Image courtesy of Mycelium Society.
Turkey tail mushrooms have a lot of medicinal properties, and because of that are used by all kinds of people to help heal different ailments. You can find them on the market in many forms, from fresh to powdered and dried, and each type can be used in different ways. Now the only thing left to decide is if you should buy turkey tail mushrooms from an online shop, or if you should grow them yourself.
Most people don’t grow their own mushrooms, and the idea itself may sound difficult, but it is possible to do without too much effort. And though you can grow your own mushrooms, is it something that’s worth doing? Growing mushrooms might only feel worth it to you if they will turn out to have different benefits than the ones that are already on the market, otherwise it will feel easier to just buy them. So what are the pros and cons of buying vs growing your own turkey tail mushrooms? Keep reading to find out.
About Turkey Tail Mushrooms
Turkey tail mushrooms are a brown mushroom that grows all over the world. Each mushroom is covered in brown stripes of various shades, from the lightest browns to the darkest. Some of these mushrooms appear like a long, rounded flower bud, and some have what look like multiple smaller petals wrapping around to form a bud. These distinctive physical characteristics make turkey tail mushrooms very easy to pick. You are not likely to mistake any other mushroom for turkey tail.
Turkey tail mushrooms grow on logs and on the stumps of deciduous trees. They grow in leathery clusters all year round with angular pores and have a cap width of 1 to 4 inches. These mushrooms can be found in abundance in North America, and can be grown in all kinds of temperatures. They also grow in clusters, groups, and rows, and are often layered. Scoping these mushrooms out will be easy, and growing them won’t be too difficult either.
Turkey tail mushrooms affect the immune system and your gut in a positive way. It can help regulate those symptoms and even keep cancer cells in check. These are healing mushrooms that can be enjoyed in many different ways. You can enjoy fresh turkey tail mushrooms cooked into meals, or you can take them as a supplement, or even as a powder. You can enjoy one or all forms on a regular basis when attempting to treat yourself with turkey tail mushrooms.
Turkey Tail Mushroom Benefits
Turkey tail mushrooms are good for several illnesses, and one of the biggest ones is cancer. There are substances in these mushrooms that suppress certain tumors when taken on a regular basis. Turkey tail mushrooms are very effective when used in combination with average cancer treatments like surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. When regular cancer treatments are taken, and turkey tail mushrooms are taken on the side, studies show that the survival rates of people with certain types of cancer go up.
Some of the benefits of turkey tail mushrooms come from antioxidants. They are filled with antioxidants that bring a number of great benefits to the body. The primary function of antioxidants is to protect the body from free radicals. Free radicals can cause damage to the body’s cells, and so antioxidants fight to prevent and reduce that damage. Antioxidants prevent the body from experiencing inflammation, and this is one reason these mushrooms can help destroy cancer cells.
Turkey tail mushrooms also contain a compound that has an effect on the immune cells in the body. This compound activates some immune cells and suppresses others. Because of this function, this substance decreases inflammation. It also increases the number of white blood cells in the body, which boosts the immune system further. Another way that turkey tail mushrooms aid the immune system is by impacting the gut. They contain prebiotics that feed the bacteria in the gut so that good bacteria can thrive. Your gut’s health has a big impact on your immune system, and the more good bacteria there are compared to bad bacteria, the better your overall health will be.
Do Turkey Tail Mushrooms Have Side Effects?
Most of us eat mushrooms without a thought towards side effects, but most mushrooms don’t have the level of benefits that turkey tails do. So while turkey tail mushrooms don’t come with the level of side effects that traditional drugs usually come with, they can still have some negative effects when taken in too much abundance. The side effects aren’t likely to be too severe, but they are side effects that you should look out for. Most of the side effects that turkey tail mushrooms can cause are gastrolienal. They involve stomach pains, gas, bloating, constipation, and nausea, and all you will need to do to get rid of them is lower your turkey tail mushroom consumption.
Other side effects that can come from turkey tail mushrooms in rare instances are low blood pressure, low blood sugar, low white blood cell count, heart palpitations, and skin rashes. These symptoms are extremely rare, but if they do manage to take place, stopping your turkey tail intake could stop it. A risk factor for experiencing side effects when eating turkey tail mushrooms are having mold allergies. If you have mold allergies, eating turkey tail mushrooms could potentially cause trouble breathing, skin rashes, and throat swelling.
