Reishi Mushroom: The Basics

Reishi mushroom goes by many names: Ganoderma lucidum, lingzhi, the mushroom of immortality, the herb of spiritual potency… the list goes on and on. The purpose of this post is simply to pull back the veil a tiny bit and share a few things I’ve learned and experienced firsthand. There is SO much to say about this mushroom; this is the tiniest tip of the iceberg.

Reishi is probably the most scientifically studied herb of all time. It has been the focus of innumerable studies over the years, starting in China/Japan and continuing around the globe in recent years. The science is a topic for another post; for now, check out these inspiring search results on reishi (ganorderma lucidum) at the National Library of Medicine’s website.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=ganoderma%20lucidum%20and%20cancer

My first exposure to reishi mushroom was back in 2009. I started by taking a somewhat generic medicinal mushroom extract blend in capsule form. It contained reishi, cordyceps, lions mane, agaricus blazei, and one or two others. Since then I’ve taken some form of reishi almost every day. I have whole mushrooms (like the one pictured here) that I slice and decoct into a tea, I take powdered reishi extract in capsule form when I’m on vacation or otherwise too busy for teas and powders, and on “normal” days I put some powdered extract in my smoothies and elixirs. Over the years, not only have I noticed a huge boost to my immune system, but I’m also far, far less prone to anger, social anxiety, and other negative emotions. To say the least, reishi is a powerful herb. Even if you put the mountain of scientific research aside, it’s clear to me that reishi has profound mental and spiritual effects that become more real in your daily life than you would believe. When I first started taking reishi, I assumed it would be like every other herb and supplement I’d ever tried. You know what I mean… “maybe it’s good for me, but I don’t really feel anything”. Well, as a converted skeptic I’m here to tell you that I was proven very wrong! Reishi, more than any other supertonic or superfood, has opened my eyes to the fact that most humans live and die without ever discovering some of the great foods on this planet.

Hyperion Herbs is a great place to find high quality reishi extract at a reasonable price. I like the fact that Brandon goes out of his way to be clear about the fact that Hyperion’s selling reishi grown on duanwood logs. I won’t get into the details right now, but reishi has been shown to be more potent when grown that way versus, say, on brown rice patties (which is pretty common in commercial reishi powder production).

One of my favorite winter recipes is: 1-2 tbsp reishi extract, 1 tbsp raw cacao powder, 1/2 tbsp maca, 2 tbsp hemp seed, a couple dates, and 20 oz or so of hot water.  Sometimes I’ll throw a banana in there too, especially if I’m out of dates. This is such a delicious tonic beverage. The cacao, maca, and sugar from the dates are all pretty stimulating. The hemp seed makes it smooth and almost creamy. The reishi ties it all together with a bitter edge and a very mellowing effect. Just reishi extract powder and hot water is an amazing beverage (if you like the bitter flavor) that will help you relax and maintain focus for hours, but as a kick-start in the morning I like this more stimulating option from time to time.

Have any specific questions about reishi or what I’ve experienced while taking this herb? Post a comment below and I’ll do my best to give you a clear answer.

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Qigong Benefits After 30 Days

In a previous post I mentioned that I had started some regular qigong practice. Here’s the follow-up. It’s been a little over one month and I’ve managed to get in at least 5 minutes of practice every day since. On average, I’m standing for about 20 minutes per session.

The main thing I can say for anyone starting to dabble with qigong: just do it. Qigong teachers (and books) will tell you the most important thing is to put in the time. And frankly, we all have 20 minutes to spare every day, right? No? What about 5? Don’t think on that too long though… your 5 minutes will be up before you finish thinking it through.

Truly, five minutes is a tiny amount of time. As with any regular practice – meditation, a musical instrument, team sports, jogging on a treadmill – five minutes can seem like an eternity when you first start. But once you’ve done it every day for awhile, it’s barely what you need to start warming up. You naturally want to dedicate more time to your practice… you see some progress and desire more… it all appears to be true for qigong almost as much as it is for other sports and hobbies. I say “almost” because another thing you can’t really sugar-coat is: you’re just standing. “Like a tree”. Not doing anything.

I’ve heard qigong described as one of the least immediately satisfying sports/exercises. There’s no question that it benefits your health. I haven’t heard anyone claim to have seriously tried qigong and given up because it did absolutely nothing for them. Bored them to death? That I’d believe. But even after a single month, I’m very clearly seeing some improved circulation (warmer hands and feet). So why isn’t it immediately satisfying? Well… when you start a new sport like soccer, for instance, you tend to get in much better shape within your first few weeks. On day 1, you’re puking your guts out after practice. On day 30, your stamina is way up and you’re seeing toned muscles, improved footwork, etc. With qigong, the progression seems to be a bit slower. People who’ve been practicing for years will tell you all about the amazing health benefits they’ve experienced in body, mind, and spirit. They’ll also tell you it took months or maybe years to start seeing solid results.

