🗑️ Cordyceps Eats Trash, Reishi Burns Fat, and Mosquito Control

IN TODAY’S EDITION

• 🥇 | Daily supplements upgrade your gut

• 💛 | Yellow reishi burns fat

• 🛒 | An aisle flush

Hi Shroomer. What happens when you stop scrolling and start noticing? This week, the iNaturalist City Nature Challenge invites people everywhere to step outside and document what’s alive around them, turning sidewalks, gardens, and vacant lots into sites of discovery.

This week’s issue isn’t just a case of “mushrooms are amazing.” It’s a deeper lesson in how fungi model efficient adaptation. Whether it’s reishi mycelium branching differently to fit poor soil, or tinder conk fungus protecting bees from parasites, this kingdom keep showing us how to respond to complexity, not with force, but with finely tuned interconnection.

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Gut health defense 🛡️ Shiitake mushrooms (Lentinula edodes) cut key gut inflammation markers by up to 60% in mice. They also improved the gut lining and increased short-chain fatty acids, helping protect against colon damage and tumor growth​.

Gut upgrade 🦠 Supplements made from reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) and cordyceps (Cordyceps militaris) increased short-chain fatty acids, improved gut barrier strength, and boosted beneficial bacteria in lab tests using human microbiome samples. They also reduced inflammation markers and outperformed inulin, a prebiotic fiber found in garlic, onions, and bananas, in supporting digestive and brain health. 

Brain aging shield 🧠 Ergothioneine, a mushroom-derived antioxidant, reduced brain inflammation and oxidative stress in this review of 19 studies, helping protect against Alzheimer’s and support healthy aging.

Fat-burning fungi 🔥 A compound from yellow reishi (Ganoderma resinaceum) helped mice on a high-fat diet stay lean by turning fat into energy. It activated brown fat, improved blood sugar, and supported healthy metabolism by boosting key energy pathways.

Fat protection 🖐️ Polysaccharides from golden oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus citrinopileatus) reduced fat buildup, insulin resistance, and inflammation in high-fat diet mice. 

Heart health boost 🫀 Polysaccharides from eight oyster (Pleurotus) species, including P. ostreatus, P. citrinopileatus, and P. eryngii, inhibited blood clot formation by 69–75% in lab tests, matching or exceeding aspirin’s effect on platelet aggregation. Some species like P. djamor and P. sajor-caju also reduced clotting triggered by arachidonic acid, showing promise as natural support for stroke and heart attack prevention.

Alzheimer’s slowdown 📊 Lion’s mane (Hericium erinaceus) and reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) reduced brain inflammation and improved memory in animal studies, with reishi also lowering amyloid-β buildup. In humans, lion’s mane supplements increased nerve growth factors like NGF and BDNF, showing early potential for slowing cognitive decline​.

Antibacterial boost 💥 Gold nanoparticles made from lion’s mane mushroom (Hericium erinaceus) stopped the growth of six major drug-resistant bacteria, including those behind staph infections, pneumonia, UTIs, and hospital-acquired infections.

Gut fungi power 🧬 Candida, Saccharomyces, and Malassezia impact inflammation and immunity through chitin and β-glucans. These fungi help regulate digestion and are being explored for treating IBD, Alzheimer’s, and metabolic disorders. 

PSILOCYBIN & LEGISLATION

Headache relief 🎯 Psilocybin reduced migraine and cluster headache frequency in clinical trials, even without producing strong psychedelic effects. The changes weren’t tied to mental health or trip intensity, suggesting psilocybin may ease pain through a direct neurological mechanism.

Better than psilocybin 💨 Inhaled DMT and 5-MeO-DMT relieved depression within hours, with 87.5% of patients in one trial staying in full remission after a week. By comparison, psilocybin’s effect took longer and faded faster, with only 20% still responding after three months.

Mood shift molecule 🙂 A high dose of psilocybin boosted gene expression for mood-related peptides and serotonin receptors in the rat hypothalamus. This suggests psilocybin may reduce stress and depression by rewiring brain signaling at the molecular level.

