Holiday Stress?

Bah humbug. Pass the mushrooms. Red Reishi mushrooms, that is.

By Dr. Meg Jordan

Although stress is an unavoidable aspect of modern life, we keep thinking we can eliminate it. I saw an employee bulletin with the headline, “Get rid of stress for the holidays!” The “season’s greeting” was filled with grim statistics about how heart attacks, strokes, ER visits, and auto accidents tend to soar at the end of the year. As if all the shopping, cooking, and in-law invasion was not enough good cheer.

When you’re overloaded with obligations, the simplest path to stress reduction is simply saying no. But, when this involves your job, picking up relatives at the airport, or finding the right gift for a loved one, the word rarely escapes your lips.

The next best thing to saying “no” is to take a second course of action: increase your tolerance for withstanding stress. Otherwise, long-term stress can leave you depleted and vulnerable to illness.

Red reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) has long been valued by practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine as a superior herb for health and longevity. Containing the highest concentration of polysaccharides and ganoderic acids of any medicinal mushroom, red reishi works as an adaptogen to help the body cope with everything from mental stress and sleep deprivation, to trauma and overexertion. Just what you need during the holidays!

There is no pharmaceutical treatment that can provide this kind of health-enhancing adaptogenic support. Plus, studies show that red reishi supports healthy immune function, helping you to ward off colds and flu. It also boosts the cardiovascular system by reducing cholesterol, inhibiting platelet aggregation, and reducing blood pressure.

In addition, red reishi has been shown to help with glucose metabolism, promote anti-inflammatory effects, and increase liver protection ─ without any toxic build-up or side effects. Just one capsule a day of a high quality red reishi supplement can help return you physically and mentally to a healthy and balanced state. You will also love all the extra energy red reishi gives you during this hectic time of year!

In my clinical practice, I make sure my patients get through the holidays and beyond with this amazing medicinal mushroom. Through research, I have discovered that the best quality red reishi supplements are made in Japan. I recommend taking a daily supplement of Mikei Red Reishi Capsules which are manufactured according to the highest standards set forth by the Japan Reishi Association. Taking Mikei ensures that you are getting the full complement of phytonutrients unique to red reishi. Since Mikei (pronounced “mee-kay”) is of such high quality, the benefits are usually noticed within a few days to a week of taking them.


Dr. Meg Jordan, PhD, RN, CWP, is a medical anthropologist known as the Global Medicine Hunter®. She is an integrative health specialist, international health journalist, and a professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies.

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