Guess what is known to save your dog from cancer, boosts immunity, prevent viral infections, lower cholesterol level, reduce blood pressure, help with IBS, regulate sugar and metabolism, and keeps him super active all at the same time? The Superfood: MUSHROOMS!

Yes, dogs can eat mushrooms and procure tremendous benefits from them. 

The Safe Types of Mushrooms for Dogs

For your dog’s optimal safety, it is important to know the types of mushrooms that are harmless and that have health benefits for your dog. Below is a list of mushrooms that you can easily feed your dog.

• Turkey Tail
• Reishi
• Chaga
• Portobello
• White Button
• Porcini
• Shiitake
• Cremini
• Maitake

Benefits of Mushrooms - Supporting Overall Dog’s Health

When it comes to the benefits of mushrooms, they are remarkable! Mushrooms are superfoods that are rich in antioxidants, folic acid, vitamin B, vitamin C, manganese, potassium, phosphorus, proteins, dietary fiber, and lipids. 

The unparalleled blend of these important vitamins and minerals helps your dog fight against cancer and provides other benefits. A few of the benefits are:

• Regulates blood sugar and metabolism.
• Enhances the liver and kidneys to function better.
• Reduces cholesterol levels.
• Helps in dropping blood pressure.
• Increases immunity.
• Prevents fatty liver.
• Prevents heart diseases.
• Keeps viral infections at bay
• Treats and prevents cancer

Health Benefits of Specific Mushrooms

So far, we know the safe types of mushrooms are SUPERFOOD for dogs, but some mushrooms are more beneficial than others. They are known for medicinal benefits for thousands of years. The distinctive health benefits of certain mushrooms are discussed below:

Health Benefits of Reishi Mushrooms

Do you know what the other name of Reishi mushrooms is? It's the mushrooms of immortality! And we all want our dogs to live FOREVER! 

Yeah, sadly, too unrealistic to be true. But what’s realistic is they increase the number of years of your dog’s life.

Chinese have been using this medicinal mushroom for over 2 millennia! This powerful blend of over 200 active ingredients is best taken as an extract. They are hard and difficult to digest when taken as whole food. 

Their benefits are:

• They stimulate the immune system hence extending the life span.
• They are a source of triterpenes and have a molecular structure similar to that of steroid hormones.
• They are a source of polysaccharides, thus helping in regulating blood sugar levels.
• The combination of triterpenes and polysaccharides is effective in providing essential nutrients to tumors hence resulting in treatment (as well as prevention) of cancer.
• The ganoderic acid in reishi mushrooms keeps your pet’s liver happy and healthy.

Health Benefits of Turkey Tail Mushrooms 

If there’s a mushroom that has enormous cancer benefits, it is the turkey tail mushroom. These mushrooms are rich in beta-glucan polysaccharides, which help fight almost all kinds of diseases. 

These good-looking mushrooms have been in use by the Chinese as an energy booster and to reduce phlegm and clear dampness.

Studies show their benefits in dogs which we have discussed under the following bullets.

• This fungus helps in treating hemangiosarcoma; it is aggressive cancer that initiates from the spleen. 
• The beta-glucan in these mushrooms bind to the immune cell’s receptors directly and activate immune cells, increase antibodies production, suppress the spread of cancer cells, and reduce proinflammatory cytokines.
• Turkey tail mushrooms also help prevent infections in pets like canine flu, kennel cough, etc.
• These mushrooms are a good source of prebiotics and help control inflammation of the urinary and digestive tracts. 

Health Benefits of Chaga Mushrooms

Chaga mushrooms are a gift from God! No, seriously, because of their tremendous health benefits, Chaga mushrooms are also known as ‘the gift from God’. 

Their benefits range from improving the gastric health of your dog to boosting immunity and destruction of cancer cells.

They have been in human use since the 16th century, and the recent research on these mushrooms proves all the benefits.

Listed below are the benefits:

• They work as a biological response modifier which means they not only boost the immune system but also decelerates the immune system that is on a roller coaster ride. Which means they are helpful in fighting autoimmune diseases in pets.
• It helps in the self-destruction of tumor cells while does not damage the healthy cells.
• They are used to treat stomach problems like pain, inflammation, ulcers, gastritis, and other bowel diseases. 
• They help in regulating blood sugar levels, reduce bad cholesterol, increase good cholesterol, and help with hyperthyroidism as well. 

To know more about the medicinal benefits of the group of fungi, we recommend leafing through the pages of Dr. Ihor Basko’s PDF book Medicinal Mushrooms for Pets: Multi-Dimensional Healing. The book thoroughly explains all the benefits and how pets can heal from mushrooms.

If you are not much of a reading person, you may want to check out Dr. Barbara Fougere’s FREE webinar here!

Sourcing Mushrooms

Medicinal mushrooms are usually administered to dogs in the form of powder or tincture. Low thermal dried powders are either packed in bottles or capsules and in a concentrated form. Since mushrooms are 90% water, one kg of fresh mushroom yields 100 grams of dry powder.  To obtain a huge amount of powder, like one kg of powder, you need ten times as much fresh mushrooms. 

Last Words

Mushrooms are a superfood for dogs and show many medicinal benefits. They heal and treat diseases like cancer, and help boost immunity and prevent many chronic disorders like cholesterol, blood pressure, and diabetes. These fungi have numerous benefits and make sure you source your mushrooms from reputable companies.

References:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25179726/
https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/compound-derived-mushroom-lengthens-survival-time-dogs-cancer-penn-vet-study-finds
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22135889/
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1750-3841.12160
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10460691/
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/hp/mushrooms-pdq