We've put together a list of what our team has found to be the best medicinal mushroom books. Finding accurate information about medicinal mushrooms can be a big challenge.
Type “medicinal mushrooms” into Google, and you’ll get over 14 million hits on all the many mushrooms discussed in all kinds of content. While your search can eliminate pages about wild mushrooms and magic mushrooms, that’s still a lot of information to try and sift through.
With so many options, the question becomes: how do you separate the facts from the fiction so that you can make informed decisions about incorporating mushrooms into your lifestyle?
However, you don’t need to look any further because we’ve done the heavy lifting for you.
Real Mushrooms has been in the mushroom industry for over 30 years, making us well-oriented with all the kinds of mushroom books and scientific studies on mushrooms. Accurate, evidence-based information is part of what we’ve built our reputation as professional and reliable practitioners of mushroom cultivation.
That’s why we can confidently recommend taking a look at any of the medicinal mushroom books listed below to help you expand your knowledge about medicinal mushrooms and use them in your daily life.
Click here to skip right to Skye's video review of his favorite mushroom books.
Christopher Hobbs is a well-known and respected herbalist and mushroom expert with over 40 years of experience working in the field.
In Medicinal Mushrooms, Hobbs covers the traditional use of mushrooms across Eastern and Western cultures. He meticulously details the benefits of over 100 different varieties. This essential handbook is a very dense yet accessible companion to the world of medicinal mushrooms.
If you’re serious about medicinal mushrooms, this 250-page compendium will give you all the details you’re after.
Enthusiasts will appreciate the evidence-based information about mushrooms and their health benefits. Novices will have to look no further for accurate information to help make decisions about which mushrooms to consider for their health.
Medicinal Mushrooms is one of the key mushroom books that gives you reliable information about the vast array of mushrooms available while exploring the historical and cultural uses of each.
You’ll leave with an understanding of how mushrooms have been used to treat various ailments for thousands of years, along with the information you need to incorporate them into your daily life.
Find it here.
With a focus on the healing properties of medicinal mushrooms in clinical settings, Martin Powell provides a well-researched, evidence-based guide to twenty of the most commonly used mushrooms for various health conditions.
The book provides an in-depth review of how mushrooms work in the body from a biological perspective. It serves as a great resource for healthcare providers and informed consumers alike.
While this book is written for a clinical audience, anyone who is serious about mushrooms and understanding their use for treating various health conditions will benefit from having this book on hand.
Powell details twenty of the most commonly used mushroom varieties, the historical use of each in medicine, and appropriate dosing guidelines. This book can serve as a great reference for anyone interested in using mushrooms as a tool in addressing chronic and acute health conditions.
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This essential guide gives readers an accessible overview of the mushroom kingdom and enough background to understand the amazing benefits of adding mushrooms to your lifestyle.
Healing Mushrooms gives details about Isokappulia’s top ten picks for medicinal mushrooms and describes how to incorporate them into your routine as either supplements or whole foods. You’ll also find 50 recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert, making mushrooms easier to consume on a daily basis.
This book is best as a beginner’s guide for readers who are new to the world of mushrooms and want to learn more about the healing and restorative properties of fungi. Novices will benefit from the easy-to-understand breakdown of mushroom terminology, history of medicinal uses, and how to incorporate these nutritional superstars into their diets.
Readers will learn about the ten most popular and widely used mushroom varieties for health and healing. For those looking for an easy way to incorporate both mushroom supplements and fresh mushrooms into their diets, the recipes will serve as inspiration to mix up what’s on their plate and optimize their health.
Find it here.
For budding food scientists and anyone interested in advancing their knowledge of mushrooms as functional foods, this book is a must-have resource.
With coverage of research and trends in mycology (the study of fungi), along with information about the cultivation, physiology, and genetics of mushrooms, this book belongs on any enthusiast’s bookshelf.
Cheung's book is aimed at academic audiences who have an interest in the use of mushrooms as functional foods. With coverage of a wide variety of topics, including emerging species, functional genomics, and worldwide regulatory and safety use in supplements, this book will delight mushroom enthusiasts.
If you’re after a comprehensive guide to the world of mushrooms and their use as a functional food and alternative medicine, this book has you covered. Readers looking to deepen their knowledge about mushrooms at an advanced, scientific level will enjoy this go-to guide.
Find it here.
This book is a short but informative book on the ten most commonly used mushrooms for clinical and healing purposes.
Dr. Mark Stingler is a licensed naturopathic medical doctor who is certified in Integrative Medicine and Integrative Intravenous Therapy. With his years of experience, he offers evidence-based information about the benefits of mushrooms for certain conditions and immune dysfunction.
For novices and experts alike, this book offers information about mushrooms in an accessible format that doesn’t overwhelm readers. If you’re looking for information about the use of medicinal mushrooms for various illnesses, this is a great resource.
A quick but informative breakdown of the ten most common mushroom varieties that are used in integrative and alternative medicine. For readers interested in these two approaches to health care, this will give enough information to make informed decisions about what kind of mushrooms to incorporate into your diet to see positive changes.
Find it here.
More commonly known as reishi, Lingzhi has a long and storied history of use in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The author, Lin Zhi-Bin, is a pharmacologist and one of the foremost researchers of reishi with numerous publications on the subject. He provides a thorough, in-depth breakdown of this powerful mushroom variety.
For readers looking for information specifically about reishi mushrooms, this medicinal mushroom book is for you. Both enthusiastic and novices with a desire to learn detailed information about this superfood will enjoy Zhi-Bin’s book.
Lingzhi: From Magic to Science is an evidence-based book that covers the science behind the reishi’s function on the human immune, nervous, endocrine and cardiovascular systems. As this is a Chinese translation, it will give more insight into how Reishi is seen and used in China. The theories behind the science are explained in an easy-to-understand format that is accessible to all readers.
Find it here.
Besides the mushroom books that cover the medicinal properties and healing powers of medicinal mushrooms, there are other kinds of books for aspiring mushroom hunters and mushroom growers.
There are books on mushroom hunting or mushroom foraging to help you identify wild mushrooms for your purposes. These books help you stay away from the dangers of poisonous or psilocybin mushrooms and point you safely toward gourmet and medicinal mushrooms instead.
Other than essential guides for mushroom hunters on their foraging adventures, you can also find books on growing mushrooms of a specific mushroom species. These guides are full of practical information with fun illustrations or full-color photographs on growing mushrooms and the proper conditions to grow mushrooms.
Once you’ve read these mushroom books and are ready to incorporate functional mushrooms into your diet, Real Mushrooms can help.
With a line of high-quality, real mushroom supplements including Reishi, Turkey Tail, Chaga, Cordyceps and Lion’s Mane, we pride ourselves on offering only the best products to our customers.
Let us know in the comments which of these medicinal mushroom books you want to try first!
.Disclaimer: The information or products mentioned in this article are provided as information resources only, and are not to be used or relied on to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This information does not create any patient-doctor relationship, and should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment. The information is intended for health care professionals only. The statements made in this article have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Any products mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The information in this article is intended for educational purposes. The information is not intended to replace medical advice offered by licensed medical physicians. Please consult your doctor or health practitioner for any medical advice.