
Within that extract, you'll find two key substances, triterpenes and polysaccharides, that are the secret to the reishi mushroom benefits for skin. Luckily, the mushroom can instead be farmed and extracted into a potent liquid form. They also taste bitter, and aren't likely to make it into fungus-based gourmet dishes anytime soon. Since they grow on hard woods in Chinese forests, wild reishi mushrooms are rare.

Today the compounds in these mushrooms are finally being recognized in the West for myriad medicinal powers-and are becoming the subject of some tests-and reishi mushroom extract is on its way to being a favorite skincare ingredient. But it's good that practitioners of Chinese medicine haven't let appearances stop them from healing various ailments with the fungus, also known as ling zhi (or Ganoderma lucidum ), for millennia.

Hard, brown, and wrinkly, reishi mushrooms truly do not look like an ingredient that's going to give you a soft, supple complexion.
