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How to Use Mushrooms
There are many ways to use mushrooms to gain their health promoting effects. Details and directions for the different ways of using mushrooms are listed below.
Overview
Scroll down if you want to see instructions on the different ways to use mushrooms. There are many ways to reap the benefits of mushrooms, but two ways remain the most popular and have been used throughout the centuries. Teas, also called hot-water extracts, are the most common way to get the active compounds out of the mushrooms. Tinctures or alcohol extracts are another way. The hot-water mainly extracts compounds called polysaccharides and the alcohol pulls out mostly the triterpenes. Some products, such as double extracts, blend the water and alcohol together giving a broad range medicinal compounds in each dose. These extracts can additionally be concentrated and made into either powders, capsules, or oils.
Many of these mushrooms have been used for thousands of years and have a long history of being potent natural healers. Its also easy enough for the average person to use, even if they have little or no experience with natural herbs or mushrooms. When drinking teas you can generally consume as much as you would like without any issues, but for tinctures and powder extracts do not exceed the maximum dosage on the directions. Mushrooms are best used daily and continuously for at least 8 weeks, but if you cannot consistently consume them they will still impart many health benefits.
Use one type of mushroom or mix it with others to create a blend. Either way there is plenty of different options when it comes to using the mushrooms, with room for creativity! One idea is to make a tea, then once poured into your cup, add a green tea bag to make mushroom green tea. Put a little bit of honey in there and you have yourself a tasty tea that also provides a nice boost of energy. Another is to add tinctures to a mushroom tea that is actively brewing; this evaporates all the alcohol off but leaves the medicinal compounds from the tincture unharmed and remaining in the tea. Whatever way you choose, enjoy the benefits that the mushrooms have to offer!
Wild turkey tail mushroom, grey, blue and orange fruitbody
How to make Mushroom Tea
Break the mushrooms into smaller chunks; cut with a heavy blade or break apart pieces with your hands. If this is all too much work you can still use a whole dried mushroom per pot of water. Use whatever you have to break the mushroom into smaller pieces. If you have an appliance, such as a blender that will grind them, that's great and works too.
A small dose is 3-5 grams, a medium dose is 15 grams, and large does is 25-150 grams (about 1-5 ounces). Always start with the small dosage and work your way up. Add the mushrooms and water (any amount of water will do, as long as the mushrooms are submerged during the whole process) into a pot and boil/simmer on medium-low heat for 10-20+ minutes. You can let it boil for a very long time, just make sure to add more water as it evaporates off.
Remove from the heat, strain, and pour into your tea cup. Allow the liquid to cool a little, as it's quite hot. You can repeat the process using the same mushrooms many times; until the resulting extraction is no longer bitter or colored. You can store it in the fridge between brews in order to keep making teas for days from the same batch of mushrooms.
How to make a Mushroom Tincture
Fill a mason jar of any size about 1/4-1/2 full with broken or ground up mushrooms.
Pour enough alcohol into the jar to fully submerge the mushrooms. Ideally use pure grain alcohol, %95/190 proof, but any anything that is %40/80 proof (such as vodka) or higher will work.
Set it somewhere where out of the way and let it sit for two to four weeks; shake the jar occasionally if you would like to.
Strain out the mushrooms; the remaining colored alcohol is your tincture or alcohol extract (or ethanol extract if you used 190 proof.) Store away from sunlight to prevent degradation by UV rays.
Dosage: Use 3-15 dropper fulls (1.5ml-7.5ml) spread throughout the day.
Tincture dropper bottles
How to use the BioShield products and mushroom powders
Powders can be mixed into any drinks or beverages and taken that way. Another option is added to coffee grounds and brewed in the coffee maker to give your morning cup of java a powerful health boost. Powders can also be added to soups, stews, broths, etc . anything that is liquid.
Extract powders. such as those used in the BioShield products, are fully bio-available and can be mixed into water or a beverage of your choice. Mushroom extract powders can have a fairly strong taste to them; great when added to protein shakes, coffee, or orange juice.
Extract powders are the most effective and strongest form of getting the medicinal compounds from mushroom. They are also easier to use consistently, the powders are compact and potent. Do not think all mushroom powders are the same! There are mushroom EXTRACT powders, like the BioShield products, and there are regular mushroom powders (which are blended up dried mushrooms, un-extracted.) The extract powders being much more potent than just the ground up mushrooms.
Preparing Mushrooms for Gourmet Meals
This section applies to Shiitake, Maitake, and Lions Mane mushrooms, as these are the only ones that are tender enough to chew and eat. Eating mushrooms is still a very effective way to get the medicinal compounds and benefits, though it might not seem that way. So eat your mushrooms and vegetables, they're good for you!
To prepare, simmer the mushrooms in hot water for 10-15 minutes, or until tender. Then, strain out the mushrooms and cook as you would for normal fresh mushrooms. Do not pour out the water from preparing the dried mushrooms! Drink the water as a tea while its still warm or save it in the fridge to use later in teas, soups, or rice/noodles.
When cooking with the mushrooms, saute' or roast in the oven before you add them to your dish for the best dining experience. They should ideally be cooked until golden brown on one or both sides to get that crunchy texture and special gourmet experience that only exotic mushrooms can give. Adding a little bit of sea salt really rounds out the flavors and provides you with the full tasting experience.
Other mushrooms such as Reishi or Turkey Tail can be used as a bay leaf would be in soups or for the water to make noodles/rice. Steep mushrooms in the hot water or soup and remove when it is time to eat, this is a great way to get mushrooms into the diet if you do not like the taste or texture of them normally.
Gourmet shiitake recipe