Brain shift signal ⚡ Psilocybin and DMT lowered the brain’s control energy by over 60%, making it easier for the brain to switch between different states. This shift was strongest in regions rich in serotonin 2A receptors and linked to more vivid experiences and increased brain signal diversity​.

Stigma isn’t equal 🌍 In a study of over 458,000 people, psychedelics like psilocybin and LSD reduced distress linked to mental health stigma, but mainly for white men. White, Black, and Hispanic women reported the highest stigma, and psychedelics had weaker effects on reducing distress in these groups​.

ECOLOGY & CONSERVATION

Bee-saving fungus 🐝 The tinder conk mushroom (Fomes fomentarius) protected honeybee colonies from deadly Varroa destructor mites. When applied as a gel, it reduced mite levels by 72.1%, outperforming smoke (63.8%) and liquid extract (69.2%). The gel also had the longest-lasting results without harming brood or colony health.

Wastewater fungi fight algae 🪱 A native fungus isolated from a Beijing wastewater plant (Curvularia moringae J-26) removed 97.3% of Chlorella algae within 2 hours. It worked by absorbing algae with its mycelium and producing special protein-like substances that aided flocculation. This low-cost, eco-friendly method could replace chemical treatments in water purification.

Mango mushroom method 🥭 Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) grew best on mango sawdust mixed with 50% cow dung and rice bran. This substrate combo produced the highest yield, averaging 1.4 kg per 1.5 kg of dry substrate, with the best biological efficiency recorded at 94%. It also had the fastest colonization time (17.6 days) and earliest harvest (20.4 days).

Fruit-powered fungi 🍊 Orange, banana, and pomegranate peels supported strong fungal growth in lab tests, offering a cheap, eco-friendly alternative to traditional media. All tested fungi, including Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma viride thrived on peel-based substrates, showing these common food scraps can fuel sustainable cultivation​.

Drought defense 🌿 Mycorrhizal fungi helped summer savory (Satureja sahendica) grow better under drought by increasing its antioxidant levels and boosting the plant’s natural essential oils. In the best treatment, the fungi raised thymol (a key oil compound) to 75% and nearly doubled oil output compared to untreated plants​.

Mosquito control 🦟 Entomopathogenic fungi like Metarhizium anisopliae and nematophagous fungi release natural toxins that kill mosquito larvae and other pests, even at very low doses. Some fungi are also used to create mosquito-killing nanoparticles and offer a chemical-free option for fighting diseases like malaria and dengue.

GROWING & GOURMET

Trash to treasure 🍚 Cordyceps mushrooms (Cordyceps militaris) successfully turned old rice and shellfish waste into protein-rich food. When 5% chitin waste (from discarded crayfish shells) was added to aged rice, yields increased by 17%, from 9.8g to 11.5g of mushrooms per bottle and they also produced more bioactive compounds like cordycepin.

Onion yield boost 🧅 Inoculating Welsh onion (Allium fistulosum) seedlings with Rhizophagus fungi increased yields over a 3-year trial, even when phosphorus fertilizer was reduced or eliminated. Mycorrhizal dependency reached 15%, showing fungi can help replace synthetic inputs in farming.

Fungi for vineyards 🍇 Mycorrhizal fungi like Glomus and Rhizophagus helped grapevines survive drought and poor soils, boosting root growth by up to 65% and improving grape quality under climate stress​.

Probiotic power 🍯 A functional drink made with honey, oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus), and a probiotic strain reduced fat buildup by 100%, improved insulin sensitivity by 32%, and maintained strong antioxidant levels. It stayed above probiotic thresholds, offering gut and metabolic benefits in a dairy-free format.

Foraging strategy 🗺️ Reishi mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum) grew fastest on nutrient-rich PDA, reaching 10.5 cm in 5 days, while G. neo-japonicum thrived even in low-nutrient media. Researchers used fractal morphology to map how branching density changes with nutrient availability.

SHELF LIFE

Redditor /u/Genetically_Unhappy spotted a "Back to the Roots" mushroom grow kit at Target that worked a little too well. The kit promises harvest in 10 days, but it looks like this one didn’t wait to get home. A+ for enthusiasm.

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