The gut microbiome is everything when it comes to maintaining and supporting overall health for our pets. It is estimated that somewhere between 70-85% of the immune system is located in the gut microbiome, as well as being the main control center of inflammatory response throughout the body. Microbiome research has exploded in the past decade; the more we learn about the gut, the more we realize how critical it is in maintaining optimal gut health for pets.
We are well acquainted with using probiotics to maintain and support the gut, but probiotics are just one of the many ways to boost gut health. Here, we will focus on a lesser-known but powerful and vital gut health regulator- medicinal mushrooms for gut health! Medicinal mushrooms are a new frontier for understanding their health benefits since they are such versatile and multi-faceted organisms. These mushrooms for gut health have shown promise in improving digestive function and overall well-being in dogs and pets.
What is the Gut Microbiome?
Simply put, the gut microbiome is the term used to describe the trillions of cells and their colonies in our gastrointestinal tract, which play a key role in digestion and overall gut health. It’s estimated that mammals (dogs, cats, humans, etc.) have somewhere near 100 trillion cells in their gut alone—this is more than all the other body’s cells combined!
There are several types of cells within the microbiome, ranging from bacteria and fungi to protozoa, archaea, and viruses. These microbes are primarily found in the large intestine. Your pets gut microbiome plays a crucial role in completing normal physiological and digestive functions. So, it's a given that keeping those cells in balance is essential to overall pet health!
Signs Your Pet’s Gut Needs Help
Since our pets' gut microbiome affects virtually every body system, the signs of an imbalanced gut can vary widely. More obvious signs of gut dysbiosis (imbalance) are diarrhea, gas, bloating, vomiting, etc.
What most people don’t realize is that other issues like skin allergies, autoimmune disease, neurologic disorders, ear infections, urinary tract infections, and anxiety are all signs of an imbalanced gut. Almost every disease can be linked to the microbiome. Even injuries, like a CCL tear, can be affected or influenced by an imbalanced gut.
Recognizing these signs is essential, and starting a plan of action as soon as possible is important. When it comes to things like skin issues and nervous system disorders, it’s important to get on top of rebalancing your pet’s gut since, by the time you see skin issues, the gut has likely been suffering from imbalance for a long time.
Many external issues are simply an outside window into the home that is on fire (the gut). Simply repairing the window will not fix the fire within the house. The problem must be addressed from the core to see real, lasting changes.
Natural Ways to Support a Healthy Gut Microbiome
No cat or dogs gut microbiome will be perfect at all times, as it is a living system that is constantly being affected and changed based on numerous factors like environment, diet, and activity. Let’s discuss some of these ways to support and maintain balance within your dog or cats gut microbiome.
Diet and Gut Health
Diet is the foundation of the house, which is the gut microbiome. Without addressing the foundation of pet health (diet), everything else will lack support.
We thoroughly recommend and support feeding a fresh, whole-food diet as much as possible. Research shows that fresh food not only lowers inflammatory markers but also has better nutrient bioavailability, meaning your pet can absorb nutrients from its food with less stress and damage to its gut.
Not everyone’s budget can support feeding entirely fresh, but there are many ways to amplify your pet’s diet, even if they are eating a highly processed diet like kibble. Toppers such as bone broth, raw goat’s milk, dark leafy greens (dogs need extra help with veggies and fruits, so be sure to cook or macerate them first), frozen or fresh berries, fermented foods like beets, golden paste, and mushrooms are fantastic options to add to your dog’s bowl to enhance their gut health and overall wellbeing.
Exercise and Gut Health
Just as humans know that we need to exercise daily to support health and wellness, the same applies to our pets. Our pets spend most of their days sedentary, indoors, with little mental enrichment.
This is likely a huge culprit for the massive amount of stress-related illnesses our pets suffer, like separation anxiety and phobias. These issues are only recently commonplace. When dogs spend more time outside, going on walks that allow their brains to be enriched, this dramatically reduces stress. Not to mention that over half of all pets suffer from obesity, which makes them predisposed to dozens of illnesses like diabetes, arthritis, as well as tendon and joint injury.
Medicinal Mushrooms for Gut Health
Medicinal mushrooms for gut health are incredibly beneficial for maintaining and balancing the gut microbiome. They are a rich source of carbohydrates such as chitin, hemicellulose, β and α-glucans, mannans, xylans, and galactans, making them one of the best prebiotics in existence. Since mushrooms are rich in prebiotic fiber, they are essential for proper bacterial growth within the gut.
Think of prebiotics as the soil and bacteria as the flowers. Without the soil, flowers cannot grow; thus, without probiotics, probiotics (good bacteria) in the gut cannot grow and flourish in a way to promote good health. Two main components of mushrooms are responsible for their prebiotic power: Chitin, the primary cell wall and exoskeleton of mushrooms, and Glucans, primary polysaccharides present in mushrooms and form an essential part of their cell wall. These substances are the soil on which good bacteria can form and grow within the gut.
In addition to simply supporting bacterial growth within the gut, mushrooms are showing promise for having anti-diabetes, anti-inflammatory, and antitumor effects by way of regulating the gut microbiome. Mushrooms are also rich in nutrients like Vitamin D2, a critical immune regulator throughout the body. All this continues to show the crucial role the gut plays in health and wellness and that medicinal mushrooms significantly contribute to supporting health and warding off illness and disease.
Best Mushrooms for Digestion & Gut Health
When it comes to supporting your pet’s gut health, medicinal mushrooms offer incredible benefits. These fungi are packed with nutrients that are vital for digestion and maintaining a balanced gut microbiome. Discover the best medicinal mushrooms for supporting your dog’s digestion and gut health. These powerful mushrooms not only aid in digestion but also help maintain a healthy gut microbiome for your pet.
