Can consuming mushrooms help reduce my psoriasis?

Mushrooms are a fantastic choice for food or taken as a supplement for a variety of health issues.   Not everyone loves the flavors, or texture—it can be a sort of, acquired taste.  If you can get over this, just remember how amazing they are for your health!

Mushrooms lower inflammation, a root issue that causes many chronic ailments

Mushrooms are a great food option because they can lower inflammation in the body, which is the leading root cause or one of the issues that stems of many conditions and diseases: blood pressure issues, heart disease, heart attacks (sometimes blockages in arteries or blood clots cause these too) diabetes type II, arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, chrons disease (many GI conditions and diseases), different cancers, various skin conditions (even ones stemmed from mental health like excoriation or skin picking) and more. 

So many different ailments develop because of inflammation.  This chronic inflammation needs to be lowered otherwise it can become a issue your entire life if it’s not addressed.

The essential prebiotic

The benefits of consuming mushrooms are endless.  They can not only improve inflammation, they can help your gut health because they are a prebiotic that helps the probiotics thrive in the gut and ward off unhealthy and an overabundance of bad gut bacteria. They are responsible for feeding the gut bacteria: the acidophilus and bifidobacterium.  Everyone needs a healthy gut or a good balance in order to be healthy.  When the gut is out of whack, so is your immune system. 

Poor gastrointestinal health is where the development of psoriasis begins.  Improve your gut—stomach lining, intestinal tract (small and large intestines) and your skin will improve and many other health conditions and disease.  Always remember, having superior gut health is essential for skin health to flourish.  Most western medicine doctors won’t stress this because they are trying to manage your symptoms the best way they can.  It is best to tackle skin issues and other health conditions with both western medicine and alternatives—the integrative approach.

Working with supplying better nutrition is essential.  When you have immune system issues, this is big—you need to use several health providers to have an integrative approach to psoriasis and learning to eat mushrooms can also dramatically help if you consume the right kinds.

Many different things mushrooms are perfect for:

• Great for a healthier heart (High in potassium, fiber; can lower BP)
• Can help lower your risks of diabetes type II (High fiber helps lower this risk)
• Can prevent cancer (High level of antioxidants; several kinds are already known for prevention of prostate, breast, lung cancer).
• Can lower LDL cholesterol (They are low carb)

Mushroom types good for your gut and skin

Mushrooms can help improve the gut—improve the ‘microbiota’.  This helps your gut function better which promotes a healthier and stronger immune system.  You need your immune system in top shape so when a foreign invader comes along and attacks you.  It can defend you and you can get well faster when you get ill.  You may still need medications or extra supplements but it won’t hit you as hard compared to someone with a severely compromised immune system.

And anyone dealing with any skin issue, like psoriasis, knows how important it is to keep in check with current medical conditions and improve gut health to help combat psoriasis or other severely bothersome and chronic skin conditions.

Mushrooms that are deemed medicinal 

The mushrooms that are awesome for health are: reishi, chaga, turkey tail, Cordyceps, shiitake, tremella, and lion’s mane mushrooms. There are others out there that are also worthy of consumption but these are the main talked about ones in a medical capacity.

Benefits of Reishi mushrooms

• Increase immune system function
• Fight cancer
• Fight infections
• Anti-inflammatory
• Improve skin health
• Blood sugar control
• High level antioxidants
• Vitamin D
• Improve fatigue
• Improve depression symptoms
• Better digestion
• Overall healthier well-being
• Improve stress levels

Benefits of Chaga mushrooms

• Healthy immune function
• Improve digestive system and improve fiber intake
• Improving skin health
• Create healthier stress levels
• Vitamin D
• Lowering inflammation
• Fight free radicals in the skin

Turkey Tail Mushrooms

• High level of antioxidants
• Immune boosting compounds
• Anti-inflammatory
• Anti-cancer
• Improves skin health
• Improves gut health
• Removing toxins
• Vitamin D
• Increasing energy
• Removing excuses fluid
• Strengthening organs: lungs, stomach, and spleen

Cordyceps Mushrooms

• Improve immune system
• Fight different kinds of infections
• Can shrink tumors; fight different cancers
• Lung and skin cancer improvements
• Anti-inflammatory
• Antioxidant
• Treat respiratory disorders
• Vitamin D
• Restore skin health
• Treat kidney disorders

