A Complete Guide to Mushrooms

Written by Clay Steakley
Updated on February 24th, 2022

Even though they’ve been used as medicine for pretty much the entire history of humanity, mushrooms have been stealing headlines recently for their medicinal, adaptogenic and nootropic properties. In fact, mushrooms are appearing in some of our most popular CBD formulas here at CBDfx, including our Focus Blend CBD Mushroom Tincture, our Relax Blend CBD Mushroom Tincture, and our CBD Gummies With Mushrooms for Wellness.

So, what’s so great about mushrooms, anyway? In this guide, we’ll walk you through the history of mushrooms as medicine, plus what benefits you can expect from different mushroom types.

Also, we know that many folks think of “magic” mushrooms when this topic comes up and, while you might think they’re the ones that put the “fun” in “fungi,” we’ll explain the difference between those ’shrooms and the medicinal and adaptogenic mushrooms that we work with (spoiler, they won’t make you hallucinate).

Let’s dig in on mushrooms and see what all the fungal fuss is about!

Mushrooms as Medicine: A Brief History

We’ve used mushrooms as medicine since Neolithic times, going as far back as 10,000 BCE. In fact, the 4,000-year-old mummy Ötzi, or the Iceman, was found to have an antibiotic mushroom in his medical kit.^[1]

In 450 BCE, the Greek physician Hippocrates (namesake of the Hippocratic Oath that doctors take today), used the amadou mushroom as an anti-inflammatory. Indigenous peoples in North America used puffball mushrooms to heal wounds, and the 5th century Chinese alchemist Tao Hongjing wrote about the power of multiple types of mushroom.^[2]

In every culture across the globe, mushrooms and fungi have been a treasured source of health and medicine for thousands of years.

But, before you begin to think of mushroom medicine as just the stuff of history and folklore, it’s valuable to remember that many important medicines we use today are derived from fungi.

This includes penicillin (from the fungus penicillium notatum), the anti-cancer therapeutic Krestin (tramates versicolor, or turkey tail, which we’ll talk about more below), and the drug Cyclosporine, used to prevent organ rejection after transplants (two fungi, trichoderms polysporum and cylindrocarpon lucidum).^[3] And those are just a few examples of the medical power of mushrooms.

Western science, unfortunately, often overlooks indigenous and traditional medicines. Fortunately, an overwhelming number of studies into mushrooms show that the polysaccharides and triterpenes in mushrooms illustrate their immense medical and adaptogenic properties — something that our ancestors already knew.

For generation upon generation, we have relied on mushrooms and fungi for hundreds of uses, including fighting stress, infection, inflammation, and fatigue — as well as providing vitamin content in our diet.

Adaptogenic Mushrooms for Health & Wellness

When we talk about using mushrooms for wellness applications, we need to understand the difference between medicinal mushrooms and adaptogenic mushrooms. Medicinal mushrooms possess properties that have specific medicinal applications, like anti-inflammatory or antibacterial use.

While some adaptogenic mushrooms do double duty as medicinal mushrooms, the term “adaptogenic” refers to another set of incredibly valuable properties.

Adaptogens have the potential to dramatically reduce the effects of stress on our bodies — physical, chemical, and biological stress.^[4]

The term comes from the Latin word adaptare, meaning to adapt or adjust. It was coined by the Russian scientist Nikolai Lazarev in the 1940s when he came across the potential of adaptogenic substances to reduce stress on the bodies of athletes.

Confirming what the global cultures we mentioned above have known for millennia, much adaptogenic research since Lazarev has focused on the benefits of specific mushrooms, including chaga, cordyceps, lion’s mane, maitake, reishi, turkey tail, and shiitake mushroom.

How Do Adaptogenic Mushrooms Work?

Adaptogens interact with the body’s primary stress response system, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis).^[5] This is the interaction between the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal glands.

The HPA axis, much like the endocannabinoid system, also helps regulate processes like digestion, mood, and immune response. It also influences the release of cortisol.

Adaptogens influence the HPA axis when it is stimulated by stress, helping our bodies return to homeostasis, or balance.^[6]

The polysaccharides and triterpenes in mushrooms do a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to adaptogenic work. Polysaccharides, like beta glucan, have been shown to enhance immune response^[7], and triterpenes can help with mood in addition to supporting biological responses, like blood pressure and perhaps even pain response.^[8]

Triterpenes may sound familiar to you CBD fans. That’s because they’re a type of compound called a terpenoid that is closely related to the terpenes we look for in CBD for the Entourage Effect. Triterpenes and terpenes are a little different from one another (terpenes are hydrocarbons, while terpenoids come about through the oxidation of terpenes), but they are just as valuable in their adaptogenic potential. While medicinal mushrooms have been used for overall wellness and to treat all kinds of ailments for hundreds of years, it needs to be stated that most of the studies that have been conducted were very small human studies or in animals. These fungi have huge potential health benefits, but more research is definitely needed.

Adaptogenic Mushrooms: The Star Players

There are around 14,000 known species of mushrooms, and that’s considered to be only 10% of the mushrooms that are estimated to exist here on Earth.^[9] Some have medicinal properties, some are poisonous, and some make for a nice salad recipe when they’re dried out. So, needless to say, we need to do some narrowing down.

Let’s look at the most popular mushrooms with adaptogenic properties. You could say any one of these is the fungi you want to bring to the party (sorry, we couldn’t resist).

