Top Benefits Of Turkey Tail Mushroom For Dogs
Turkey tail isnt just a good looking mushroom its good for your dog too!
This medicinal mushroom has cancer researchers excited in fact, its an anti-cancer drug in some countries. But there are a few other reasons to add turkey tail to your dogs daily meals too.
But before we talk about the health benefits, what exactly is turkey tail?
Risks And Side Effects
Its always best to check with your doctor prior to using any new food for medicinal purposes, especially if youre pregnant or breastfeeding or have any disease-related condition.
What are the side effects of turkey tail mushroom? Some patients have reported problems with bowels, such as diarrhea and darkened stools, as well as darkened nail pigmentation. If you notice any negative effects or discomfort while consuming turkey tail mushroom, discontinue use immediately and check with your doctor.
Turkey Tail Dosage For Alzheimer’s Disease
Just like Lion’s mane offers brain fog benefits and reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease as we age, turkey tail mushroom does offer protection against Alzheimer’s disease. What’s more, when people dealing with Alzheimer’s take turkey tail daily at an ideal dosage, they can deal with the unpleasant symptoms of the condition.
Research studies have gone beyond immune cells and the turkey tail immune performance to prove that the mushroom is effective in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
In one research study, for example, the powder of Trametes Versicolor was used in a dose of 200mg/kg for 30 days in animal models with Alzheimer’s . This orally administered dose of Turkey tail protected against the neurodegenerative damage and inflammation caused due to Alzheimer’s disease.
The polysaccharides in Turkey tail mushrooms have immunomodulatory and antioxidant effects. These properties of the mushroom can be utilized in aging and related health concerns like Alzheimer’s disease.
There is increasing evidence that supports the role of oxidative stress in Alzheimer’s disease. The inflammation of the nerve cells caused by oxidative damage is an early change in the development of neurodegenerative disease.
It is recommended that you add an organic turkey tail to your food to enjoy maximum performance when it comes to the restoration of mental energy and the treatment of Alzheimer’s.
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How Do I Take Turkey Tail Mushroom
In traditional Asian medicine, turkey tail mushrooms have often been brewed as a tea. Many people still prefer this option.
It can also be consumed in powder form or even made into capsules. You can add a little turkey tail mushroom powder to a smoothie or make a broth with it. Just be sure to carefully follow the instructions on the package.
Depending on the outcomes of ongoing research, there may be even more options in the future if your doctor thinks it might help you recover from cancer.
Recently, researchers have found that different parts of the mushroom may provide different benefits.
In fact, a 2019 study found that a fermented substrate of the turkey tail mushroom seemed to have unique beneficial components compared with other parts of the mushroom.
Although these results are promising, people with cancer shouldnt try turkey tail before consulting with their oncologist. Its important to discuss your interest in any alternative treatment for cancer with your doctor to make sure its a safe and appropriate choice for your health.
Health Benefits Of Turkey Tail Mushrooms
There are many health benefits of turkey tail mushrooms. These include the prevention of cold, providing support during chemotherapy, managing diabetes, reducing inflammation, lowering cholesterol, and more. Let us discuss them in detail below.
Turkey tail is a medicinal mushroom with a variety of powerful antioxidants. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
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Herbs For Lyme Disease
Owing to the fear of Lyme becoming chronic, an early diagnosis and immediate treatment following tick bites are essential for stopping Lyme at its worst.
Risk-reducing methods to cut down chances of infection are important, too.
Immediately following a bite, antibiotics and other medicines can help halt the illness in its tracks. However, these medicines may come with certain risks and side effectsespecially antibiotics and the hazards they pose to digestive health when taken for 2 to 3 weeks at a time .
Interestingly, some studies and research have pointed in the direction of botanical remediesherbal and otherwisebeing helpful for both reducing the risk of and managing the disease.
Though there are many herbal supplement candidates for Lyme, weve found the following to number among the best.
Turkey Tail Mushrooms Corrects Immune Deficiencies
Its official Turkey Tail mushrooms can boost your immune system so significantly that it may even shrink breast cancertumors.
