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TURKEY TAIL BENEFITS
An excellent source of natural antioxidants and immune boosters. Turkey Tail mushrooms can improve gut bacteria balance, and thus numerous other health issues by proxy. It shines in our Daily 8 Mushroom Immunity Boost and Romeo’s Agility Chews for Dogs for its notoriety for boosting immunity.
Inside the Shroom
TURKEY TAIL
Straight from the Source
Turkey Tail
Trametes versicolor is a common polypore mushroom found throughout the world. Meaning ‘of several colors’, versicolor reliably describes this fungus that displays different colors. For example, because its shape and multiple colors are similar to those of a wild turkey, T. versicolor is commonly called Turkey Tail.
History
Featured in the Chinese Materia Medica since around 200 BC. In the 15th century it is written that Turkey Tail was taken as a tea benefitting the spirit, vital energy, and able to strengthen bone and tendon. Since the 1960’s extracts from Turkey Tail have been used in China and Japan as treatments for various forms of cancer collecting clinical experience as licensed medicinal products. As a result Turkey Tail has become the most extensively researched mushroom.
Harvest
Harvested in the wild on dead and rotting logs, Turkey Tail must be dried and then extracted to benefit from its medicinal properties. Fresh Turkey Tail should be dehydrated as quickly as possible after harvest to prevent mold. After drying, Turkey Tail can be made into a healthy tea or pulverized into a powder and put into capsules for ingesting.
Anatomy
Turkey Tail has a tough, leathery surface, which renders it inedible in its raw form. The surface alternates between hairy, smooth, and colored zones. The colored zones are primarily shades of white, brown, gray, orange and sometimes blue/purple. Pores are often white but sometimes yellow. Layers of overlapping fruiting bodies are found clinging to dead wood in a shelf-like formation.
Etymology
This wood-rotting fungus is also found in Asia and is very common in North America. It is from the USA that the common name Turkeytail (sometimes written Turkey Tail) originated and in Britain and Ireland has now largely replaced the formerly popular English common name Many-zoned Polypore
Turkey Tail Benefits*
These mushrooms contain a wide range of antioxidants called flavonoids and phenols that can help to boost the immune system. They accomplish this by reducing inflammation in the body as well as helping to stimulate your body’s natural production of its own protective compounds.
Turkey Tail mushrooms can also improve the health of your gut. They contain helpful prebiotics that can help to suppress bad bacteria like E. Coli. as well as increase beneficial bacteria in the gut therefore helping with digestion, reducing cholesterol levels, and more.
One study even suggests that turkey tail mushrooms may improve athletic performance. Mice who consumed Turkey Tail extract were less fatigued and performed better in the study than those who didn’t.
Historical Uses
In many Asian cultures, Turkey Tail symbolizes longevity and health, spiritual attunement, and infinity. Known in Chinese culture as Tun Zhi, it has been used for centuries by practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as an immunomodulator that supports immune function and helps fight infections.
Other Potential Turkey Tail Benefits*:
- Improve insulin resistance
- Promote a healthy gut
- Bolster your immune system
- Fight viruses
- Support integrative cancer therapies
Our Turkey Tail Source:
Our mushrooms are sourced from Organic Mushroom Farms in Utah. They are naturally potent because they grow them in their optimal conditions on their preferred log and harvested about every 12 months so they reach full potency and peak medicinal properties.
TURKEY TAIL
SUMMARY
One of the most studied medicinal mushrooms, Turkey Tail tauts an impressive list of healing qualities including helping the gut, supporting the immune system, and balancing blood sugar among a few. Turkey Tail has been used since the 1960’s in China and Japan as a registered cancer treatment for hospital patients.
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