Ganoderma Lucidum

I was sitting in a tiny seaside cottage in Stinson Beach when my niece's boyfriend asked me if I'd ever had "Gano Coffee". I was slightly distracted, as I had been studying the Peterson Field Guide to Mushrooms in North America, keenly focused on memorizing the physical attributes of the psilocybe cubensis. I asked him to repeat his question, which he did, and I responded truthfully that, no, I had never had "Guano Coffee".

He clarified that it was Gano, not guano. I asked what it was. He said, "It's a coffee made from mushrooms and it gives you good dreams."

This interested me immediately.

Me: "Is it legal?"
Him: "I know it's not illegal."
"How do you know?"
"Well, I'm pretty sure."
"And what's this mushroom called again?"
"Gano."

So I looked it up, finding that there is a mushroom called Ganoderma Lucidum which is safely edible and most commonly found on the trunks or stumps of maple trees. Very interesting. But why is it called Ganoderma Lucidum?

Hard to tell. But this, from Wikipedia, is also very interesting: "Ganoderma compounds inhibit 5-alpha reductase activity in the biosynthesis of dihydrotestosterone." Why is this interesting? Because dihydrotestosterone is the form of testosterone that causes baldness. So if something inhibits 5-alpha reductase activity in the biosynthesis of dihydrotestosterone, that means it stops dihydrotestosterone from working. Drugs that interfere with dihydrotestosterone are used to treat prostate cancer and baldness, among other things. This is the condensed version; more information can be found here.

So: could it be that by taking Ganoderma Lucidum, I might halt or reverse what balding I have thus far experienced, and keep my prostate healthy in the process? Well, since it's a non-toxic mushroom lauded by the Chinese as incredibly benificial for centuries, I am willing to risk it. Commence experiment!

One word of caution: some dihydrotestosterone inhibitors have been linked to Gynecomastia -- men growing boobies. However, I am willing to bet that natural substances, in small amounts, are less likely to cause Gynecomastia than highly concentrated amounts in drug form. I will tell you if I grow boobies.

None of this answers the question of the Lucidum part of Ganoderma Lucidum, however. One website offers the following explanation: "In translation from Latin, Gan- means to glisten, derm- means skin and lucidum- means glittering."

So it that it? It's the mushroom with the glittering skin? Damn. I want lucid dreams! Well, I will take either: a full head of my own healthy hair and/or lucid dreams. And I will keep you, my loyal readers, updated as to my progress.

© 2010, Edward Hightower. All Rights Reserved.