Buying Turkey Tail Mushrooms
Fresh Turkey Tail Mushrooms
Fresh turkey tail mushrooms aren’t easy to find in person since they aren’t the most popular shroom on the market, and you can likely find them in a few online markets, but they are incredibly difficult to find. When you want a batch of fresh turkey tail mushrooms, you can call up your local super markets to find out if they carry them. If they don’t you can search online, but turkey tail mushrooms are most often sold in powder or supplement form online. Your best bet for finding turkey tail mushrooms in person is by foraging.
Turkey tail mushrooms are easy to spot and can be found in all kinds of temperatures. Once you know where to look, finding fresh turkey tail mushrooms should be easy. So how do you spot a turkey tail mushroom? You first need to make sure that they are growing on wood. Turkey tail mushrooms are mushrooms that grow onto and decompose wood, so even if it looks similar, if it is not growing on wood, it is likely not turkey tail mushrooms. Turkey tail mushrooms also have pores on their underside. There are 1 to 3 pores per millimeter, a smooth, velvety top, and flexible flesh that bends easily. There are mushrooms known as false turkey tail mushrooms that you need to avoid confusing real turkey tail mushrooms with.
Dried Turkey Tail Mushrooms
Another way to eat turkey tail mushrooms is dried. Dried mushrooms can add deeper flavor to soups, stews, and braised meats. They will taste great when simmered for hours and added to a delicious liquid of some kind. Dried mushrooms can even be rehydrated to use in different meals. Rehydrated mushrooms can be good in soup and even in other applications.
Powdered Turkey Tail Mushrooms
Another way to enjoy turkey tail mushrooms is in powdered form. Powdered mushrooms are easy to digest, easy to add to food, and can be found on several websites. They can be used in foods that fit with their flavor or disguised to taste different. These foods and drinks can include coffee, tea, smoothies, and milkshakes. They can also work inside of soups and stews.
Other unique ways you can use turkey tail mushroom powder is to use it as a dry rub for meat, season vegetables with it, and add a tiny bit to desserts for a deeper flavor. After you season these foods with turkey tail mushroom powder, you can go ahead and cook them however you like. It will give everything a different flavor from what you’re used to.
Turkey Tail Capsules
Turkey tail mushrooms aren’t the best when used in cooking, so they will be most often found for purchase in supplement form. These mushrooms aren’t that good when used fresh because they have a tough and rubbery texture that makes them tough to chew on. But capsules solve that problem because you get to have all the benefits of turkey tail mushrooms without the tough texture. You can find turkey tail capsules at iHerb, Real Mushrooms, and Host Defense Mushrooms.
Turkey tail mushroom capsules are made in various ways. Some of them are made using the whole mushroom, and others are made using only the important extracts taken from the mushrooms. Each of these types offers different benefits, and you can decide on which one you like best. Turkey tail mushroom capsules should also come from natural sources. They also should not use any grains or fillers, and should rather be made with primarily turkey tail mushroom. The best capsules also don’t contain the stem of the mushroom. Only the cap is needed to achieve the best nutritional benefits.
Growing Turkey Tail Mushrooms
Growing mushrooms on your own is more complicated than simply ordering them online, but it is the only way to ensure that your mushrooms are of the highest quality. Turkey tail mushrooms have amazing benefits whether bought from a store or grown at home, but there are certain ways they grow best, and the only way to ensure that your mushrooms were made in the best way is to grow them yourself based on the proper guidelines.
Here is how to grow the best turkey tail mushrooms:
- To grow turkey tail mushrooms, you need to first make sure that you have logs. You need to have logs cut from healthy, living trees, store them out of the sun and wind, and make sure they can get natural rainfall. These logs should be rested for two weeks before moving on to the next part of the process.
- The next thing you will need to do is drill holes into the log. Drilled holes that reach a one inch depth and make about 50 holes in a 30 inch log.
- The next step is to then inoculate the log and then seal it with wax. You have to wax the holes you made to prevent them from drying out. You can apply plug wax with your fingers or you can use hot wax and apply it with a wax applicator.
- You will then place your log in a shady spot on the ground or close to it and make sure it gets about an inch of rain per week. If you find that your log is dry, you should sprinkle it with water yourself. Now you just keep checking on it and wait for it to grow.
- To harvest these mushrooms once they grow in, grab a mushroom, twist it, and pull it off the log. Once they are off the log, you now need to make sure to properly store them for using. You can store them in a container in the refrigerator for about 14 days. You can also freeze or dry them yourself.
Turkey tail mushrooms are great for you whether you grow them yourself or buy them, but the biggest benefit of growing them yourself is being able to make sure they are of great quality. If you don’t buy them yourself, you have to trust the company you are buying them for, and whichever method works best for you is totally up to you.
