Traditional Medicine, Contemporary Diseases: The Health Benefits of Turkey Tail Mushrooms

 As the incidence rates for many diseases such as cancer have augmented over the years, the need for research on alternative treatments has become increasingly dire. Current treatments like chemotherapy are invasive and can have severe adverse effects on the patient during therapy and even in the long term. Because of this, new and innovative treatments are being searched for far and wide by patients, biomedical engineers, and researchers. However, what if the answer they seek lies in the practices of the past?

In Asia and surrounding regions, mushrooms have been used to treat infections and other diseases for centuries. For over three decades, more than 100 different types of mushrooms have been approved to be used to treat cancer alongside other treatments. Trametes versicolor, more commonly known as turkey tail, is one of the most popular medicinal mushrooms. This fungal species can typically be found growing on deciduous and conifer trees across North America, Europe, and Asia. Turkey tail contains many antioxidants, including phenols and flavonoids that reduce oxidative stress.

 

Oxidative stress is caused by a buildup of reactive oxygen species, such as superoxide anion, hydroxyl groups, and hydrogen peroxide. This imbalance of free radicals leads to damage of cellular components, which is the root cause of over 100 diseases, including cancer. Thus, turkey tail showing promising signs of addressing this issue has led to further interest in the medicinal mushroom as a whole. 

Turkey tail mushrooms are also composed of polysaccharide krestin (PSK) and polysaccharide peptides (PSP), among other types of polysaccharopeptides, which activate immune cells and suppress inflammation. PSK and PSP are the most widely studied compounds from turkey tail mushrooms and have even been shown to strengthen the immune system and repair damage to immune cells caused by chemotherapy. In a small-scale 2012 study, researchers even found that daily supplementation of turkey tail powder improved the immune states of patients after having received regular treatment for breast cancer, which often pushes immune systems to their limits.

Although further research is needed, the studies already conducted and the health benefits associated with the array of chemical compounds found in them suggest that turkey tail mushrooms may play an important role in how we go about treating certain diseases in the future.

 

Sources:

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6889544/

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK424937/

 

https://www.healthline.com/health/cancer/turkey-tail-mushroom-cancer#types-of-cancer

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6010034/


Anthony Nassar (6)

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 25, 2022 at 2:08 PM

    Hi Anthony! I thought your post was really interesting as I’ve heard about mushrooms being used for medicinal purposes, but I’ve never learned about specific ones like turkey tail mushrooms. Did you come across any other types of medicinal mushrooms that are being researched to treat diseases? Do you know how many different mushrooms have medicinal properties?

    - Sarah Belcher

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousOctober 28, 2022 at 3:13 PM

      Hey Sarah! There were several other mushrooms I came across that are being used in medical research and treatment, namely lion's mane, lingzhi, chaga, and cordyceps. I could not find the exact number of medicinal mushrooms, but one sourced (the second one linked above) noted that there are over 100 types of mushrooms being used to help treat cancer in Asia.

      - Anthony

      Delete
  2. Sneha MageshOctober 26, 2022 at 11:52 AM

    Hi! This was a very interesting read! I have heard about different vegetables, fruits, and spices being used in traditional medicine but have never heard specifically about Turkey Tail mushrooms. I wonder if other types of mushrooms also have different benefits to health?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousOctober 28, 2022 at 3:18 PM

      Hey Sneha! There are many other mushrooms that are considered medicinal, and, while many have the same beneficial properties, like being antioxidant-rich, they also carry other properties that make them unique. From my reading, I found that chaga mushroom is used to help remove free radicals, aid in cancer treatment, and protect cells from certain damage while red reishi mushrooms help support the immune system in addition to the benefits mentioned above. However, much research is to be conducted on them still.

      - Anthony Nassar

      Delete
  3. Adyelis M. Colon MartinezOctober 27, 2022 at 8:41 AM

    Hello Anthony!

    This was such an interesting topic. I don’t particularly like mushrooms so it was really nice to associate something positive with something that I typically view as negative. I do have a question about how the Turkey Tail mushroom would be specifically used to reap the benefits? Would you cook it and eat it or like would it be in pill form, powder, etc.?

    - Adyelis

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousOctober 28, 2022 at 3:23 PM

      Hello Adyelis! Most of the time, these mushrooms are sold as crude powder that also contains mycelium and fermented substrate, and others are made into pill form. Most of the studies i read were done using a powdered form of the mushroom after it had been collected and dried out.

      - Anthony

      Delete
  4. AnonymousOctober 28, 2022 at 3:23 PM

    Hello Adyelis! Most of the time, these mushrooms are sold as crude powder that also contains mycelium and fermented substrate, and others are made into pill form. Most of the studies i read were done using a powdered form of the mushroom after it had been collected and dried out.

    - Anthony

    ReplyDelete

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