Flor·Essence® with Turkey Tail and Turmeric is Flora’s latest liquid herbal formula. This update to the Flor·Essence formula uses all the same, time-tested, original eight herbs for cleansing and detoxification and adds in medicinal amounts of turkey tail mushroom and turmeric.
Today we’re going to take a closer look at the turkey tail mushroom. Trametes versicolor means ‘of many colors’; its fan shape and colors resemble wild turkey tail colors. Turkey tail mushrooms can be found growing on tree trunks and fallen trees in many countries around the world and are very common in North American forests. It falls under the ‘Polypore’ class of mushrooms – perennial with a hard, woody top with visible pores on the underside. They help decompose dead trees and recycle nutrients in the forest.
Turkey tail is a medicinal mushroom prized for its immunomodulating effects. Polysaccharides and polyphenols in turkey tail support immune health by stimulating a variety of immune cells from within the innate and adaptive immune system.* Krestin (PSK) and Polysaccharide Peptide (PSP) are two types of polysaccharides in Turkey Tail. They suppress inflammation and stimulate immune white blood cells. They have been used in Japan and China for immunotherapy since the 1970s. Many human clinical trials have found that Turkey Tail polysaccharides work well alongside chemotherapy and radiation. This may be due to Turkey Tail stimulating release of Natural Killer Cells and lymphocytes to support the immune response. A 2014 clinical study also found that Turkey Tail and Reishi mushroom were able to clear oral human papillomavirus (HPV) from 88% of the people who had it after 2 months vs. just 5% who took a different variety of mushroom.*
Turkey Tail has over 35 different phenolic compounds with antioxidant effects including quercetin and baicalein. These have been shown to reduce inflammation, protect cells and tissue from free radical damage, and stimulate release of immune compounds. Turkey Tail also has prebiotic effects in the colon, where it modulates our microbiome in positive ways, like supporting the growth of good bacteria, like Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria and discouraging the growth of bad bacteria. Studies show that Turkey Tail polysaccharides are able to reduce harmful bacteria like E. coli and increase beneficial bacteria like Lactobacillus spp. and Bifidobacteria. Burdock, slippery elm and kelp are also some of the other Flor·Essence herbs that have prebiotic effects.*
Flora uses the whole, fruiting body of the turkey tail mushroom with nearly 3.5 grams in each daily dose. We use the fruiting body of the mushroom because the immune enhancing, beta glucan polysaccharides are mostly found in the fruiting body, not the mycelium. Mycelium based products often consist of a lot of grain filler from the growth media. These contain other types of polysaccharides from the grains that do not have immune-modulating properties. For example, Consumer Lab analyzed Reishi mycelium based products and the majority of polysaccharides were alpha glucans from the brown rice growth media, not the “mushroom”.
All eight of the herbs, roots and mushroom in this formula are individually simmered, decocted, and infused to create a powerful, concentrated immune formula that also supports cleansing through the body’s own channels of elimination. For best results, drink daily for at least several weeks as a rejuvenating tonic for your digestive system, immune system and organs of elimination.*
Start the new year on a healthy trajectory and enjoy 15% off this herbal tonic this week using code ‘immune15’ at checkout!
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
