Organic Coffee with Reishi

You may have heard about organic coffee with reishi. What is this concoction and is it good for you or something to avoid completely? Red reishi is a mushroom found in China. Its scientific name is ganoderma lucidum and it has been used as a folk medicine in China for centuries. There is some evidence that this mushroom contains substances that can help the immune system, lower blood pressure and fight tumors. But combine reishi with organic coffee?

Health Benefits of Coffee

It seems that every month another scientific study is published showing more health benefits of coffee. Most recently it has been revealed that not only is coffee good for you but the health benefits of drinking coffee improve with age.

Research has shown that if you drink coffee you live longer. That is to say that over a given period of time coffee drinkers are less likely to die than folks who don’t drink coffee.

Now those results have been replicated in a Spanish study and in to addition the fact that folks who drink coffee are less likely to die in the next ten years the protective effect of coffee is stronger in people over the age of 45.

The most recent study looked at coffee consumption and the likelihood of death in the over the next seven years. Coffee drinkers over 45 were less likely to die by 20% for each cup of coffee consumed per day up to three cups. Drinking more did not seem to help. Coffee reduces the risk of Type II diabetes, various cancers, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. But if you want to improve upon the benefits of coffee what can you do?

Health Benefits of Reishi

Various web sites sing the praises of the Reishi mushroom. One is Health Clover where they suggest coffee with reishi mushroom extract.

According to these folks reishi mushrooms reduce blood sugar, stimulate the liver and bile production and are a source of antioxidants, like coffee.  According to the Mayo Clinic, “studies suggest Reishi reduces inflammatory cytokine IL6 & boosts Interleukin 10, among other +effects, so should help immunity.” In their nutrition and healthy eating section they say this.

This fungus is the only food source of vitamin D – besides animal products. No other plants provide vitamin D.

The vitamin B-12 found naturally in mushrooms is the same form found in meat.

Mushrooms contain a variety of bio active compounds that are antioxidants, which offer protection from cancer and heart disease, and moderate blood sugar levels.

And this part applies to all mushrooms. Regarding reishi the scientific opinion is that consuming reishi mushroom may help your immune response and may inhibit cancers. However, the sort of long term studies that have been done on coffee have not been done on this mushroom. Nevertheless the reishi mushroom has been used as a folk medicine for centuries and if there were really bad problems it would have been put aside and forgotten about.




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