and radiation-induced cell damage and that inhibit tumor cell growth. Studies also suggest that chaga can lower your LDL, quote-, your bad cholesterol levels. It seems to have antiviral, analgesic or painkilling, anti-diabetic and anti-allergic properties. There are studies that have shown it can reduce cognitive impairment, it can slow cancer growth, support immune function, and even boost physical endurance. But then there is the catch. There's always the catch, right? And that is that most of those benefits have been observed in animal and test tube studies. So we just don't know for sure whether chaga mushroom is going to have similar effects in healthy humans. It may, but we need more research to know. What about lion's mane?

but we need more research to know. What about lion's mane? Another very popular mushroom supplement that can purportedly do many things similar to chaga, help fight cancer, reduce inflammation in the body and oxidative stress levels and boost immune function and cardiovascular and metabolic health, stimulate brain cell growth, diminish memory loss, protect against Alzheimer's, improve cognitive impairment, lessen symptoms of anxiety and depression, an impressive list of potential benefits. And I do think that the lion's mane shows a lot of promise. But again, unfortunately, very few of the studies that we have available on it have involved human participants, but those that have involved humans are promising. And so the lion's mane mushroom is one that I personally am watching. I would love to get enough research on it to be able to use it in one of Legion's products. But as it stands right now, I'm just not sure there's enough high quality human evidence

to warrant its use. Or I would have to add the asterisk to a lot of the evidence for its efficacy saying, hey, this was in animals. This was in vitro. It's promising preliminary evidence. It's not going to hurt you. It might help you. But I try to stay away from that kind of stuff because it doesn't make for a great sales pitch. People want proven ingredients. They want proven doses. They don't want speculation. All right. Next up, we have the cordyceps mushroom, which fun fact grows in the carcasses of insect larva. Remember that when you're drinking your cordyceps coffee. Now, preliminary animal and human research shows that cordyceps mushroom supplements may improve

athletic performance to a modest degree. That is a benefit that at least has some good human evidence. For example, in one study that was conducted by scientists at the University of California, researchers found that older adults who supplemented with cordyceps for 12 weeks increased their metabolic threshold, which is the maximum amount of energy you can produce, by about 10.5%. And their ventilatory threshold, which is the maximum amount of air you can inhale, by about 8.5%. And so, in simpler terms, they improved their cardiovascular endurance. Now, there are other studies on animals and human cells, but not living humans, that show that cordyceps may also have anti-aging effects. It may improve sexual function, prevent free radical damage in the body, protect against cancer and slow cancer growth,

damage in the body, protect against cancer and slow cancer growth, boost cardiovascular and metabolic health, and decrease inflammation. Again, a lot of potential benefits, good signals that need to be amplified with further research. And so then that is more or less the state of mushroom supplements as of today, November 16th, 2022. And that's why Legion doesn't have a mushroom supplement yet. I have reishi mushroom in my greens supplement Genesis, because that is the best researched in humans. And I would love to use other mushrooms if they had enough evidence of efficacy in healthy humans, but that's what I'm waiting for. Now, if you want to try one of these supplements to see if it helps with a problem you're having, if you want to try, for example, chaga to see if it can help with your LDL cholesterol or if it can boost your physical

performance, if you want to try lion's mane to see if it can help with anxiety or depression, I think that that's perfectly reasonable because, again, there is evidence that it may be able to do these things in humans. We just don't know yet. And so you should just understand that when you are buying these supplements. No supplement company that sells any of these mushrooms is going to explain what I just explained. They're not going to say that there are animal studies and in vitro studies that show that this mushroom can do certain things, but we don't know if it does these things in humans. Do you want to buy it? No, they're going to say this is what it does.

They are going to either explicitly say in healthy humans or they're going to imply in healthy humans. They're going to cite research that, again, is animal research, in vitro research, and say that we can just extrapolate that into healthy humans. And you cannot. That's not how it works. And so just know that when you buy one of these mushroom supplements, you're not taking a risk per se. These are generally safe, generally well tolerated. You can have the occasional person who doesn't respond well to lion's mane, for example. Some people, they develop a rash when they take lion's mane or they have trouble breathing if they take it. If that happens to you, it's not for you.

But most people will not experience any negative side effects. And that's true of each of these mushrooms that I talked about. So you're not taking your health into your own hands when you supplement with these mushrooms, but you are taking a bit of a flyer. And again, that's okay. So long as you understand that you might be wasting your money. Well, I hope you liked this episode. I hope you found it helpful. And if you did subscribe to the the show because it makes sure that you don't miss new episodes. And it also helps me because it increases the rankings of the show a little bit, which, of course, then makes it a little bit more easily found by other people who may like it just as much as you. as you. And if you didn't like something about this episode or about the show in general, or if you have ideas or suggestions or just feedback to share, shoot me an email, mike at muscleforlife.com,

muscleforlife.com, and let me know what I could do better or just what your thoughts are about maybe what you'd like to see me do in the future. I read everything myself. I'm always looking for new ideas and constructive feedback. So thanks again for listening to this episode and I hope to hear from you soon.