Shiitake Mushrooms for Gut Health
Shiitake (Lentinula edodes) serves as a prebiotic, increasing the production of SCFA-producing bacteria and regulating the ratio of Bacteroides to Firmicutes. Shiitake has also been shown to prevent or reverse age-related declines by regulating the bacteria in the gut microbiome. They have also been researched for immune modulation within the gut and possess strong antitumor properties. Last summer, a study on gut damage during puberty showed that the use of shiitake as a prebiotic fiber mitigated long-term gut damage and disease caused by dysbiosis early in life. This incredible research shows the power of just this one mushroom to heal, repair, and maintain the microbiome to optimal balance!
Lion’s Mane Mushrooms for Gut Health
Lion’s Mane mushroom is known for its cognitive and neurological benefits. But Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus) is useful for maintaining the integrity of the intestinal barrier and increasing the overall diversity and richness of gut microbiota.
Lion’s Mane has been shown to reduce inflammation in the GI tract and is packed with anti-oxidant compounds that fight free radicals that contribute to gut damage. Like other medicinal mushrooms, Lion’s Mane is loaded with antioxidants and has natural immune-enhancing properties, making it a must for gut health. Lion's mane mushrooms contain probiotics, which support your immune system and promote the growth of healthy bacteria in your digestive system.
Chaga Mushrooms for Gut Health
Chaga is also an excellent source of prebiotic fiber and offers unique benefits. A particular category of Chaga mushrooms, inonotus obliquus, support the growth of Bacteroidetes (which metabolize polysaccharides and oligosaccharides, providing nutrition and vitamins to the host and other intestinal microbial residents), which are considered the “next generation” of probiotics within the gut microbiome.
Chaga mushrooms have historically been used to treat bacterial and viral infections in the gut. Chaga mushrooms are loaded with antioxidants and fight inflammation, making them perfect for serious gastrointestinal conditions like Chrohns, IBD, and ulcerative colitis.
Turkey Tail Mushrooms for Gut Health
For good reason, Turkey Tail (Coriolus versicolor) is one of the most well-known medicinal mushrooms. We know Turkey Tail is well-researched and known for its cancer-fighting properties, but did you know it’s also amazing for gut health? Turkey Tail is loaded with beta-glucans, fructooligosaccharides (FOS), and polysaccharides, which act as prebiotics to support healthy gut flora. It’s also packed with antioxidants to fight oxidative damage, and since the gut is subjected to all sorts of stress, from toxins in food to our mental stress, keeping the gut protected with antioxidants is critical.
Turkey tail mushrooms are also incredible energy and vitality boosters, and they keep the immune system strong due to their ability to stimulate natural killer cells. Turkey Tail has been shown to naturally increase gut flora diversity, which is critical for a balanced immune system and microbiome. Diversity is incredibly important for the gut!
Red Belted Conk Mushrooms for Gut Health
Red Belted Conk (Fomitopsis pinicola) is a powerful medicinal mushroom renowned for its exceptional benefits for gut health. Red Belted Conk is particularly effective in relieving inflammation of gastrointestinal tissues, making it an excellent choice for pets suffering from digestive discomfort or inflammatory conditions like IBD or leaky gut syndrome.
This mushroom is also known for its ability to support the immune system, promoting a balanced and healthy inflammatory response, especially within the digestive tract. In addition to its anti-inflammatory properties, Red Belted Conk helps regulate blood sugar levels, improves overall digestive function, and enhances the absorption and elimination processes within the gut.
Notably, Red Belted Conk is rich in antioxidants, offering protection against oxidative stress, which can contribute to gut damage and systemic inflammation. Incorporating Red Belted Conk into your pet's gut health regimen can be a game-changer in maintaining a healthy, balanced gut microbiome and overall well-being.
Best Mushroom Supplement for Gut Health in Dogs & Cats
Since the gut is the center of almost everything in the body, properly feeding and supporting it is essential. That's why Angela Ardolino formulated our newest MycoDog mushroom extract and adaptogen blend!
MycoDog Digest, and MycoCat Digest, designed to support and protect our pets suffering from microbiome imbalance or GI diseases like IBD and Leaky Gut Syndrome! Digest combines all five of these previously mentioned mushrooms for gut health into a potent and synergistic formula.
As with all our MycoDog mushroom blends, we went one step further and added the power of more adaptogens! Formulated with ashwagandha for its adaptogenic properties, astragalus for its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory benefits, and Rhodiola rosea for its energizing, uplifting, and stress-relieving attributes to work in harmony with the medicinal mushrooms, providing an absolute powerhouse blend for gut health.
This blend of mushrooms and adaptogenic herbs creates a fantastic source of vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and prebiotics to feed your pets gut microbiome in a way that soothes inflammation, fights free radicals, eases anxiety and stress, and promotes a diverse gut microbiome to ensure your pet’s gut is as healthy and balanced as possible.
Conclusion: The Importance of Medicinal Mushrooms for Your Pet’s Gut Health
So many of our pets suffer from gut dysbiosis- arguably, most pets have some form of microbiome imbalance. Unfortunately, our pets don’t show symptoms until the problem has progressed to an advanced state. So we must do our best to prevent these problems before they pop up.
Using medicinal mushrooms before a problem arises is crucial in maintaining a happy and healthy pet. But suppose your pet already has a gut microbiome imbalance, or they are showing signs of possible dysbiosis. In that case, it’s never too late to start a medicinal mushroom protocol like Digest, or better yet - rotate through all the MycoDog products as I do!
