The Magic Of Medicinal Mushrooms: The Best Mushrooms For Calming Anxiety

Anxiety is a normal human emotion; in fact, it serves an important purpose, but it isn’t always welcome.

Anxiety involves those recognisable feelings of worry, unease and fear, sometimes about something obvious, though sometimes it might seem like you’re just anxious about being anxious!

While that fluttery feeling in your chest or the gurgle in your stomach isn’t your enemy, you certainly don’t want it taking up permanent residence. You have your own reasons for wanting to get rid of anxiety, and medicinal mushrooms are here to help you do that.

Not sure where to start? Here’s what the science is saying about anti-anxiety shrooms…

Breaking Down Anxiety

Before we dig deep into the depths of medicinal mushrooms, let’s get to grips with the baddie we’re trying to take down. Every human on the planet has felt anxiety, even our ancient ancestors, and that’s because anxiety is a direct and natural response to stress, fear and danger. 

Anxiety can take many forms, some of them pretty scary, like fatigue, insomnia, stomach problems, a racing heart, intrusive thoughts or feeling like everything is about to go terribly wrong. Now, like we said, that kinda feeling is normal once in a while or when you’re facing something genuinely life-threatening like public speaking (eep). 

But it can become an annoying and even disruptive companion if anxiety is constant. In that case, anxiety can usually be categorised into particular symptom groups with specific triggers. Like generalised anxiety disorder, phobias and social anxiety.

What Causes Anxiety?

What causes stress is pretty interesting, and it’s where we can start to understand how to tackle it. A tonne of things can influence whether you get anxiety issues and how they’ll affect you. Everything from genetics, your environment, brain chemistry and your personality. 

Generally, the professionals can narrow down several of the most common causes of anxiety to…

• Trauma (nervous system dysregulation) 
• Chronic stress
• Medical conditions 
• Chronic inflammation in the body
• Imbalances in neurotransmitters
• Negative thought patterns 
• Hormone imbalances

But don’t get stressed if you think a lot of that sounds like you because knowing what’s behind your anxiety can give you an upper hand in managing it. Especially when it comes to utilising the magic of mushrooms to waft away that cloud of anxiety.

How Can Mushrooms Reduce Anxiety?

You probably know mushrooms best for being a tasty addition to your pasta or a punchline in jokes about hippies. But there are certain shrooms that have been helping humans in meaningful ways for centuries. 

Various medicinal mushrooms are thought to have potential benefits in reducing anxiety and promoting relaxation. Some mushrooms are commonly suggested for their anxiety-reducing powers. Here are the ones that are backed by research and decades of real-life use.

Reishi

Oh, Reishi, a mushroom steeped in ancient tradition. Known by its friends as the ‘mushroom of immortality’, Reishi has a reputation for being your nervous system’s best friend. In fact, when a study tested Reishi’s effects, it discovered that this clever shroom can reduce fatigue, anxiety and depression.

Interestingly, it’s also been found to help regulate blood sugars, which is typically something intertwined with anxiety (ever gotten hangry? That’s low blood sugars at play). 

And if you want to dig deeper into why Reishi rules, it might be because it contains compounds that support your body’s overall glycemic control. Previous studies have found that this can have a big influence on mental health conditions like anxiety. It’s this intricate link between blood sugar and emotional well-being that puts Reishi into our fave fruiting bodies list for anxiety.

Lion’s Mane

When you really want to tame the anxiety beast, Lion’s Mane is the fearsome hero you want on your side. And this medicinal mushroom is just as strong and majestic as its name. Now, we know you might've already heard us going on about the cognitive-enhancing properties of Lion’s Mane, but that’s not all this shroom can do.

Lion’s Mane holds plenty of promise in reducing anxiety and improving your mood. How does a simple mushroom do this? Well, it’s all down to promoting the growth of nerve cells and supporting an overall happy and healthy brain.

This is in large part because of some long words - like polysaccharides, beta-glucans and nerve growth factor. Altogether, these big words and fancy compounds help to reduce inflammation in the brain and nervous system and help your brain heal and maintain vital connections.

It’s not all about your neurons, though.

