Organic Turkey Tail is a high-quality dietary supplement composed of organic Turkey Tail extract. This medicinal mushroom offers high immunostimulant and antioxidant potency.

Though it is not widely known in the West, it is a popular remedy in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine. Turkey Tail supplements are also used in modern Asian medicine, particularly alongside anti-cancer treatments.

It is the mushroom's content of the complex carbohydrates polysaccharides and numerous phenolic compounds which are responsible for its considerable efficacy.

Pro-Immunity Mushroom that Resembles a Turkey Tail

What is Turkey Tail?

Turkey Tail is a lignicolous fungi that feeds on wood. It usually grows on the trunks of deciduous trees like beeches and birches in a wide variety of places and many different climates.

Its common name, Turkey Tail, comes from its upright shape and graded shades of brown reminiscent of a wild turkey's tail fan. It is also known as Coriolus versicolor, kawaratake ('beside-the-river mushroom' in Japanese), and yun-zhi ('cloud mushroom' in Chinese).

A mushroom rich in PSP and PSK polysaccharides

Turkey Tail's powerful immunostimulant, anti-infectious, and anti-tumor effects are due to its many nutrients (1-2). In particular, it has a wide range of polysaccharides. These natural carbohydrates, formed from many smaller simple sugars or monosaccharides, are known for their numerous health benefits.

More specifically, Turkey Tail contains:

• Polysaccharide-peptides (PSP). These long-chain sugars can stimulate macrophage and T lymphocyte activity (3) and are also thought to have anti-cancer properties (4).
• Polysaccharide-K or Krestin (PSK). These complex carbohydrates have been used for over 30 years as a chemotherapy agent in several Asian countries (5).

What Benefits does Turkey Tail Extract Offer?

It helps improve the immune response

First and foremost, organic Turkey Tail helps boost the body's immune response. The polysaccharides in the mushroom Turkey Tail are known to be effective at activating immune cells (6). These compounds, referred to as 'biological response modifiers,' also act by improving the expression of cytokines and chemokines (7-8).

Stimulating immune function increases the body's protection by making it more resistant to pathogens.

Organic Turkey Tail Supplement: effective against infection

The Turkey Tail mushroom supplement also acts directly against various aggressors, such as viruses and bacteria. One study noted its potential as an anti-influenza and anti-herpes agent and even attributed it with a 'high therapeutic index' (9).

This mushroom is also useful in fighting multiple bacteria (10). Let's not forget that antibiotics, the drugs prescribed for eliminating or limiting bacteria, are themselves often extracts of medicinal fungi.

The polysaccharide-peptides in Turkey Tail are, amongst others, able to eliminate harmful gut bacteria and thus play a genuine prebiotic role in the body (11-12). This ability to regulate intestinal microbiota further contributes to this mushroom's immunomodulatory power (13).

A mushroom with recognized anti-tumor properties

In Asia, Turkey Tail is regularly used as a preventive substance and adjunct treatment for several types of cancer (14-16). A Chinese study of more than 4,000 subjects observed positive effects on cancer patients' overall survival and quality of life (17).

Taking Turkey Tail may significantly increase patient survival, particularly in breast, stomach, or colon cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy (18-19). This mushroom also has recognized therapeutic potential for cervical, uterine, and pancreatic cancer, leukemia, and malignant lymphoma (20-21).

Meanwhile, an American study examining the anti-cancer properties of Turkey Tail found its polysaccharide components to offer benefits as an adjuvant cancer therapy as part of an overall treatment and secondary prevention strategy (22).