Ok… results, results. If you’re like me, you came here looking for real info, not someone rambling on about how hard it all is. Here’s where I stand with results, and I’ll report back again in the future if and when I have any breakthroughs.

I mentioned above that I’m warmer. It’s not all the time yet, but after I stand, my hands and feet are often very warm for an hour or two. Almost strangely warm. I also have more energy on a regular basis. In the past, I’ve been a snooze-button-aholic. Like, 20 snoozes on a rough morning. (I know, stupid.) But lately I’m snoozing once or twice if at all! Totally amazing. Other than that, I’m feeling real improvement in my general muscle tension, or lack thereof. I’ve known for years that I hold tension in my neck and shoulders. Turns out those are just the most obvious places. If I focus on it, I’m now able to release muscles in my back, neck, stomach, and legs in the normal flow of my day. Standing in line at the supermarket has never been more relaxing. Sitting at my desk or in long meetings at work have all become much easier. So, if you want to learn to relax… stand like a tree!

 

 

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Day 4 – Juice Feast Wrap Up

Today’s the day I wrap it up! Part of me wants to keep up the juicing for another week to enjoy even more healing benefits. The other part of me is starting to load on the reasons why I should wrap it up. Ultimately, I’m positive that I’ll be doing this again later in the year and up front I knew I didn’t want to overdo it. For a second fast, I’m content.

Although today I ate some solids, it wasn’t until about 6pm. Even then, I started slow. To join in at the dinner table, I had three pieces of cooked broccoli (chewed very well) and a tiny hummus wrap (a mini tortilla, two teaspoons of hummus, and 10 or 15 leaves of baby spinach). I was nervous that not starting with plain, raw food was a bad idea, but I felt totally fine. No stomach issues whatsoever.

To sum up, here’s what I juiced today:

  • 8:30am 1 quart of cantaloupe juice
  • 11:30am 1 quart of spinach/celery/ginger/cucumber juice
  • 4:30pm 1 quart of romaine/carrot juice

Weight this morning: 152.6

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Day 3 – Red Peppers and Cantaloupe!

delicious cantaloupe!

delicious cantaloupe!

9:45am
It’s day 3 of my juice feast and I’m loving it. I juiced 2 quarts of green juices last night. I went with some new recipes, which are listed below. No kale today. I’m pretty psyched because today I get to drink 2 things I’ve never had in liquid form before: red peppers and cantaloupe! The red pepper is in a veggie juice with spinach and parsley. I’ll try that later. Right now I’m drinking straight cantaloupe juice. It’s pretty awesome! I got up this morning with the intention of juicing my cantaloupe and however many oranges I would need to bring it all up to one quart. Well, the melon gave me just over a full quart all on its own! It was a super easy juicing session, the juice is delicious, and it’s not quite as strong in the sweetness department as the oranges. Definitely an instant favorite.

12:45pm
In my main green juice today I decided to try something a little different so I used spinach and parsley instead of kale. I also added red pepper, which I had heard great things about from Jay Kordich via his recent interview on Raw Vegan Radio. The verdict? He was right; it’s delicious. I mean, it’s no big surprise that something you like in solid form continues to taste good when juiced, but there’s something special about drinking them. Especially with things like cantaloupe and red pepper, because they’re not really staples in my normal solid food lifestyle.

It’s the middle of day 3 and I’ve consumed nothing but juice I made in my kitchen, loads of water (~1 gallon/day), and herbal teas (mostly just reishi extract and hot water). So, how am I feeling? I feel great! It’s strange that I haven’t had any severe detox symptoms beyond mild headaches, but I’m definitely not complaining. I have a ton of energy, I’m sleeping well, my bathroom routines have been pretty normal – although I’m peeing constantly – and I’ve lost 5 pounds in two days. Pretty crazy! I didn’t do this for weight loss, but I’m more than a little comfortable saying goodbye to some of my “holiday baggage”.

 

To sum up, here’s what I juiced today:

  • 9:30am 1 quart of cantaloupe juice
  • 12:45pm 1 quart of spinach/parsley/celery/red pepper/ginger/lemon juice
  • 5:00pm 1 quart of romaine lettuce and carrot juice (almost tastes like chocolate milk!)

Weight this morning: 153.8

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Day 2 – No Oranges

1:30pm
Busy day today so far, and last night I almost decided not to attempt juicing beyond day 1. So far it’s turned out to be totally satisfying. I guess part of me was worried that the actual act of juicing was going to be a problem, which is wasn’t. I know I can speed things up still, but so far the whole process – from everything’s-still-in-the-fridge to everything’s-clean) is about 20-30 minutes for a quart of juice and about 45 mins for 2 quarts.