Recently, research has shed light on something called the gut-brain connection. This is the relationship between your digestive system and your mind! And this relationship is definitely set on ‘it’s complicated’. 

Basically, a healthy gut translates to a balanced mind since your digestive system has a direct line to your brain. Lion’s Mane steps up in this arena, supporting a healthy gut microbiome and a boosted immune system. 

Frankly, from anti-oxidants to brain-cell protection, there’s not much Lion’s Mane doesn’t do to help your body be in tip-top shape. So you know if you’ve got Lion’s Mane on your side in the fight against anxiety, you’ve got all your bases covered for a more balanced, healthy mind and body.

Cordyceps

Cordyceps is your stress-busting ally when anxiety comes a-knocking. Cordyceps is another medicinal mushroom that can help your body maintain equilibrium, and that’s because it’s something called an adaptogen. 

Adaptogens help your body to - that’s right - adapt to stressors, letting you get back to your normal self faster in the face of everyday stress, illness and exertion. In fact, cordyceps shows so much promise in the realm of anxiety that it has been studied for its specific mood-bending abilities. 

If you’re feeling like a stressed out hobbit, then Cordyceps is like the big friendly wizard here to support your healing and defences. It has anti-inflammatory properties that make it a pretty powerful guardian, watching over your mental well-being by making sure you’re functioning as you should and able to battle anxiety before it becomes a problem.

Chaga

Chaga (yes, it does sound like it could be Chewbacca's cousin) is nature’s antioxidant powerhouse. Because of this uniquely potent antioxidant profile, Chaga can give you a fresh angle in the fight against anxiety.

How do antioxidants help with anxiety?

Oxidative stress is the sneaky culprit behind many mood disorders like anxiety and depression. There are plenty of causes of anxiety, as we mentioned before, but oxidative stress can put your body in a more vulnerable place when you’re trying to stay calm and collected in the face of stress. 

Chaga has some special compounds that help you embody the cool cucumber vibe. In particular, phenolic antioxidants and flavonoids help to neutralise free radicals, the things that can cause damage to your mind and body in the long term, and protect your mental well-being.

Chaga goes even deeper, too, getting right to the source of anxiety with compounds that influence neurotransmitter levels (so your brain can send and receive messages more efficiently) and contribute to better mood regulation. Top that off with a high level of B vitamins to prevent anxiety-inducing deficiencies, and you’ve got a Chaga recipe to be reckoned with.

Maitake

Aptly named the ‘dancing mushroom’, Maitake brings balance to the physiological chaos that can create anxiety.

As another handy adaptogen on our list, maitake helps your body respond better to stress and gives you faster, more effective relief from anxiety symptoms like fatigue, low mood, sleep problems and gut issues.

The dance of serenity doesn’t stop there, though. Paired with its good buddy Ashwagandha, Maitake can help reduce cortisol production, a big factor in your stress response. And a better controlled stress response makes for lower anxiety all round!

Intriguingly, Maitake’s strengths also extend to your gut. By supporting your gut health, this shroom can indirectly help maintain a strong and efficient gut-brain connection for a more balanced mind. So let the Maitake dance commence.

Turkey Tail

Turkey tail is as magnificent as it sounds. With an array of colourful antioxidants to hand, this mushroom can enhance your immunity while maintaining your emotional balance. Its antioxidant powers mean that it can shield you from the effects of stress, a common trigger for long-term anxiety. Since Turkey Tail is working so hard to shore up your natural defences, your brain and body can focus on supporting your mood levels.

And because Turkey Tail also contains plenty of useful prebiotics, it can also nurture the good bacteria in your gut. So you have another avenue to stay healthy and once again let your body spend more of its time keeping your mind centred and calm. So why not gobble gobble some Turkey Tail to beat the anxiety pangs?

When To Try Mushrooms For Anxiety…

Anxiety can have a way of sneaking into your life regardless of how positive or peaceful you make it. Medicinal mushrooms can target anxiety at its root, calming both mind and body and working their mushroom magic where it's needed most.

If you’re struggling with anxiety symptoms why not let mushrooms be your allies? Let the science speak for itself, and check out our high-quality Lion’s Mane mushroom capsules to get started.

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