Turkey Tail's anti-tumor properties are due to several factors:

• Its PSPs improve the ability of T lymphocytes, key immune response cells, to penetrate tumors (23).
• The complex carbohydrates found in the mushroom’s extract may accelerate the rate of apoptosis, i.e., the elimination of cancer cells (without damaging healthy cells) (24-25).
• Cancer stem cells represent the tiny proportion of cells that survive anti-cancer treatment. If they spread, they can boost tumor growth polysaccharide-peptides can combat cancer stem cells, thus inhibiting the formation and spread of tumors. This chemo-preventive property of orally-administered PSPs was revealed in a study on prostate cancer (26).
• These polysaccharides also counteract the fall in white cell numbers caused by a medication used in the treatment of various cancers (27).
• Anti-cancer therapy generally reduces the body's immune defenses; taking Turkey Tail will help restore healthy immunity (28).

A powerful antioxidant rich in phenolic compounds

Lastly, Organic Turkey Tail also helps combat oxidative stress. As we know, this oxidation process unleashes a flood of free radicals in the body, which result in cellular aging and can lead to chronic inflammation. Turkey Tail, a potent antioxidant, counteracts this damage (29).

This mushroom is, in fact, a rich natural source of antioxidants, containing numerous phenolic compounds; one study revealed that the phenol-acids in an aqueous extract of turkey tail helped, amongst others, inhibit DPPH and OH free radicals, as well as acetylcholinesterase (AchE) (30). Among the other phenolic compounds found in Turkey Tail are flavonoids, the well-known and highly effective antioxidants (31-32), not forgetting its high content of terpenoids or terpenes, another family of antioxidant metabolites (33-34).

Finally, the results of a 2015 study suggest that the extract of Turkey Tail may also have anti-genotoxic properties – in other words, its components may be able to protect a cell's genome directly (35).

Contraindications for Taking Organic Turkey Tail

As a precaution, we recommend that anyone suffering from an auto-immune disease or awaiting or undergoing an organ transplant should not supplement with turkey tail.

Also, anyone with cancer should first consult their doctor to ensure that this supplement is compatible with their ongoing anti-cancer treatment.

Some Additional Synergistic Supplements

Other effective medicinal mushrooms

If you would like to benefit from other pro-immunity medicinal mushroom supplements available to buy at Supersmart, we would draw your attention to one of our great classics: AHCC (Active Hexose Correlated Compound), a powerful immunostimulant extract of shiitake.

For a broader range of mushrooms that have a synergistic effect with Turkey Tail supplements, we would recommend Organic MycoComplex. This supplement contains 7 different mushrooms (reishi, chaga, cordyceps, etc.). It, too, provides valuable support in stimulating your immune system, as well as relieving fatigue.

The immunostimulant power of colostrum

Still, on the subject of immunity, we could not end without mentioning colostrum. This natural substance is the first form of mother's milk and is rich in antibodies and essential nutrients. You can benefit from its many properties by starting a course of Colostrum supplements.

Further enhance your fight against abnormal cells

If you are particularly interested in combating deviant cells, we recommend combining Organic Turkey Tail supplementation with Saikosaponin A. Saikosaponin A is an antiviral and anti-cancer substance derived from the herbaceous plant Bupleurum falcatum. Some studies suggest it helps prevent tumors and encourages their regression (36-37).

Buy Organic Turkey Tail to stimulate your immune system.

Side Effects of Organic Turkey Tail Supplements

Certain dietary supplements like Turkey Tail supplements have active ingredients that may strongly affect your body. Research shows that adults and children are more likely to experience adverse effects from supplements like Turkey Tail capsules when they take them at higher-than-recommended doses. You may also be more likely to develop side effects if you substitute your prescription medication for supplements.

Whether you are nursing or pregnant, it is important to remain cautious about taking supplements that are not typically prenatal. As non-standard prenatal supplements, organic Turkey Tail supplements are not recommended for pregnant women. Children may also be at a higher risk of developing side effects from Turkey Tail supplements unless otherwise indicated by their healthcare providers. It is always important to notify your provider if you believe that you or your child may be experiencing adverse reactions from dietary supplements such as Turkey Tail capsules. Alternatively, the FDA allows you to complete an online form to report your reactions to dietary supplements if you believe you have developed side effects.