A $2 million, seven-year clinical study funded by the National Institutes of Health and jointly conducted by the University of Minnesota and Bastyr University showed that Trametes versicolor, or turkey tail mushroom, in freeze-dried form, dramatically boosts immune function for women with Stage I-III breast cancer possibly shrinking tumors.
About the author: Dr. Veronique Desaulniers is a best-selling author and specialist in Chiropractic, Bio-Energetics, Meridian Stress Analysis, Homeopathy and Digital Thermography. After 30 years in active practice, she decided to retire and devote her time to sharing her personal, non-toxic Breast Cancer healing journey with others. Her years of experience and research have culminated in The 7 Essentials , a step-by-step coaching program that unravels the mystery of healing the body. Her website and personal healing journey have touched the lives of thousands of women around the globe. To get your F.R.E.E. 7-day mini e-course and to receive her weekly inspiring articles on the power of Natural Medicine, visit: BreastCancerConqueror.com.
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Turkey Tail Dosage For Dogs
While it is easy to assume that Turkey tail mushroom is only ideal for people, this is not the case. The numerous turkey tail mushroom benefits for dogs make the fungi ideal for man’s favorite pet. When used by dogs, the turkey tail mushroom boosts immunity, improves the health of the digestive tract, fights cancer, and does much more.
However, before giving your dog turkey tail, you may want to know the best turkey tail mushroom dosage for dogs. The correct turkey tail mushroom dosage for dogs often depends on animal size and purpose for use. In most cases, amounts are calculated on a milligram per kilogram of the dog’s weight basis.
A dog weighing 30 kilograms should take a maximum of 3,000 mg of turkey tail mushroom daily. A small dog weighing just 10 kilograms will need 1,000 mg of turkey tail. This indicates that the ideal turkey tail dosage for dogs is 100 mg per kilogram of body weight.
What Is The Right Turkey Tail Mushroom Dosage
Although it is popularly used in cancer treatment, Turkey tail is also beneficial in maintaining good health.
If you are wondering how much turkey tail mushroom should I take for general health, a daily dose of 2000 mg of turkey tail mushroom is the optimum dose for maintaining premium health. This turkey tail dosage provides adequate mushroom bioactive compounds like beta-glucans that strengthen and balance the immune function of the body.
Some diseases and the turkey tail dosage for them are discussed below:
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What Are The Side Effects Of Turkey Tail Mushroom
Today, most humans are still new to the process of using turkey tail mushrooms for different conditions. This often leaves them wondering whether eating turkey tail mushroom can cause side effects.
The good news is that if you know how to consume turkey tail mushroom correctlywe will discuss how to take turkey tail mushroom in the next sectionyou will not have to worry about side effects.
There are very few turkey tail mushroom side effects. However, people who have been enjoying turkey tail mushroom taste for a long time can testify that these side effects are extremely rare. And if you experience these side effects when working on getting the turkey tail benefits, they often disappear in a very short time.
Some people may experience mild gastrointestinal symptoms like bloating, dark-colored stool, nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite. There are also reports of the darkening of nails with the use of the mushroom.
To avoid these side effects, make sure to always purchase turkey tail mushrooms from a reputed source that contains purified extracts. It is also recommended that you get a go-ahead from your physician before starting the mushroom. Following these two important steps will minimize the like hood of turkey tail mushroom side effects.
Gaia Herbs Turkey Tail Mushroom
Image courtesy Gaia Herbs
If you’re looking for a daily supplement to help improve your overall health, Gaia Herbs’ Turkey Tail Mushroom DailyWellness Supplement is a great option. This supplement contains a blend of organic mushrooms and herbs, including Turkey Tail Mushroom, Reishi Mushroom, and Astragalus Root.
The capsules are easy to take and can be taken with or without food. They are also vegan and free of gluten, soy, dairy, and sugar. Gaia Herbs’ Turkey Tail Mushroom DailyWellness Supplement is a great way to get the benefits of mushrooms every day.
