Reishi

Research corpus coverage

Chemistry notes

• CHEMISTRY: Relevant reported constituents include beta-glucans; triterpenes; constituent presence alone does not establish clinical efficacy.

Traditional / historical use

Documented traditional use — not a claim of established efficacy.

• TRADITIONAL: Reishi has been used for fatigue; immune support; longevity; this records historical/traditional use and does not establish efficacy.

  MODERATE · regulatory monograph · WHO Monographs on Selected Medicinal Plants

Modern evidence

• EVIDENCE: For the major use set (fatigue; immune support; longevity), the evidence assessment is insufficient: Insufficient clinical evidence for cancer treatment or general immune benefit; small adjunctive studies are low certainty.

  LOW · regulatory monograph and mixed scientific literature · WHO Monographs on Selected Medicinal Plants

Forms used traditionally

A listed form does not imply it suits every plant part, or that one preparation is interchangeable with another — see the plant’s own notes below.

Cats & dogs

• Caution

  Reishi may cause nausea or insomnia and may increase bleeding risk with anticoagulant or antiplatelet substances; it may also alter drug concentrations through CYP inhibition.

  Interaction · OTHER · whole dried mushroom, dried slices, broth, or decoction · MODERATE · veterinary_manual · Herbal Medicine in Veterinary Patients - Therapeutics

Additional safety notes (general, unstructured)

Free-text safety notes carried from their source — not broken out by species, route, or hazard type, and not equivalent to the structured records above. Each note names the kind of source it came from.

• SAFETY: Major issues include GI upset, rash; rare liver injury reports, especially powders/extracts. Contraindications/cautions include Bleeding disorders; transplant settings.

  HIGH · observational/case series and expert review · LiverTox: Herbal and Dietary Supplements

• SAFETY: Clinically relevant interaction concerns include Potential additive bleeding, BP/glucose lowering, and antagonism of immunosuppressants.

  MODERATE · observational/case series and expert review · LiverTox: Herbal and Dietary Supplements

  Some interactions are theoretical or based on case reports/pharmacokinetics rather than outcome trials.

• SAFETY: Pregnancy/lactation reference: Insufficient pregnancy/lactation evidence.

  MODERATE · regulatory monograph or evidence synthesis · WHO Monographs on Selected Medicinal Plants

  Absence of evidence is not evidence of safety.

• Reishi may cause nausea or insomnia and may increase bleeding risk with anticoagulant or antiplatelet substances; it may also alter drug concentrations through CYP inhibition.

  MODERATE · veterinary_manual · Herbal Medicine in Veterinary Patients - Therapeutics

  The page names Ganoderma lucidum, whereas the canonical entry is Ganoderma lingzhi; the taxonomic correspondence is treated as uncertain.

Taxonomic identity note

• Reishi is treated here as Ganoderma lingzhi Sheng H.Wu, Y.Cao & Y.C.Dai in the family Ganodermataceae; recorded older names include Often marketed as Ganoderma lucidum, a name correctly applying to a European species.