Discover Shiitake Mushroom Benefits That May Surprise You 

Some of the top shiitake mushroom benefits include the ability to improve immunity and enhance oral health

Shiitake mushroom benefits are more significant than people realize. Most shiitake eaters are interested in the flavorful taste and desirable texture. They do not always realize that these delicious mushrooms are also good for our health. Some big shiitake mushroom benefits are discussed below. If you are looking for ways to increase the health of your immune system or your dental health, then you will want to keep reading.

Shiitake mushroom benefits: Improved immunity

Do you want to build and improve the functioning of your immune system? According to science, shiitake mushrooms can help. The study Consuming Lentinula edodes (Shiitake) Mushrooms Daily Improves Human Immunity: A Randomized Dietary Intervention in Healthy Young Adults took a look at the shiitake mushroom benefits behind eating whole, dried shiitakes. This study was conducted on living human beings ranging in age from 21-41 years old. I make note of this because many studies on mushrooms have historically been conducted on animals or on cell cultures in a laboratory. This study selected 52 healthy adult males and females. These people ate five or 10 grams of whole, dried shiitake mushrooms over the course of four weeks. Here is a look at the conclusion of this study:

Regular L. edodes consumption resulted in improved immunity, as seen by improved cell proliferation and activation and increased sIgA production. The changes observed in cytokine and serum CRP levels suggest that these improvements occurred under conditions that were less inflammatory than those that existed before consumption.

It is great to see some scientific evidence backing the validity of the shiitake mushroom’s ability to improve immunity.

Shiitake mushroom benefits on oral health

Did you know that shiitake mushrooms can help improve your oral health? It’s a topic that many do not discuss right away when considering the shiitake mushroom benefits on overall health and well being. The study The Unexplored Anticaries Potential of Shiitake Mushroom discusses the shiitakes antigingivitis effect, and even gets into the comparative research conducted where the effectiveness of shiitake mushroom extract was put up against leading artificial mouthwash. “The total bacterial numbers, as well as numbers of eight key taxa in the oral community, were investigated over time and results indicated that the shiitake extract lowered the numbers of some pathogenic taxa.” This study also details a variety of other shiitake mushroom benefits for health. These include:

• Antioxidant effects of shiitake
• Cancer preventing “mycochemicals” that inhibit tumor growth
• Antiviral capabilities
• Antifungal properties

Shiitake mushrooms and vitamin D

According to the study Photobiology of vitamin D in mushrooms and its bioavailability in humans, “Mushrooms are a rich source of vitamin D2 that when consumed can increase and maintain blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in a healthy range.” In fact, the study also mentioned that mushrooms containing higher levels of vitamin D are as effective as vitamin D supplements at increasing and maintaining a person’s vitamin D blood level status. The best part is how you can actually increase the vitamin D levels in your freshly grown shiitakes. After harvesting your fresh shiitakes, simply place them in direct sunlight on their caps so the gills are facing up towards the sun. Allow them to stay here for a few hours. Some people will recommend keeping them here for eight hours. Others will say shorter. According to InSight, “Some research is very positive, saying that putting your mushrooms in direct sunlight for 10–15 minutes may provide you with 100% of your daily vitamin D needs, and the vitamin D content in sunlight-exposed mushrooms may be retained with refrigeration for up to 8 days.” The study Effect of UV-B exposure on the concentration of vitamin D2 in sliced shiitake mushroom (Lentinus edodes) and white button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) says that slicing the shiitakes and putting them in the sun can increase the vitamin D amount by 60%! Not only will you get tasty sun-dried shiitakes for later use, but they will have higher amounts of vitamin D for immune system health.

Shiitake mushroom benefits: You can grow these popular gourmet mushrooms at home

All these health benefits make shiitakes sound too-good-to-be-true. Fortunately, that’s not the case! Shiitakes are for real, and even though they may seem like exotic mushrooms, they can be grown with ease at home. The easiest way to begin growing shiitakes at home is by using a shiitake grow kit. The shiitake mushroom growing kits we provide are 10 pounds of colonized substrate and certified organic. Once you begin using the kit you can have your first flush of fresh shiitakes within two weeks. In ideal conditions the kits can produce up to four pounds of fresh shiitakes over the course of multiple flushes. Log inoculation is another popular method for cultivating shiitake mushrooms at home. You can use our shiitake plug spawn or sawdust spawn to inoculate your logs. For best results, use logs of oak, sugar maple, alder, or American beech.