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Trametes Versicolor Culture And Separation Of Mycelial And Fermented Substrate
The mycelial culture work and sample processing was performed at Fungi Perfecti LLC, following a three-step process of substrate preparation, mycelial culturing, and sample separation . Certified organic rice flour mixed with water to form a paste and sterilized by autoclaving at 1bar for 60min. This resulted in a solid biscuit-like disc of rice grain media . This material constituted the initial substrate . A Petri dish containing 60g of the milled and sterilized rice flour was inoculated with 50mg of Trametes versicolor agar media spawn. The resulting inoculated media disc solid substrate fermentation microcosm was stored at 20-24°C for 42days in a class 1000 clean room. The Trametes versicolor mycelium spread radially over the growth substrate, preferentially developing biomass on the surface of the substrate where gas exchange was highest. Mycelium was separated mechanically by removing the surface mycelium from the underlying substrate with a scalpel.
Turkey Tail And Chemotherapy
An in-vitro study compared the beta-glucans from turkey tail to the chemotherapy drug Cyclophosphamide. They found that the anti-tumor activities of the turkey tail were close but not quite as good as the chemotherapy. But the turkey tail is much safer and doesnt carry the same nasty side effects as chemotherapy.
Speaking of nasty side effects, chemotherapy destroys immune function and immune cells such as leukocytes.
But the beta-glucans in turkey tail increased the function of immune cells. Since the growth of cancer is closely related to the health of the immune system, its critical to improve the immune status of cancer patients.
So turkey tail mushrooms can also be an important addition for dogs undergoing chemotherapy treatments.
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Prevent And Treat Cold
Because of the strong anti-viral and anti-microbial properties of Turkey tail mushrooms, they can fight away various infections caused by these microbes, including common cold and flu. They greatly improve the immunity of the system and thus make them stronger to fight against disease-causing germs. It is a good idea to include a turkey tail in the diet when the season of flu draws nearer. The turkey tail mushroom modulates the immune system to act in a stronger way of fighting infections and germs.
Turkey Tail And Cancer
Could a lowly mushroom benefit a cancer patient? Studies are finding value in therapies that make us of turkey tail mushroom combined with traditional cancer methods like radiation and chemotherapy. One study found that the immune systems of women with breast cancer recovered faster when they took turkey tail with traditional therapy.1 Additionally, data suggests that turkey tail may be useful in breast cancer prevention.2
There are two proteoglycans in Turkey Tail that are especially beneficial in fighting cancer. One of them is PSK and the other is PSP Since 1970, PSK has been used medically in Japan. PSK has made a marked difference in survival rates for many cancers including stomach, colon, esophagus and non-small cell lung cancers. PSP is credited with reducing pain, improving quality of life and supporting the immune system for several cancers including ovarian and cervical cancer.3 PSK was approved over 40 years ago as a cancer treatment by the Japanese National Health Registry. It is part of routine cancer treatment in Japan.4 The polysaccharide in Turkey Tail has shown to check the growth of cancer cells.5
While there is significant research and history of use of turkey tail as a valid and beneficial cancer treatment, usually when turkey tail is used for cancer it is only part of the treatment. It is not recommended to take turkey tail to treat cancer without medical supervision and other appropriate medicines.
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What Is The Best Time To Take Turkey Tail Mushroom
It is worth noting that the performance of the turkey tail mushroom is not affected by the time the mushroom is taken. As long as you are taking the right dosage for the functional mushroom, the time you consume turkey tail does not matter.
In most cases, however, the ideal time to take the functional mushrooms is often affected by the reason behind taking the mushroom. To give you an example of other popular functional mushrooms, for people who want to enjoy the reishi mushroom sleep benefits, taking the mushroom before dinner offers more benefits compared to taking the mushroom in the morning. The same case applies to when people take cordyceps pre-workoutthe mushroom offers maximum workout benefits if it is taken a few hours before heading to the gym.
This tells you that for you to figure out the best time to take Turkey tail, you have to consider your end goal.
For example, for people who need a bust of energy during their morning workout, taking the mushroom in the morning is a good idea. However, for people taking it to enjoy the turkey tail mushroom sleep benefits, the best time to take the mushroom is at night, just before going to bed.
