Maitake & Reishi Mushrooms

Reishi and maitake mushrooms have a range of uses for your health, although of the two types of mushrooms, only maitake is suitable for culinary uses. Understand the medical benefits of each mushroom to make the best choice for you, but always consult your healthcare provider before incorporating either mushroom into your diet as a treatment for a medical condition.

Definition: Maitake Mushrooms

Maitake mushrooms are gourmet Japanese mushrooms suitable for consumption . Also called Hen of the Woods, this type of mushroom can grown quite large -- up to forty to fifty pounds. Maitake mushrooms bear a cream to gray color and a ruffled appearance. You can find it in the wild in the United States on dead or dying oak trees during the months of September and October, although take an experienced mycologist -- or mushroom expert -- with you on any mushroom foraging trip in order to avoid collecting and consuming poisonous mushrooms.

Definition: Reishi Mushrooms

Reishi mushrooms, largely thought of as an Asian herbal mushroom, also goes by the names ling chih, mannentake and rei-shi. This mushroom, which appears in red, black, blue, white, yellow and purple colors, makes its home on the trunks of plum trees. The black and red reishi mushrooms are most often used for health purposes. Since the 1970s, reishi mushrooms is commercially cultivated in several Asian countries as well as the United States.

Medicinal Benefits

Taking reishi mushrooms allegedly has a variety of health benefits. A study published in the 2011 issue of "The American Journal of Chinese Medicine" correlates the consumption of reishi mushrooms with inhibiting cancer cell growth in both in vitro and in vivo studies. The University of Maryland Medical Center website also suggests taking reishi mushrooms to treat pancreatitis. Additionally, some naturopathic health providers consider it a treatment for everything from heart disease to nervous conditions. Maitake mushroom benefits center primarily around cancer, although other uses have been tested. Evidence in the April 2011 edition of the "Journal of Medicinal Food" indicates that maitake mushrooms kill off breast cancer cells in vitro.

Nutritional Benefits

Maitake mushrooms are low in fat and calories, with only trace amounts of fat and 22 calories per 1-cup serving. This mushroom is also a good source of niacin, or vitamin B-3 -- each serving contains 4.6 mg of this vitamin. You require 14 to 16 mg of niacin per day, although breast feeding or pregnant women require more: 17 to 18 mg, respectively. Raw reishi mushrooms are not edible, so their nutritional information is not available.

Dosage

The dosage for reishi mushrooms varies according to what medical condition is treated. For pancreatitis, for instance, you should consume 150 to 300 mg in pill or tea form two to three times daily, or you can ingest reishi extract tincture at a rate of 30 to 60 drops several times each day. The Pharmacopoeia People's Republic of China suggests a standard dosage of 6 to 12 g of reishi extract on a daily basis. The recommendation for powdered maitake stands at 200 to 2,500 mg each day, or you can consume maitake extract at 12 to 25 mg daily.