It is of course a good thing to have an alert immune system. But if the immune system is so sensitive that treats inhaled, ingested and contacted objects as enemies, it will trigger the symptoms such as continuous sneezing, nose running, throat tightening, coughing, asthma, skin itching and eyes bulging.

This is the so-called "allergic reaction", which is an inflammatory reaction initiated by the immune system to eliminate "allergens". Where there is inflammation, there are symptoms. When the inflammation ends or is extinguished by drugs, the symptoms will disappear.

Therefore, the first step in improving allergy is to stay away from allergens. But the problem is always not so simple. If you are allergic to a certain food or drug, it should not be difficult to avoid allergy as long as you are alert; if you are allergic to ubiquitous dust mites, cockroaches, pollen, mold or your beloved pets, you have to try hard to change your physique.

First of all, it is necessary to prevent immune cells (mast cells) from releasing inflammatory substances (histamine) in order to alleviate the symptoms of allergies; secondly, to reduce the "antibodies such as IgE" in order to reduce the chance of allergens being caught; third, it is necessary to suppress Immune commander-in-chief(type 2 helper T cells) that will treat allergens as enemies by making them less active and preventing their quantity from increasing.

It is better to strengthen the power of another Immune commander-in-chief (type 1 helper T cells) by diverting the attention of the immune system to "anti-infection" and "anti-tumor" instead of allergens. In this way, the chance of getting sick is reduced, and allergic reactions are less likely to occur.

Ganoderma lucidum has the above-mentioned mechanisms of action. It helps improve respiratory allergies and skin allergies.

Ganoderma improves allergic rhinitis.

Pollen is one of the main allergens of allergic rhinitis. According to the research of Kobe Pharmaceutical University in Japan, Reishi mushroom can alleviate the symptoms of nasal allergy caused by pollen, especially the annoying stuffy nasal obstruction.

The researchers fed ground Ganoderma lucidum fruiting bodies (containing 7.5% chitin and 40% Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides) to guinea pigs allergic to pollen and kept them smelling pollen once a day for eight consecutive weeks.

As a result, compared with the group of guinea pigs without Lingzhi protection, the group of guinea pigs fed with Ganoderma lucidum significantly reduced the symptoms of nasal congestion and the number of sneezing from the fifth week. But when they stopped being fed with Ganoderma lucidum and continued to be exposed to allergens, there seemed no difference in the first week. But since the beginning of the second week, the problem of nasal congestion would reappear.

It is worth mentioning that Ganoderma lucidum cannot show immediate effect after being taken because the researchers once fed a high dose of Ganoderma to the guinea pigs who had already had rhinitis symptoms for a month and a half, their symptoms did not improve after a week.

This study tells us that Ganoderma lucidum can still improve allergic rhinitis even if the patients cannot get rid of allergens. But the effect can't be seen overnight. Only If the patients eat Ganoderma lucidum patiently and continuously can Ganoderma lucidum shows its effect.

In addition, the allergen antibody IgE in guinea pigs who ate Ganoderma lucidum in the experiment did not decrease, which means that Ganoderma lucidum still mainly "inhibits inflammation" in the initial improvement of allergies. It may take longer to adjust the physical constitution.

Ganoderma improves allergic asthma.

1. Ganoderma lucidum helps to reduce phlegm and relieve cough and asthma.

The problem with allergic asthma is that allergens cause inflammation of the trachea, causing the tracheal wall to swell and secrete large amounts of mucus (phlegm). When air enters the lungs, it may only cough, sputum or breathe with panting noise; once the amount of air entering the lungs is too small, the "pant" caused by breathing difficulties will be significantly increased.

Scholars in mainland China have long proved through animal experiments that Ganoderma lucidum has a calming effect on phlegm, cough and asthma; if Ganoderma lucidum is taken in advance, the chance of cough and asthma being induced can also be reduced.

2. Triterpenoids inhibit inflammation and allergic reactions

Regarding the efficacy of Ganoderma lucidum on allergic asthma, Professor Lin Bifeng of Taiwan University and Assistant Professor Chen Miaoling of Chang Jung Christian University conducted a series of in-depth studies: The experiment showed that if Ganoderma tsugae preparation containing polysaccharides and triterpenes was orally administered to mice with allergic asthma for five weeks, the secretion of inflammatory cells, inflammatory substances and mucus in the lungs and respiratory tract of the mice reduced, the respiratory resistance (asthma) improved, and the macrophages became more capable but the "type 2 helper T cells" were still very strong.

If asthmatic mice were fed with the " Ganoderma tsugae + Ganoderma sinensis" extract preparation containing a high concentration of ganoderic acid and polysaccharide peptide for four weeks or were fed with triterpenes alone for two weeks, the respiratory tract inflammation and asthma had improved, the activity and proliferation of type 2 helper T cells had been inhibited and the number of allergen antibodies reduced. Obviously, Ganoderma lucidum triterpenoids (Ganoderic acids) are the protagonists that suit the remedy to the case.

The researchers also compared the differences between triterpenes and steroids in the treatment of allergic asthma: both can reduce inflammation, phlegm and asthma but steroids can inhibit asthmatic mice from growing up and lower their overall immune function; on the contrary, triterpenes do not affect the anti-infective immune response and can only suppress the allergic immune response, which allows the mice to grow up strongly with shiny hair.

3. Polysaccharides regulate the immune response.

A joint study by Dr. Zhan Ronghua, a physician at Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital in Taiwan, and Lin Yuli, a researcher at the Clinical Immunology Research Center of National Taiwan University Hospital, found when Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides were cultured with dendritic cells of children with dust mite allergic asthma, the dendritic cells (the immune cells that present information about allergens the infectious agents to the commander-in-chief) would help the immune response take the "anti-allergic" route rather than blindly stimulating and strengthening the immune response. This change is important for adjusting the allergic constitution.

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★ The original text of this article was written in Chinese by Wu Tingyao and translated into English by Alfred Liu. If there is any discrepancy between the translation (English) and the original (Chinese), the original Chinese shall prevail. If readers have any questions, please contact the original author, Ms. Wu Tingyao.