If you are asking yourself the question, “does turkey tail mushroom make you high?”, chances are that you are worried the mushroom may affect your mood and performance if you take it in the morning. The good news, however, is that the mushroom does not make you high.
Are There Any Possible Side Effects
Turkey tail mushrooms are generally considered safe. However, people with mushroom or mold allergies should steer clear of them.
While theyre generally considered safe, turkey tail mushrooms can occasionally have a few side effects to be aware of, including
- digestive upset, such as diarrhea, gas, or bloating
- darker pigment in your fingernails
Its also important to keep in mind that the FDA doesnt regulate dietary supplements in the same way that it regulates conventional medicines. Proceed with caution and talk with a healthcare professional about any supplements youre thinking of taking.
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Treat Human Papilloma Virus
Human papillomavirus is an infection whose symptoms are known to be treated by turkey tail mushrooms within a reasonably short time of consumption, approximately two months.
Turkey tail mushrooms are well known for their medicinal purposes because of which they are a sought-after product among the leading pharmaceutical companies. Researches are going on throughout the world to dig out more treasures this mushroom has to offer.
Turkey Tail Is An Adaptogen
Among other wonderful benefits of turkey tail is its use as an adaptogen.
What is an Adaptogen?
Scientists first used the name adaptogen in 1964. In short, adaptogens help the body to cope with stress and normalize body functions.
Adaptogens, by definition, must:
- increase the bodyTMs ability to cope with physical, chemical and biological stressors
- promote a normalizing influence on the body independent of mental state
- not affect bodily processes more than necessary.6
Adaptogens appear to allow the body to respond to stressors more quickly but in an less dramatic fashion. This may be in part by how adaptogenics regulate blood sugar providing adequate and sustained amounts of blood glucose without extreme highs and lows.
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Turkey Tail Dosage For Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a very common condition among elderly people. Osteoporosis is a health condition characterized by a reduced bone thickness which makes the bones more susceptible to breakage. People with this disease often want to know how to take turkey tail mushroom to treat the condition.
One of the leading causes of osteoporosis is inflammation. Turkey tail is known to carry anti inflammatory benefitsthese help the mushroom with the treatment of the condition.
Turkey tail mushroom, when given orally at a dose of 100mg/kg for 28 days, was found to improve bone thickness and density in rat models. The rats treated with Turkey tail showed maximal load-bearing capacity with increased bone thickness as compared to other rats that were not given the mushroom.
In another study, Turkey tail improved bone loss in mouse models with breast cancer spread to the bones. 1g/kg of the mushroom extractwas given orally for four weeks, which resulted in an increase in bone volume by 10.3% as compared to the other study subject that did not receive the mushroom extract.
This study shows that Turkey tail mushroom reduces bone loss even when cancer has spread to the bone. This could be attributed to the fact that turkey tail mushroom prevents the breakdown and assimilation of the bone by inhibiting the cells that cause such effects.
Medicinal Benefits Of Turkey Tail Mushroom For Dogs
Turkey tail mushrooms have two main medicinal components: Polysaccharide-K and polysaccharide-P . They form part of the mushrooms cell wall and they give the cell its structure.
Both PSK and PSP are called beta-D-glucans. These beta-glucans can bind directly to receptors in immune cells and trigger immune changes that can increase the activity of some immune cells, or restore a healthy immune response.
The key activities on the immune system include:
- Up-regulate immune function when the immune system is stressed by chronic illness, stress or cancer
- Restore immune function in dogs with an auto-immune disease
- Down-regulate the inflammatory immune response in over-active immune systems
This is what makes turkey tail and other beta-glucan-rich mushrooms so powerful they can directly interact with the immune cells in your dog.
Beta-D-glucans can bind to and activate macrophages, which are the immune cells responsible for destroying bacteria, viruses, and invaders like cancer cells. Beta-glucans can also stimulate other immune cells, including natural killer cells and T-leukocytes, which are an important part of the adaptive immune system.
Overall, beta-glucans have been shown to:
- Activate immune cells
- Enhance the immune response to multiple cancers
- Inhibit the spread of cancer cells
Lets take a look at how turkey tail can help the immune system fight cancer and why its one of the most important mushrooms for dogs
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