Cordyceps sinensis is a type of fungus known for its potential to reduce stress on the body, in part by increasing our resistance to stress-inducing activity. Cordyceps is often used for an energy boost.

CORDYCEPS

CHAGA

Inonotus obliquus gets its nickname, chaga, from a medieval Russian prince who purportedly took it to treat his lip (gaga) cancer … or so the story goes. We certainly don’t make any claims about the use of chaga for any serious disease, but we can tell you that the chaga mushroom has been relied upon for centuries to help with immunity and overall health.

LION’S MANE

The hericium erinaceus mushroom gets its nickname from its shaggy appearance. This mushroom has also traditionally been taken for its adaptogenic benefits, helping the body to regulate stress and inflammation.

REISHI

Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms are believed to help support the adrenal glands, which in turn release cortisol to help the body respond to stress. In China, this mushroom is known as ling zhi, which translates roughly to “spiritual plant.”

MAITAKE

The grifola frondosa mushroom has been called the “dancing mushroom” (maitake) because it was so valuable in feudal Japan that people danced for joy when they found some. It’s nutrient-rich and beloved for its positive immunity and wellness benefits.

TURKEY TAIL

The trametes versicolor mushroom gets the name “turkey tail” (also “turkeytail”) from its colorful, fan-like shape. This mushroom is well known for its immune properties, and it contains two different polysaccharopeptides, which have powerful immune benefits. It’s also packed with antioxidants and other beneficial compounds.

SHIITAKE

The lentinula edodes mushroom is one of the most popular shrooms in the world! This brown-capped mushroom originates from East Asia and is packed with several essential vitamins and minerals. Shiitake mushrooms have long been sought for their immune, heart health, antibacterial, adaptogenic, and nootropic benefits.

Psilocybin and Magic Mushrooms

Slow your roll, Timothy Leary. The adaptogenic mushrooms in our products are not psychedelic “shrooms.” They won’t make you hallucinate, and they won’t get you high.

They’re not “magic mushrooms.” None of the fungi in our CBD mushroom products contain psilocybin, the hallucinogenic compound that people use for recreational purposes.

Our products aren’t designed for intoxicating effects. Rather, we’re interested in wellness benefits — helping mood and overall health, and contributing to a healthy lifestyle.

Mushrooms for the Mind: Nootropics

In addition to their adaptogenic power, certain mushrooms — like lion’s mane, cordyceps and chaga — have the potential to provide even more value to our holistic health as nootropics.

A nootropic is a substance that is believed to enhance cognitive function. Although we originally used the term for chemical pharmaceuticals designed specifically for a brain boost (Adderall, donepezil), the definition has since expanded to include natural supplements — including mushrooms.

How could a nootropic help with brain function? There are a few ways: by stimulating the repair and growth of new nervous system cells, fighting brain cell inflammation, maximizing oxygen use in brain and nervous tissue, and supporting mood and sleep, which is absolutely vital for brain health.

There’s great potential in the use of mushrooms for their nootropic benefits alone, much less when supported by their adaptogenic and medicinal properties.

How Are These Mushrooms Grown?

Like cannabis, mushrooms are very good at absorbing everything in the environment where they grow. This includes heavy metals, chemicals, and toxins. At CBDfx, we choose clean, organic, American-grown mushrooms that are wild harvested.

Our adaptogenic mushrooms are extracted from the sporocarp, or fruiting body, of the fungi. We extract the mushroom content for our CBD mushroom products with a clean water spraying method. This means you’re getting the purest and most potent mushroom extract available, with no potentially harmful, residual chemicals.

Final Fungi Facts and Mushroom Musings

Just like hemp, our ancestors have used mushrooms and fungi safely and to great effect for thousands of years. Today, many of our pharmaceuticals are derived from fungi, and adaptogens have become one of the most sought-after wellness supplements to help us with mood, energy, and stress. Nootropes, too, provide a host of potential wellness benefits.

The next time you’re shopping for wellness products or CBD supplements, look for the adaptogenic mushrooms and nootropic mushrooms we mentioned above. We think you’ll love these mushrooms both on their own and in concert with CBD.

Tia Ghose, Livescience: Ötzi the Iceman’s Tattoos May Have Been a Primitive Form of Acupuncture. https://www.livescience.com/63682-otzi-ice-man-took-medical-treatment.html. 26 September 2018.
Paul Stamets, DSc and Heather Zwickey, PhD, Medicinal Mushrooms: Ancient Remedies Meet Modern Science. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4684114/. 13 February 2014.
Marcie Cargill, Spirit of Change Magazine: A History of Medicinal Mushrooms. 23 February 2016.
Jamie Ducharme, Time Magazine: What Are Adaptogens and Why Are People Taking Them? 28 February 2018.
Jillian Kubala, MS, RD, Healthline: What Are Adaptogenic Mushrooms? 19 March 2021.
Lian-ying Liao et al: A preliminary review of studies on adaptogens. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6240259/. 16 November 2018.
WebMD: Beta Glucans. https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1041/beta-glucans. 2020.
Adriana G Guimarães et al, Terpenes and derivatives as a new perspective for pain treatment: a patent review. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24387185/. 6 January 2014.
M. Saljoughian: Adaptogenic or Medicinal Mushrooms. https://www.uspharmacist.com/article/adaptogenic-or-medicinal-mushrooms. 20 April 2009.