Roughly resembling the famous bird tail, Turkey Tail mushrooms are well known for their healing properties.
Consuming the mushroom provides numerous benefits such as improved gut health, better immune system function, and also plays a critical role in cancer treatment. Given these benefits, the major problem today is that most Turkey Tail mushroom supplements available for sale aren’t very effective.
Luckily, we’re here to show you some of the best Turkey Tail mushroom supplements you can buy to experience the full range of these natural benefits.
Benefits Of Turkey Tail Mushroom
The Turkey Tail mushroom has been used for centuries in ancient Chinese medicine. Widely known for its immune-boosting properties, this mushroom also has several other significant health benefits.
Let’s take a look at some of the major ones.
1. May prevent the spread of cancer
One of the significant benefits of taking Turkey Tail mushrooms is that it may help prevent the spread of cancer. Turkey Tail mushrooms contain Polysaccharopeptide (PSP) and Polysaccharide-K (PSK) compounds, which inhibit the growth of cancer cells and are widely used in cancer treatment programs around the world.
2. Rich Source Of Antioxidants
Turkey Tail mushroom is a rich source of antioxidants such as phenols and flavonoids. These help to boost immune system health, reduce inflammation, and protect against oxidative stress. It also has beneficial effects on heart disease, and regulates blood pressure.
3. Promotes Gut Health
The components present in Turkey Tail promote gut health and balance the number of beneficial gut bacteria. Turkey Tail is also a rich source of fibers and helps against conditions such as obesity and chronic indigestion.
Apart from the above major benefits, regular consumption of Turkey Tail can lead to better immune function and improved insulin resistance. It can also result in enhanced physical and mental performance. Awesome, right?
What To Look For In Turkey Tail Mushroom Supplements?
While there are numerous benefits of Turkey Tail, the problem lies in being able to choose a supplement that actually delivers these benefits effectively. The following are some of the significant factors you need to look into when buying Turkey Tail supplements.
1. Look for whole fruiting bodies
The whole fruiting body is the actual fruit of the mushroom organism, the umbrella-like structure that we think of when we think of these fungi. The reason you want to look for the whole fruiting body in a Turkey Tail supplement is because this is where the majority of the beneficial compounds are found.
The majority of mushroom supplements are extracted from mycelium on grain which is the root-like component of the mushroom mixed with fillers like grains or starches. These supplements don’t have the beneficial components you want from a medicinal mushroom supplement.
2. Uses a hot water extraction process
For the best results, Turkey Tail supplements should use a hot water extraction process. With this extraction process, the turkey tail mushroom is submerged in hot water at temperatures in the range of 80 to 175 degrees centigrade to extract the water-soluble ingredients from the raw mushrooms.
Hot water extraction is needed to release the Beta-Glucans content trapped in the cell walls of the mushroom. Beta-Glucans form the principal active ingredient of Turkey Tail and are water-soluble so hot water extraction is the best method to release these beneficial compounds.
3. Specifies beta-glucans content
Speaking of beta-glucans, these compounds should be present in Turkey Tail mushroom supplements because not only do they have significant beneficial effects, they indicate that other beneficial compounds are present in the supplement as well.
Beta-Glucans help to boost the immune system, along with improving gut and heart health. It also has anti-cancer properties, reduces the risks of obesity, and regulates blood sugar levels.
Now that we know what to look for in a Turkey Tail mushroom supplement, let’s take a look at some of the best Turkey Tail mushroom supplements in the market.
The 4 Best Turkey Tail Mushroom Extract Supplements
Real Mushrooms is a brand that needs no introduction and is well-known for its quality products. Its Turkey Tail mushroom extract is manufactured from the highest quality hand-picked mushrooms. Naturally, it contains all the essential ingredients needed to deliver the full benefits of the product.
Why Do We Recommend It?
The first and most important reason for selecting this product has to be the high (greater than 30%) Beta-Glucans levels. This makes the extract one of the most potent supplements in the market.
Along with that, we like how Real Mushrooms utilizes a hot water extraction process to glean the essential compounds from the raw mushrooms. This ensures the most substantial amount of Beta-Glucans and other beneficial components.
