Reishi

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The reishi is a mushroom known to Asians for more than 2000 years. It is mentioned in the oldest Chinese pharmacopoeia (the classic Shen Nong herbarium - published in 56 BC) as a mushroom with adaptogenic properties. For traditional Chinese medicine, such substances have the power to fortify the entire body and help it maintain an optimal state of health and balance. Subsequently, Japanese Kempo medicine considered the flesh of the reishi as a precious tonic of the Qi (or Tchi), the vital energy that supports the whole body. The reishi is all the more appreciated as it is extremely rare in the wild. It only grows in deep mountain forests, usually on the trunks of decaying plum trees, and only 2 or 3 per 10,000 dead plum trees are found. Although the Chinese tried for centuries to cultivate reishi, it was not until the early 1970s that Japanese researchers succeeded in doing so. From then on, the fungus became easily accessible to ordinary people. Until then, it had been reserved for the privileged few who could afford the luxury of such rarity.