Every woman experiences cycles related to fertility, menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause throughout her life. Women’s health requires special attention to all aspects of the hormonal cycle, emphasizing a woman’s age, lifestyle, general health, and the function of her hormonal, neurological, and immune systems.

Numerous medical conditions can affect a woman’s quality of life, daily functioning, and state of mind throughout the female reproductive cycle. Conventional medicine can help but only sometimes provides a solution. Even when medical treatments are available, the accompanying side effects can sometimes worsen the quality of life.

When conventional medicine fails to produce a positive result, the answer may come from an unexpected source: the world of medicinal mushrooms.

Reishi Mushroom: Balancing Hormones and Easing Migraines

During the monthly hormonal cycle, many women experience mood swings, irritability, anxiety, and significant stress, especially during PMS and menstruation. The medicinal mushroom Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) can help due to its ability to balance and calm the nervous system.

Many women also suffer from migraines, debilitating headaches that restrict activity and temporarily paralyze them. Reishi contains components that balance the nervous system, reducing the intensity of pain and the frequency of attacks. Prolonged use can bring substantial relief.

Reishi also promotes better liver function, an organ crucial to the female hormonal system. The liver produces cholesterol, which is necessary for sex hormone production and for generating enzymes that identify and dismantle excess hormones from food, drink, and the body itself. These surpluses, if not eliminated, can complicate conception, as seen in Endometriosis and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), where excess estrogen hinders pregnancy.

Reishi contains at least 12 anti-inflammatory substances with antioxidants that protect women’s skin from sun damage. This characteristic helps women maintain skin health and beauty, especially during hot seasons.

Maitake Mushroom: Supporting Fertility and Combating Candida

PCOS, a condition in which many cysts form in the ovaries, makes conception difficult. The medicinal mushroom Maitake (Grifola frondosa) lowers high insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) levels, which are elevated in PCOS, aiding successful conception.

Candida, a fungus living in the digestive and skin mucus, can become parasitic when unbalanced, causing fatigue, indigestion, sweet cravings, weight issues, hair loss, and more. Vaginal Candida causes itching, redness, and discharge. Maitake teaches the immune system to identify Candida as a parasitic fungus, restoring equilibrium. It also weakens Candida’s cell walls in the digestive tract, restraining its growth, and optimizes sugar entry into cells, reducing Candida’s food sources. Maitake is effective in diabetes, where insulin resistance prevents sugar entry into cells, leaving blood sugar levels high.

Turkey Tail Mushroom: Healing and Protecting Tissues

The mushroom Trametes Coriolus Versicolor, popularly known as Turkey Tail, contains substances that aid in restoring damaged digestive tract tissues from unbalanced Candida or damaged vaginal tissues from Candida or bacteria like E. coli, common in menopausal women suffering from vaginal dryness due to declining estrogen levels.

Turkey Tail also helps reduce heartburn symptoms during pregnancy by protecting damaged esophageal tissues from stomach acidity, which causes heartburn.

Shiitake Mushroom: Enhancing Blood Flow and Immune Response

The medicinal mushroom Shiitake (Lentinus edodes) improves peripheral blood flow, ensuring essential nutrients reach all body parts, including the female genitals.

Additionally, Shiitake polysaccharides teach the immune system to recognize unbalanced parasitic Candida and various bacteria like E. coli, commonly found in menopausal women with dry vaginal linings due to reduced estrogen.

Embracing Nature’s Remedies

Medicinal mushrooms offer a natural alternative for supporting women’s health throughout their hormonal cycles. These mushrooms provide valuable benefits from balancing hormones and easing migraines to enhancing fertility, combating Candida, and protecting skin and tissue health. Embracing these natural remedies can improve the quality of life and support overall well-being for women at every stage of life.

 

References:

 BMC Complement Altern Med. 2013 Dec 26;13:370. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-13-370.

Antidepressant-like effects of a water-soluble extract from the culture medium of Ganoderma lucidum mycelia in rats.

Matsuzaki H, Shimizu Y, Iwata N, Kamiuchi S, Suzuki F, Iizuka H, Hibino Y, Okazaki M

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=anxiety+and+reishi

 Dow College of Pharmacy, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Karachi,

CAUSES OF MIGRAINE IN KARACHIITES AND ITS TREATMENT FROM MUSHROOMS

Fakhsheena Anjum, Nighat Razvi, Hina Yasin, Arije Ahmad, Marvi Khan Sherwani, Nimra Rahim Khan and Sidra Arshad

Pakistan

http://www.pharmascholars.com/upload/pharmacy_52bb01ca763a3.pdf

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2014;2014:916531. doi: 10.1155/2014/916531. Epub 2014 May 5.

An Immunomodulatory Protein (Ling Zhi-8) from a Ganoderma lucidum Induced Acceleration of Wound Healing in Rat Liver Tissues after Monopolar Electrosurgery.

Lin HJ, Chang YS, Lin LH, Haung CF, Wu CY, Ou KL

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24883073

 Int J Med Mushrooms. 2014;16(6):529-39.

Screening and isolation for anti-hepatofibrotic components from medicinal mushrooms using TGF-(β1-induced live fibrosis in hepatic stellate cells.

Geng Y, Wang J, Xie M, Lu Z, Xu H, Shi JS, Xu ZH

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25404218

 J Altern Complement Med. 2010 Dec;16(12):1295-9. doi: 10.1089/acm.2009.0696. Epub 2010 Oct 29.

Maitake mushroom (Grifola frondosa) extract induces ovulation in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome: a possible monotherapy and a combination therapy after failure with first-line clomiphene citrate.

Chen JT, Tominaga K, Sato Y, Anzai H, Matsuoka R

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=maitake+PCOS

 Nihon Ishinkin Gakkai Zasshi. 2010;51(2):99-107.

Anti-fungal cell wall beta-glucan antibody in animal sera.

Ishibashi K, Dogasaki C, Motoi M, Miura N, Adachi Y, Ohno N

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20467198

 Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2009 Apr 23;73(4):908-11. Epub 2009 Apr 7.

Involvement of branched units at position 6 in the reactivity of a unique variety of beta-D-glucan from Aureobasidium pullulans to antibodies in human sera.

Tada R, Tanioka A, Ishibashi K, Adachi Y, Tsubaki K, Ohno N

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19352033

 Glycoconj J. 2014 Jul;31(5):355-63. doi: 10.1007/s10719-014-9526-x. Epub 2014 Jun 8.

A polysaccharide from Grifola frondosa relieves insulin resistance of HepG2 cell by Akt-GSK-3 pathway.

Ma X, Zhou F, Chen Y, Zhang Y, Hou L, Cao X, Wang C

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24908430

  Fitoterapia. 2013 Sep;89:210-7. doi: 10.1016/j.fitote.2013.05.021. Epub 2013 Jun 3.

The H+/K+-ATPase inhibitory activities of Trametenolic acid B from Trametes lactinea (Berk.) Pat, and its effects on gastric cancer cells.

Zhang Q, Huang N, Wang J, Luo H, He H, Ding M, Deng WQ, Zou K

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=trametes+ulcer

 Food Rev Int 1995;11:111–28.

Shiitake. Lentinus edodes: functional properties for medicinal and food purposes.

Mizuno T.