What’s more, it is made from 100% whole fruiting bodies and does not contain any mycelium or filler material such as starchy grains. This ensures that you get the full benefits of the actual mushrooms, without any dilution whatsoever.
We like how the product is entirely organic and completely gluten-free. It’s also a non-GMO product and is perfectly suitable for vegans. This makes it one of the most well rounded Turkey Tail supplements in the market. Plus, it’s available as both powder and capsules, which is a bonus.
The Freshcap Mushrooms Turkey Tail Extract (SHIELD) is available in powder form, and each packet contains 60 servings at 1 gram per serving. Affordable and entirely organic, this supplement has a lot to offer in terms of mushroom benefits.
Why Do We Recommend It?
SHIELD contains Turkey Tail extract that’s made from whole mushroom fruiting bodies. This means there’s no mycelium or grains to dilute the material, thus providing you with the full potency of the extract.
We were also impressed to learn that this Turkey Tail extract has been proven to have greater than 45% Beta-Glucans. Since Beta-Glucans are the most beneficial component of Turkey Tail, this makes it a very powerful product.
The reason for the high Beta-Glucans content of SHIELD is that it uses the hot water extraction process to prepare the extract. Also, this product is entirely organic, non-GMO, and vegan friendly. Every mushroom used in the extract is grown naturally and is tested to ensure zero chemical contamination.
If you’re looking for a wider range of medicinal mushrooms in a well-rounded product – you should check out Freshcap Mushrooms’ Thrive 6 Mushroom Extract Blend. It contains Turkey Tail along with other notable medicinal mushrooms like Lion’s Mane, Chaga, Cordyceps, Reishi, and Maitake. You can check out our full thrive 6 review to find out why we love this blend and why we think its one of the best mushroom supplements on the market now..
Lastly, although the 45% minimum beta-glucan content is amazing, we’d love it if Freshcap Mushrooms could release a capsule product for this extract.
Speaking of capsules, up next we have the Turkey Tail Mushroom capsules from Nootropics Depot, yet another well-known manufacturer of mushroom products. Made from whole fruiting bodies, this product is meant to give a positive fillip to your overall health and well-being.
Why Do We Recommend It?
The primary reason we love this product is it’s exceptionally high Beta-Glucans content. This extract has been tested to deliver more than 45% Beta-Glucans, which is massive if you compare it to other products on the market today.
Plus, it’s prepared using the whole fruiting body in a hot water extraction process. As a result, the maximum amount of beneficial components is gleaned, which guarantees greater benefits for those taking the supplement daily.
This is a fantastic choice for people who want the high concentration of beta-glucans in their turkey tail mushroom supplement and prefer capsules instead of a powder. We highly recommend products from Nootropics Depot because of their extensive testing processes to ensure high quality products. You can read our full Nootropics Depot review to find out more.
Noomadic Herbals is known for making quality nutritional supplements, and its Turkey Tail extract capsules follow the same principle. Available in bottles of 60 vegetarian capsules of 500mg each, this is yet another noteworthy Turkey Tail product.
Why Do We Recommend It?
Similar to our previous recommendations, this product is also made using whole fruiting bodies in a hot water extraction process. The combination guarantees that you’ll be able to get the full benefits of the mushroom from it.
In addition to that, the whole fruiting body’s use means that this product doesn’t contain any fillers such as grain, mycelium, or starch. As a result, the extract contains only the pure mushroom and has more than 30% Beta-Glucans content.
We also like how every mushroom used in the extraction process is harvested from the wild. Wild grown mushrooms tend to have the best nutrient content since they are free of artificial additives such as chemical contaminants and pesticides.
However, the price is a bit steep compared to the other products we’ve listed. Nevertheless, it comes with a 90-day money-back guarantee, so you don’t have anything to worry about if you’re not satisfied with the product.
Final Thoughts
Turkey Tail mushrooms have undeniable benefits, and mushroom supplements are among the best ways you can take advantage of these benefits. However, most extracts available in the market aren’t of very high quality and use mycelium on grain or incorrect extraction processes.
That’s why, when shopping for Turkey Tail, we recommend that you keep the points of the buyers’ guide in mind. Doing so will help you understand whether the product you’re getting is worth the money or not.