Shiitake Mushrooms

• Boost immune system; increase white blood cells
• Fight off infections / fight free radicals
• Fiber increase
• Support adrenal function
• Fight cancerous cells
• Increase energy levels
• Improve heart health
• Vitamin D
• Lower bad cholesterol
• Improve skin health
• Improves bone strength

Tremella Mushrooms

• Immune health support
• Anti-cancer
• Anti-tumor benefits
• Better moisture retention than hyaluronic acid
• Moisture retention
• Vitamin D
• Memory improvement
• Focus improvement and clarity

Benefits of Lion’s Mane

• Improve immune function
• Improve cognitive functioning
• Improve concentration levels
• Improve skin health
• Improve depression
• Help anxiety symptoms
• Vitamin D
• Nervous system support
• Improve digestion

Always add mushrooms to your dally food intake

Not only are mushrooms great for your overall health, they can improve your skin health too.  Having a healthier gut, mental state, and energy will make your entire body feel better and hopefully get you on the right track to ridding of psoriasis no matter where it is on your body.

Ways to add mushrooms to your diet:

• Coffee
• Soups
• Salads
• Vegetables
• Eat them in dips
• On sandwiches
• Sauté them
• Add them to a protein smoothie or other shake
• So many ways—or just take mushrooms in capsule form as a supplement

Mushrooms are prebiotics—not probiotics

These actually feed probiotics.  Most of us have heard of probiotics and how good they are for gut health.  When you are ill, or need to boost your immune system as a general maintenance purpose—taking daily or several times a day, probiotics, are always important for gut health.  Also, when you take antibiotics, you should always take probiotic capsules in the billion count, because antibiotics rid of all good and bad bacteria in the gut.  So, you need to consume lots of Greek plain yogurt (its’ more pure this way, and no sugars are added).  Or take a probiotic pill a few hours after your antibiotic.

Having too much candida in the gut is bad, and can proliferate when you have too much sugar or carbs in your diet or is once again on an antibiotic. While you can always take caprylic acid to lower candida in the gut (or yeast), this can help immune function but doesn’t fix the fact that too much of your good gut flora (healthy bacteria in the gut) is gone. 

So, consuming probiotics is good, but to set the stage and help feed the probiotics, consuming mushrooms are a great way to do this.  This is why they are referred to as, prebiotics.  You can buy them at the health food or supplement store, but what better way than to consume your favorite mushroom varieties instead or add them to your workout drink!

Mushrooms can hydrate the skin—ultra important for psoriasis

• Contain high amounts of vitamin D
• High levels of polysaccharides, keep skin moisturized

Psoriasis can dry out the skin and many different kinds of mushrooms are great for maintaining the moisture in your skin without using too many different creams that claim to be great at this.

Several of them are perfect at pretending to be a sort of hyaluronic acid-like substance to help lubricate the layers of skin and retain the moisture you need so your skin doesn’t dry out and stay dry.  There are polysaccharides in mushrooms that achieve this to maintain the moisture in your skin. They are also not only great for psoriasis but also beneficial for people who suffer from acne.  They are high in vitamin D as well—another key to helping improve skin, and immune system health, and also improving depression.

Studies over the years have proven many mushrooms like: reishi, chaga, cordyceps, shiitake and tremella mushrooms to be great for general skin health because of the moisture retaining aspect and vitamin D support. This means they are also essential for keeping skin look and feel youthful, longer.

Can you consume mushrooms daily?

The majority of mushrooms are fine to consume daily.  Or you can take mushrooms in supplement form daily—in a capsule or powder form.  Depending on your health conditions, you might be able to take up to three capsules a day but they can still cause GI issues such as nausea, diarrhea or stomach pains if you consume too many. 

Always talk to your primary care provider and your dermatologist if you want to add supplements and many times it is best to talk to an alternative MD or nutritionist when adding or increasing a certain food as a supplement or for specific health conditions.

Mushrooms are great for general health and skin and help rid of psoriasis

While you might not like mushrooms they can be very beneficial for heart health, lower risk for diabetes, improve digestive health and immune function, lower your risk for certain cancers, improve hair, nail and skin health. Other than eating them raw or cooked, many mushrooms can be purchased dried and ground up into powders and typically sold in capsule form. 

You could always try them in small amounts in soups and dips—you never know how the taste can grow on you and can also be highly beneficial to your overall health.  Mushrooms can help rid of psoriasis and you should consider eating them, if you haven’t already!