 Reishi mushrooms, also known as Ganoderma lucidum , have been praised for a very long time by Chinese and Japanese health practitioners. It was always regarded by Eastern royalty as the medicine of immortality. Although the Western world has barely started scratching the surface in regards to its true healing potential, researchers have still accumulated extensive data demonstrating that reishi definitely has life extending properties. Research conducted on laboratory mice showed that reishi was responsible for prolonging their life span by around 9% to 20%, the equivalent being about 7 to 16 human years. Reishi displays the ability to reinvigorate brain neurons and capture and remove cancer cells. Plus, it inhibits the expansion of new fat cells in individuals suffering from obesity. It possesses dozens of natural bio-active compounds that have the ability to naturally treat a wide array of other harmful conditions or diseases, such as allergies, autoimmune diseases, asthma, diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and liver diseases, just to name a few. Reishi can help better manage age related mechanisms So what makes it so appealing for your overall health ? It seems that reishi doesn't only target specific areas of the body but rather makes its effects felt on a much broader spectrum. You must remember that there isn't one single cause of aging and disease. There are various factors contributing to poor physical states; so, in order to reverse the undesired physical results, the actions to enhance your health must be global; therefore, you need to focus on a multi-targeted approach. That's precisely why the reishi mushroom is so powerful and useful with its hundreds of biologically active molecules working together in a synergetic way. Researchers now know that three main components are essential to its anti-aging properties. Its polysaccharides help avoid cancer by boosting the immune system. Its triterpenes protect the liver, lower cholesterol levels and stabilize blood pressure. Its ganoderma lucidum peptide also plays a very important antioxidant role. These key components all provide the best possible protection on a cellular or DNA level. In a study undertaken with humans, 1100 mg doses of reishi mushrooms were given to the healthy participants. The scientists noted that the plasma antioxidant levels rose quite rapidly to finally peak after approximately 90 minutes, while the urine antioxidant capacity (the measure of what has been in the body to be expelled) increased by 29% after only 3 hours. Most importantly, no signs of toxicity or side effects were reported at the end of this study. Reishi or, better yet, ganoderma lucidum can be taken orally mainly through supplements, but it is now also being commercialized and sold as a coffee product. You'll definitely want to make sure about the quality and purity of the product before buying this wonderful gift from life. 