Japan Lingzhi Side Effects

If staying lean and healthy in this stressful world is almost a full-time job, then wading through the thousands of products on the market claiming miraculous results with no effort is a career. Chinese and Japanese medicinal practices are among the oldest known to us, but just because something has been around for a long time doesn't mean it works. In the case of Japan lingzhi, though, many of the claims about it may be true.

What Is Japan Lingzhi?

• Lingzhi, also known as reishi, is one form of the mushroom Ganoderma lucidum. It is highly prized in Asia, where it is referred to as "the mushroom of immortality." It has been used in Chinese medicine for over 4,000 years, which makes it one of the oldest known medicinal mushrooms.

What Does It Do?

• Studies like "The Pharmacological Potential of Mushrooms" done by Ulrike Lindequist, Timo H. J. Niedermeyer and Wolf-Dieter Jülich in Germany, and published in the Oxford Journals in 2005, have proven that lingzhi has many therapeutic properties, including inhibiting tumors, supporting the immune system, and lowering blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels. It has shown some positive effect on preventing liver disease in mice, though it is uncertain whether this will also hold true for humans.

  It is also being marketed as a weight loss supplement, though there is no scientific basis to support this.

How Is It Used?

• Lingzhi is thinly sliced and boiled for at least two hours and then consumed as a broth or tea. Dried lingzhi is available, and it can also be purchased as extracts, capsules and pills.

Side Effects

• People who are allergic to mushrooms, fungi or mold should avoid lingzhi. Also, anecdotal evidence suggests that people who have used lingzhi consistently for more than three months might experience upset stomachs, bloody stools, dry throats and nosebleeds.

Where Can I Get Japan Lingzhi?

• Lingzhi can be found at herbalists, online and in most health food and vitamin stores.