I only prepared a quart of green juice last night but was able to juice another 2 quarts during lunch. NO oranges today. I made some apple/carrot, which is very sweet, but it’s not punch-you-in-the-face sweet like oranges. I’m exaggerating… but no, seriously, those oranges punched me in the face. Literally. Tiny orange arms… punching.

5:00pm
Sitting here, reading email, sipping my green juice.  Mmmmmm. Still no detox headache or anything, so that’s both pleasing and ominous. I just assumed I’d be feeling crappy by the end of day 1, but it’s almost at the 48 hour mark and I feel pretty fine. I get a mild headache from time to time but it doesn’t linger. Last spring I went 3 weeks on 100% raw food for the first time in my life and something like days 4-12 were really rough with the headache, runny nose, and general fever-like symptoms. If you haven’t done anything like that yet, I know it might sound crazy to put yourself through that. But it’s a necessary evil if you want to give your body a chance to clean house. And afterwards you feel like a million bucks!

To sum up, here’s what I juiced today:

  • 10:30am 1 quart of Mean Green Juice
  • 1:30pm 1 quart of carrot/apple juice
  • 5:00pm 1 quart of Mean Green Juice (with ginger this time! Delicious.)

Weight this morning: 157.4

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Day 1 – My Juice Fast Begins

8 freshly juiced oranges

8 freshly juiced oranges - mmmmmm

11:30am
Wow, these oranges are loaded!  A bag of (8) oranges yielded about 5 or 6 cups of juice… almost a quart and a half. I had already consumed a glass before I took this picture around 8:30am. Now it’s 11:30 and I feel like going for a run. I’m at work, so I’ll probably just go for a walk during lunch.

1:50pm
The day is really flying by. I’m halfway through my Mean Green Juice (lunch?) now and I’m  pretty thankful this one is mostly green. That orange juice was amazing, but I definitely started to feel a little sleepy about 20 mins ago. I assume there’s some kind of sugar crash involved. Also a quart of anything that’s very sweet sits kind of heavy.

5:30pm
All day I was craving-free. Until now. If I really think about it, I guess I’m not particularly hungry. I have plenty of energy and feel pretty normal for 5:30 on a workday. Unfortunately, “pretty normal at 5:30″ usually includes planning what kind of delicious food I’ll be eating in an hour or so. Right now I’m drinking the carrot/apple/celery juice I made last night. It’s delicious as promised and I’m sure it will get me home in one piece! Looking forward to a tai chi class later which is always a great way to get my mind off food. Oh, and speaking of exercise… I ended up taking two 20 minute walks today. It felt good to work off some of that excess OJ power.

To sum up, here’s what I juiced today:

  • 6 cups of orange juice
  • 1 quart of Mean Green Juice
  • 3 cups of carrot/apple/celery juice

Weight this morning: 159.0

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Juice Fast #2

So, my first juice fast was mini. Micro, even, at a single day. Looking back, it felt more fast-like than feast-like and I think a big part of that was my complete lack of fruit in my main green juice that day. I definitely struggled drinking the entire liter pictured in that post. Celery and kale are awesome, but they taste way better when you add a piece of fruit or two!

Tonight I prepared for another feast starting tomorrow. I’m not sure how long I’ll go this time. At least one day; at most 10. Probably will end up somewhere in the middle. My goal is simply to juice for at least another day and enjoy it more during the process. I work pretty much 8am-6pm, so my juicing hours are somewhat limited (until I break down and bring a juicer to the office!) I’ll post more during the feast, so to keep it short for now, here’s what I made:

1 liter of Mean Green Juice
This is the Phil Staple’s recipe that I linked to on James’ blog. I also mentioned Phil briefly in my post on Fat Sick and Nearly Dead. Anyway, I didn’t have any ginger but everything else is pretty much the same:

  • 6 or so large kale leaves
  • 1 cucumber
  • 5 celery stalks
  • 2 Granny Smith apples
  • 1 lemon

 3/4 liter of Carrot, Apple, Celery Juice
To completely avoid being turned off by too much green out of the gate, I’m throwing in 3/4 liter of this basic recipe. Soooo delicious.

  • 6 carrots
  • 4 fuji apples
  • 4 celery stalks

 

I don’t have high blood sugar issues, thankfully, but I’ve heard plenty of juice feasters say things like “make sure you get more greens than fruit!” So, yeah, I’m going to start that on day 2. Because to kick it all off, I’m going to get up in the morning and make another liter of all orange. I assume for “dinner” I’ll tone it down a bit with something in the neighborhood of spinach, red pepper, celery, and maybe an apple.

