As a dog owner, you want to ensure that your pup gets the best possible care. You probably want to minimize your trips to the vet and use natural means to ensure your dog has optimum health throughout the year.
You can achieve this with turkey tail supplements. This humble mushroom is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine with impressive health perks that can help keep your pup healthy and happy. Keep reading to learn more about why turkey tail mushrooms benefit dogs!
Can You Give Medicinal Mushrooms To Dogs?
Many mushrooms are a culinary delicacy served fresh or cooked. They are delicious and contain a whole gamut of essential nutrients. Throughout history, mushrooms have served many purposes—from benefitting diets to being used as medicine.
Read More: See the health benefits of turkey tail mushrooms for humans.
But mushrooms can also be tricky. That's probably why many of us shy away from giving mushrooms to our pets.
So, can you give your furry friend a turkey tail mushroom? Will the turkey tail mushrooms help your dog's immune cells and immune system? What is the correct turkey tail dosage for your dog? How to give turkey tail mushrooms to dogs?
All these questions are tricky for someone without experience using holistic or homeopathic vet solutions like turkey tail mushrooms. However, turkey tail mushroom benefits for dogs have been scientifically proven.
As noted earlier, some benefits of turkey tail mushrooms for dogs include protection against cancer, improved gut health, helping dogs navigate stressful situations, and much more.
Below we will explore the turkey tail supplement for dogs, the good and bad (if any!). We will also talk about how much turkey tail to give dogs and how to incorporate the mushroom into our furry friend's diet.
What Are The Benefits Of Turkey Tail Mushroom For Dogs?
Why is everyone raving about turkey tail mushrooms for dogs? Why do people with dogs want to know how many turkey tail mushrooms to give their dogs?
The answer is the high levels of beta-glucans in the mushroom product. The best turkey tail supplement for dogs loads their diet with high-quality beta-glucans, improving their overall health. The bioactive compounds in turkey tail mushrooms play vital roles, giving your furry friend numerous health benefits.
Beta-glucans are sugar polysaccharides found naturally on the fungal wall of turkey tail mushrooms. They are a highly soluble fiber source that supports immune, digestive, and cardiovascular health.
Giving your furry friend the best turkey tail mushroom for dogs gives them access to more energy and better long-term health.
Read More: See how Cordyceps boosts energy.
The two most essential polysaccharides in Turkey tail—which give dogs better health and a better life—are:
- Polysaccharide Krestin (PSK) and
- Polysaccharopeptide (PSP)
Turkey tail mushroom benefits for dogs result from these primary active compounds. Let's now look at what turkey tail mushrooms do for our canine friends.
Read More: Are cordyceps mushrooms suitable for dogs?
1. Keeps The Digestive Tract Healthy
Turkey tail mushroom has probiotics and prebiotics that support gut health and digestion. This is one of the reasons the Chinese community has been using the turkey tail mushroom for generations. The good bacteria in our dog's stomachs help digest what they eat. It helps to synthesize nutrients from food and absorb them.
Probiotics die if they are not fed. Turkey tail, also known as Coriolus Versicolor, feeds the probiotics.
The turkey's tail mushroom supplements help the beneficial bacteria multiply in your dog's gut. The mushroom, therefore, treats the numerous gut health issues that often affect dogs.
Our dogs are especially prone to several digestive problems, such as inflammation of the stomach and intestines, constipation, boating, and cancers. Turkey tail mushrooms increase the healthy gut bacteria essential to fight off harmful microbes that cause such troubles.
The PSP present in the canine turkey tail also protects the liver. Traditionally used as a liver tonic, turkey tail mushrooms for dogs prevent noxious chemicals-induced canine liver damage.
Read More: Can you give Lion's mane to dogs?
Turkey tail mushroom for dogs reviews also showed that this mushroom plays a vital role in improving liver functions(1) in cases of hepatic cancers.
2. Boosts Canine Immunity
Turkey tail mushrooms offer immune support for your dog. The turkey tail mushroom for dogs dosage helps you avoid frequent visits to the vet office.
Beta-glucans in the turkey tail fruiting body strengthen the immune system(2). It binds to the immune cells and increases their activity, restoring a healthy immune response. The ultimate result is that the best turkey tail mushroom supplement for dogs can fight off harmful bacteria, viruses, and parasites that plague our dogs.
In addition to up-regulating an underperforming immune system, turkey tail mushrooms down-regulate an overactive immune response. Rich in beta-glucans, the Turkey tail is particularly beneficial if our dogs suffer from autoimmune diseases, mainly of the skin and red blood cells.
3. Protects Against Oxidative Stress
One of the lesser-known turkey tail mushrooms for dogs' benefits is that it can help with oxidative stress. Turkey tail mushroom prevents the damage often caused by free radicals.
Oxidative stress is triggered when our dogs do not have enough antioxidants to neutralize the free radicals in their body. Free radicals are unstable molecules produced during normal cell metabolism, which can build up in the cell and damage DNA. Oxidative stress can lead to lifelong diseases in dogs, such as inflammation, diabetes, heart failure, and cancer.
