Dosage is 175 m/kg per day for a mouse; divided by 12.3, equals 14.22 mg/kg for humans. That is about 853 for my 60 kilos. One gram should be good.
With regard to acarbose,
Reishi inhibits alpha-glucosidase , the chief enzyme responsible for digesting starches into sugars.
Are there interactions with medications?
Moderate
Be cautious with this combination. Medications for diabetes (Antidiabetes drugs)
Reishi mushroom might lower blood sugar levels. Taking reishi mushroom along with diabetes medications might cause blood sugar to drop too low. Monitor your blood sugar closely.
MedlinePlus is a service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the world’s largest medical library, which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Monitoring is recommended. There is no recommendation not to take.
Was taking it before, but only 500 mg per day. Will restart at 1 gram per day. It is a mushroom, and not psychedelic. So it should be safe. The Chinese have been taking it for centuries.
The major brands have them - Swanson, Double Wood, Nutricost. They also come in powder form. Nuts.com has them. Have ordered powders from them. They are based in NJ.
You could also buy the dried mushrooms (if you have a Chinatown nearby) and powder them through a coffee grinder.
Wow, so powerful to see how quickly the hive mind works to combine and contribute important information and synthesis.
My main question relates to this part of the paper:
We previously reported that ReishiMax (RM), a Reishi extract enriched in Reishi polysaccharides and triterpenes, enhanced proliferations of macrophages, B, T and NK lymphocytes, increased serum IgA, IgG, IgM & secretion of IL2 and Interferon, decreased IL5 secretion, and inhibited cancer malignancy (FASEB J 2007, 21:A1100; 2008, 22:1136.2)
Is an up-regulated immune system (and perhaps inflammation response) like this really what we think an ideal longevity phenotype looks like in humans? I thought that things like CR, fasting, etc generally has those measured going down and not up?
Mice generally die of cancer, then cancer and if not then by cancer. So the extra immune system boost might be disproportionately helpful for them and offset the negatives of the revved up immune system - that trade-off may not be the same in humans?
(Or perhaps this would be good to cycle in during the fall/winter when it’s covid, flu, RSV season and then skip the rest of the year)
On the other hand, a 2016 study found no effect of reishi supplementation on fasting blood sugar or hemoglobin A1c, a marker of long-term blood sugar control (26Trusted Source).
Pretty sure you don’t want the grow kit. When you harvest it is like a piece of oak. I don’t know what you would use to pulverize it. I bought a fresh one once. Also they probably need high humidity and heat to bloom. Easy to mess up. I mean, for me it’s fun anyway, but this is not the cheap way in.
ReishiMax inhibits mTORC1/2 by activating AMPK and inhibiting IGFR/PI3K/Rheb in tumor cells
Here, we show that ReishiMax GLp, containing G. lucidum polysaccharides and triterpenes (GLPT), inhibited cell proliferation and induced cell death in human lung cancer cells (A549 and A427) and simultaneously suppressed the signaling pathways of mammalian target of rapamycin complexes 1 and 2 (mTORC1 and mTORC2), respectively. Mechanistically, GLPT downregulated the phosphorylation and protein levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGFR) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) as well as the protein level of RAS homolog enriched in brain (Rheb). In addition, GLPT also activated the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) network. This was evidenced by observations that GLPT increased the phosphorylation of AMPKα (T172) and its substrates tuberous sclerosis complex 2 (TSC2, S1387) and regulatory-associated protein of mTOR (raptor, S792). Ectopic expression of dominant-negative AMPKα partially mitigated the inhibitory effect of GLPT on mTORC1, indicating that GLPT inhibits mTORC1 partly by activating AMPK. The results suggest that G. lucidum extracts exert anticancer action at least partly by suppressing mTORC1/2 signaling via activation of AMPK and inhibition of IGFR/PI3K/Rheb in tumor cells.
I’d like to see how long the controls lived… if its less than 900 days, the results may not be very meaningful… I looked but could not find the source paper (full text). And it looks like this “preliminary study” was done by Pharmanex, a supplement company that happens to sell the product, so take it with a large grain of salt.
This pdf link provides more information with survival curves and the finalized abstract.
The maximum lifespan of male ICR mice has been reported as 156.6 weeks (1096 days). And the average last decile (P90) value is reported as 112.3 weeks (786 days). That’s the age at which 10% of mice are still alive. (See full text).
Comparatively, in the reishi study, per the graph the P90 for controls was roughly 850 days. The last control mouse died at roughly 950 days. (Rough estimates looking at the graph).
If you look at the experimental group on reishi, the last decile is roughly 1050 days, meaning 10% lived to at least the equivalent of about 114 human years (out of 120). At least two mice lived beyond the known 1096 day maximum lifespan reported for the strain itself. It looks like roughly 1130 days and 1215 days respectively. The longest living mouse lived to a human equivalent of roughly 133 years. And supplementation didn’t begin until 365 days.
Well, most of the studies the FDA looks at when reviewing new drug applications are funded by the manufacturer who stands to make a profit from it, too. But yes, it is a consideration.
The problematic takeaway here is the study uses “a proprietary extract of Reishi” which is very likely just BS to promote their own brand. There are so many positive studies involving mushroom benefits it would not surprise me at all if Reishi mushroom extract extended the lifespan of mice. What would surprise me is if their “proprietary extract of Reishi” was any better than comparable competitor’s products.
The manufacturer claims there are 62 subvarieties of reishi mushroom. They use red reishi in a 12:1 extract (Ganoderma Lucidum). “Reishi Mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum) Powdered Extract (12:1) with Spores 500 mg. Standardized to 6% triterpenes and 13.5% polysaccharides.”
The link below contains additional information about their product, ReishiMax GLP, and why they believe their product is superior. (Something called cracked spore technology and better bioavailability. And it’s very expensive.)
The LEF product has the same concentration of triterpenes and polysaccharides and what they call shell-broken spores.
The makers of ReishiMax GLP say budget red reishi extract often contains low concentrations of triterpene compounds. Back when this product was first formulated and the study came out in 2011, it was probably cutting edge. LEF reported on the preliminary results of their study, and then apparently developed their own competing product with what they call shell-broken spores instead of “cracked spore technology” that was coined by ReishiMax.
Most products on Amazon don’t mention the spores or triterpene content.
Looks like there is more triterpenoid content in the fruiting bodies than the spores.
Results
The sporoderm-broken rate of all the broken GSP samples was over 85%. The relative peak area of triterpenoids in GSP samples were lower than 50% of that in fruiting body, and the dissolution of triterpenoids in artificial gastrointestinal fluid was lower than in methanol.
I will stick with the powder. Am sure the powder makers are pulverizing the actual mushrooms (fruiting bodies). Might also try to make a tincture by mixing some powder in vodka, then letting the alcohol evaporate.
Reishi seems to have inhibiting effect on 5-alpha-reductase (study):
Red reishi, commonly known as LingZhi in Chinese, is a mushroom thought to have many health benefits. In a research study exploring the anti-androgenic effects of 20 species of mushrooms, reishi mushrooms had the strongest action in inhibiting testosterone (3). That study found that reishi mushrooms significantly reduced levels of 5-alpha reductase, preventing conversion of testosterone into the more potent DHT. High levels of DHT are a risk factor for conditions such as benign prostatatic hypertrophy (BPH), acne, and baldness.
