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Updated On October 30, 2020

The Coriolus versicolor mushroom is a good looking mushroom ... and it's good for your pet, too! 

This medicinal mushroom has cancer researchers excited ... in fact, it's an anti-cancer drug in some countries. But there are a few other reasons to add Coriolus versicolor to your pet's daily diet.

Coriolus Versicolor Mushroom

Coriolus versicolor is a mushroom that grows on dead logs all around the world. There are over 200 species of Coriolus versicolor, but there is a particular strain that is of interest to scientists and herbalists. It has been used in Chinese medicine for centuries to reduce phlegm, clear dampness, increase energy, and support and modulate the immune system. In traditional Chinese medicine, it's called Yun Zhi.

Today, researchers are interested in Coriolus versicolor's health and immune supporting benefits. Let's take a look ...

Medicinal Benefits Of Beta-Glucans

Coriolus versicolor mushrooms have two main medicinal components: Polysaccharide-K (PSK) and polysaccharide-P (PSP). They form part of the mushroom's cell wall and they give the cell its structure.

Both PSK and PSP are called beta-D-glucans. These beta-glucans can bind directly to receptors in immune cells ... and trigger immune changes that can increase the activity of some immune cells, or restore a healthy immune response.

The key activities on the immune system include:

• Up-regulate immune function when the immune system is stressed by chronic illness, stress or cancer
• Restore immune function in pets with an auto-immune disease
• Down-regulate the inflammatory immune response in over-active immune systems

This is what makes Coriolus versicolor so powerful ... they can directly interact with the immune cells in your pet.

Beta-D-glucans can bind to and activate macrophages, which are the immune cells responsible for destroying bacteria, viruses, and invaders like cancer cells. Beta-glucans can also stimulate other immune cells, including natural killer (NK) cells and T-leukocytes, which are an important part of the adaptive immune system.

Overall, beta-glucans have been shown to:

• Activate immune cells
• Increase antibody production
• Reduce pro-inflammatory cytokines
• Enhance the immune response to multiple cancers
• Inhibit the spread of cancer cells (metastasis)

Coriolus Versicolor And Cancer

The trouble with cancer research is that it's hard to find randomized controlled studies on supplements like Coriolus versicolor mushrooms. In most cases, cancer patients undergo chemotherapy, radiation or other drug-based treatments at the same time. So it's difficult to accurately analyze how effective a natural treatment is. But in the case of Coriolus versicolor, there's a very solid randomized controlled study ... and it was done on dogs. 

A 2012 study published in Evidence-Based Complementary Medicine looked at the effectiveness of Coriolus versicolor mushrooms in treating dogs with hemangiosarcoma. Hemangiosarcoma is a vascular cancer with a high rate of metastasis (spreading to other parts of the body). It's an aggressive cancer that's primarily found in the spleen. Even when the spleen is removed, the prognosis is still poor in dogs with hemangiosarcoma. The median survival rate is from 19 to 86 days with less than 10% of dogs surviving past 12 months. In this study, they gave PSP from Coriolus versicolor mushrooms to dogs from a teaching veterinary hospital. All of the dogs were diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma. The dogs underwent a double-blind study with no concurrent treatments. When the results were analyzed, the researchers found the dogs given the PSP had a much longer time until metastasis. And survival time increased with the size of the dose. 

• Survival time with no treatment: 86 days
• Survival time with 50mg-kg/day mushroom: 117 days
• Survival time with 100mg-kg/day mushroom: 199 days

Other Coriolus Versicolor Benefits

Immune Benefits

Because they regulate the immune system, beta-glucans help protect pets from fungi, bacteria, viruses ... and parasites. The immune system and IgE antibodies are well equipped to deal with worms and internal parasites. Coriolus versicolor mushrooms may also help your pet's immune system protect them against kennel cough, canine flu and other infectious diseases. 

Fights Yeast

Coriolus versicolor mushrooms can help crowd out yeast by feeding beneficial bacteria colonies. This also ramps up the immune response in the fight against yeast. Coriolus versicolor is also anti-fungal, which makes it a good addition to your yeast fighting regimen.

Digestive And Urinary Health

Coriolus versicolor mushrooms can also regulate the immune cells that control inflammation. Coriolus versicolor in particular, works especially hard to reduce inflammation in the digestive, urinary and respiratory tract. 

While we're talking about digestive health, Coriolus versicolor is also a healthy prebiotic. Prebiotics help with the growth of beneficial bacteria in the digestive tract. These beneficial bacteria reduce digestive inflammation, produce important vitamins and fatty acids, and form another important part of your pet's immune system.

Coriolus versicolor mushrooms may also help protect the liver. 

Phytonutrients

Finally, Coriolus versicolor mushrooms also contain health-boosting phytochemicals including the antioxidant phenolic compounds gallic acid, protocatechuic acid and catechin.

Plant-Based Beta-Glucans

Beta-glucans aren't just found in mushrooms. They're also found in the cell walls of cereals and grains ... but the structure of plant-based beta-glucans is different and less complex than those found in mushrooms.

The complex triple helix structure of the mushroom beta-glucans is what gives Coriolus versicolor and other medicinal mushrooms their immune-boosting properties, while cereals have very little of it.

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