Comment · Sun, August 9, 2020 · ND Owner
"technical" questions about ND's Gotu Kola and Reishi
Original post in this thread
faxmulder · 11 points
Hi guys,
I've researched Gotu Kola and Reishi a bit, and they seem very interesting because they could help with anxiety, overthinking, dry skin and sleep (GK) and overall well-being, hay fever and immune response modulation (Reishi).
However before doing a trial, I'd like to get your feedback regarding two concerns:
1. I've seen that Gotu Kola could have some anti-androgen effects. Even if the studies are related to rats, I'd like to clear a doubt: can you confirm that these effects are due to Isothankuniside and Thankuniside, and that these components are not present (or are present in very low amounts) in ND's Gotu Kola?
2. Also Reishi can have anti-androgen effects, due to 5-alpha reductase properties, and corresponding reduction of DHT. Can you confirm that this side effect is not present in spore oil softgels?
Thanks a lot!
What they were answering
Direct reply to the original post — see the thread post above.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · ND Owner
I spoke about the gotu kola thing in detail on this post.
I also think people are going a bit crazy with the speculation on anti-androgen properties with mushrooms, reishi included. There are a couple compounds in reishi that are 5-alpha reductase inhibitors, with the most potent one being ganoderic acid DM. That is found in the fruiting bodies of reishi, not the spores. Also, it has an IC50 of 10.6mM for 5-AR inhibition. Finasteride has an IC50 of 0.73mM. That means ganoderic acid DM, the most potent DHT inhibitor in reishi, is still 14.5 times less potent than finasteride. People are massively inflating the effects here. Also, sometimes lowering DHT a bit in some areas is a good thing. The only way you will know for sure how something will affect your libido or other measures regarding androgens is to try it. I have not found any reduction in libido with any reishi product I have ever tried. That doesn't mean others haven't, but it is not like going on finasteride and dealing with a real potent 5-AR inhibitor.