 

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James’ Juice Fasting

I was just thinking about doing a (more than one day) juice fast and stumbled across this site while looking for a Mean Green Juice recipe. Looks like James lost a bunch of weight the first time around with a 55 day fast. In a post dated today he’s talking about trying another juice fast… starting tomorrow?  Anyway, he’s talking about coupling a 30 day juice fast with a 30 day Bikram yoga challenge.  Good stuff, James!

http://juicejournals.com/

… and here’s that link to James post about the Mean Green Juice recipe: http://juicejournals.com/2011/09/06/

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Recipe: Kale Celery Pear Juice

did you know kale has vitamin C and calcium?

did you know kale has vitamin C and calcium?

Are you the kind of person who struggles to fit enough leafy greens in your diet, or do you crave greens with every meal?

Either way, here’s a quick and tasty juice recipe that’ll get over a pound of greens in you! Micronutrient foods like kale are important and, honestly, kind of a quick win if you just want to take your health up a notch without a big effort. Kale is loaded with essential vitamins and minerals.

Did you think milk is the only way to get calcium? Think oranges are the only way to get vitamin C? Kale gives you both, along with vitamin K, vitamin A (beta-carotene), folic acid, iron, manganese, and many others.

I put the pears and celery in this recipe to thin out the flavor a bit because kale can be a little potent (tasting). Also they both have a good amount of water in them so it’s always an easy way to increase your juice yield a bit.

Here’s the recipe:

  • 4-5 big leaves from a bunch of kale
  • 4 ribs of celery
  • 2 pears
Directions: Juice it. Juice it all! 
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Chia Seeds: More Than Just Green Hair

If you grew up in the 80s, you probably saw hundreds of ads for the Chia Pet. Truly, it’s an amazing and ridiculous entry in the history books of mankind. Fast forward 30 years and humanity is now rediscovering the glory of this tiny, gelatinous seed. When soaked in water, chia seeds pretty quickly start to produce a jelly-blob-like form. That’s what makes them stick so easily to the side of, for instance, a terracotta head in the shape of Elmer Fudd. It’s also one of the reasons chia seeds are so good for you. Essentially, the smooth added bulk of hundreds of tiny jelly blobs is very good for your digestive tract. It’s right up there with psyllium husk products and irish moss. I prefer chia seeds because not only is my colon thankful, but they’re also highly nutritious. They have a very neutral flavor. They don’t turn your hair green. You can add them to just about anything, including a bottle of water.

Now, by no means do I mean to imply people are just now discovering that you can eat chia seeds. A common sentiment (and by common sentiment I mean grossly over exaggerated generalization) in the alternative health community these days is “What’s good enough for the Aztecs is good enough for me.”  I’m right on board with that. Not so much in the sacrificing-virgins kind of way, but definitely in the eating-chia-seeds-for-strength-and-endurance kind of way. As the story goes, Aztec warriors would carry a pouch of chia seeds on their belts for those long days of hunting. Tired from running 20 miles and just can’t lift that spear to defend your life one last time? No worries; just scoop a handful of chia seeds into your mouth and you’re good to go. Chia seeds are a great source of protein, essential fatty acids (ALA), and fiber. The also contain a good dose of essential minerals. Overall, an excellent choice for the hunter, gatherer, or desk jockey.

Here’s a list of some of my favorite uses for chia seeds:

Chia Seeds on a Salad
Yep, just sprinkle them on top. They’re crunchy, they make a salad look cool, and they’re good for you! The only thing to watch out for is that they sometimes end up in your teeth like a poppy seed. So, swish some water around in your mouth when your done eating or embrace it and smile wide!

Chia Seeds in a Smoothie
Sometimes smoothies are too thin. Sometimes the ingredients separate (especially true when you’re mixing fruits and vegetables with ice!). You can experiment with oats or other grains to help thicken up your smoothies. You can also use chia seeds! Their awesome jelly blob format makes for an excellent thickening agent. It doesn’t change the flavor, and you get all the amazing benefits of the seed. Watch out you don’t add too many; even after you blend it all up, your beverage will continue to thicken for a few minutes. Too many seeds will turn your fruit smoothie into a fruit jello!

Chia Seeds in a Water Bottle
This is probably my favorite use of the tiny wonder. Just scoop or pour a tablespoon or so of chia seeds into your bottle. (More or less is totally fine. Just be aware that if you add too many, your water might turn into a pudding!) Shake it up, and then shake it again in a few minutes after the jelly blobs are in full swing. This is a really easy way to get awesome nutrition in a very easy to prepare format. This is a lot easier if your water bottle has a large opening. My favorite water bottles are glass and have a relatively wide opening at the top. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check this out. I always keep a 1 lb bag of chia seeds at my office and at home. It’s SO easy to prep this fun and healthy beverage in the middle of a very busy schedule. If you haven’t tried it yet, you’ll have to take my word for it: tiny gelatinous thingies in your water is… well, it’s rad.

Get on board the chia train!

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