Research overview
Sleep
Lingzhi has traditionally been used to calm the mind and aid sleep. In modern research, several animal studies have observed a sleep-promoting effect: rats given a lingzhi fruiting-body slept longer in total, and mice given a lingzhi extract fell asleep faster and slept longer, an effect the researchers linked to the gut microbiota. In people, patients with (insomnia is one of its common symptoms) improved after taking a lingzhi polysaccharide extract. Human trials specifically in people with insomnia are a worthwhile next step for lingzhi research.
This topic includes 4 studies and reports, each linked to its source.
Terms explained on this page (8)
- extract
- A product made by drawing out and concentrating lingzhi’s components with water or alcohol. Different extraction methods yield different components.
- mycelium
- The white, thread-like part of lingzhi that grows inside wood or the growing medium, a bit like its “roots”.
- neurasthenia
- A group of symptoms mainly involving easy fatigue, insomnia, irritability and poor concentration.
- placebo
- A comparison product that looks and tastes like the real product but contains no active ingredients, used to compare against the real thing.
- randomized
- Deciding who takes lingzhi and who does not by something like drawing lots, so the two groups are as similar as possible and the comparison is fair.
- double-blind
- Neither the participants nor the researchers know who is taking lingzhi and who is taking the comparison product, which makes the results more objective.
- fruiting body
- The lingzhi you normally see: the “mushroom” part that grows above the surface.
- spore powder
- The extremely fine spores released by mature lingzhi, a bit like its “seeds”.