Turkey tail mushroom contains a variety of antioxidants or phytonutrients. With over 35 different phenolic compounds and flavonoid antioxidants like catechin, gallic acid, baicalein, quercetin, and protocatechuic acid, Turkey tail mushroom is a promising natural source of antiradical agents(3).
Studies have shown that supplementing your dogs with the antioxidant benefits of Turkey Tail mushrooms can neutralize the harmful effects of inflammation. Chronic inflammation can cause many stubborn health problems in dogs. Buying over-the-counter antioxidant supplements is not recommended as they are not highly regulated and may not measure up to their labels.
When you shop for turkey tail supplements to help your dog regulate or minimize oxidative stress, you must look for a product that guarantees maximum benefits and minimum side effects. Turkey tail mushroom is a natural and high source of antioxidants safe for your precious pups.
4. Fight Against Cancer
Turkey tail mushroom cancer benefits have been a topic of discussion for a long time. However, for the longest time, this discussion has been on the turkey tail cancer benefits for humans. Turkey tail mushroom lowers the risk of dogs suffering from breast cancer and other types of cancer.
Cancer is a significant health threat for dogs. It has been the leading cause of death in dogs for over ten years. Tumors of the skin, bones, lungs, breast, white blood cells and lymphoid organs are some of the most common dog cancers. Therefore, using turkey tail mushrooms for dog cancer could be a major lifesaver for many pet owners.
In Japanese medicine, PSK in the turkey tail mushroom has been used to treat cancer. It also prevents the spread of the tumor cells(4) and improves overall survival.
Hemangiosarcoma, or cancer of the blood vessel wall, is dogs' most common tumor. This cancer affects your dog's skin, heart, spleen, and liver. It can lead to red-purple bumps on the skin or cause significant weight loss. Your dog can also have a bulging belly, increased panting, reduced stamina and appetite, and may even collapse.
Turkey tail mushroom slows the spread of hemangiosarcoma, which usually spreads at an alarming rate. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania discovered that dogs with hemangiosarcoma who were fed Turkey Tail mushrooms survived longer. This study confirmed that turkey tail—also known as Yun Zhi—could be a big part of managing different cancers affecting our canine friends.
Read More: See how Lion's mane fights cancer.
5. Maintains Ideal Body Weight
Excess fat negatively impacts our dog's health. An obese dog is prone to developing diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and several cancers.
The good news, especially when giving turkey tail mushrooms to your dog, is that fungus helps with weight loss. The high fiber content in Turkey tails supplements helps prevent obesity(5) in our dogs. The protein-bound beta-glucans reduce metabolic inflammation and obesity, according to an animal-model study.
Read More: See how Lion's mane supports weight loss.
The fiber in turkey tail mushrooms keeps your dog full, helping them avoid overeating. The amount of food that dogs consume has a significant impact on obesity and weight gain. When dogs eat less without compromising their health, they maintain a healthy weight.
Turkey tail mushroom is also a probiotic and, therefore, suitable for the digestive health of your dogs. Probiotics help the gut microbiome by feeding the good bacteria in the gut.
Consuming food rich in probiotics reduces belly fat and body weight. People whose dog's weight is already over the recommended range can give their dog a turkey tail to help the canine friend start cutting the weight and reduce its risk of chronic health issues.
6. Fights Fungal Infection
Dogs can suffer from severe fungal infections contracted from other animals, the environment, or as a result of an overgrowth of their natural skin fungal cells.
Fungal infections can affect our dog's skin, internal organs, and breathing. Ringworms and yeast infections are the two most common fungal infections in our pets that can leave them scratching or even developing bald spots.
Turkey tail mushroom has potent antifungal properties. It has been proven(6) to have protective effects against fungal organisms like Candida.
7. Turkey Tail Offers Diabetes Benefits
While it is easy to assume that diabetes only affects humans, this is not true. Pets do also suffer from this chronic health condition.
The good news, however, is that you can leverage the benefits offered by turkey tail mushrooms to help your dog avoid diabetes. Like Chaga treats diabetes, the turkey tail mushroom helps manage blood sugar.
In 2018, researchers conducted a study(7) to determine the effectiveness of the turkey tail mushroom in regulating blood glucose levels Turkey tail extract dramatically lowered blood sugar levels and decreased insulin resistance in a trial on rats with type 2 diabetes.
From this study, it is easy to see that giving your dog the turkey tail mushroom may reduce the dog's risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
8. Turkey Tail Treats Anxiety
Just like humans, dogs do get stressed. Our furry friends can also experience anxiety and depression. Luckily, just like Lion's mane offers anxiety benefits, the turkey tail mushroom also benefits anxiety.
Even better, the turkey tail mushroom goes beyond just anxiety to help dogs with depression. Like Lion's mane offers depression benefits, Turkey tail mushrooms also prevent depression in dogs.
How To Give Turkey Tail Mushrooms For Dogs?
The simplest and the easiest way to give Turkey tail mushrooms to our dog is in the form of mushroom powder supplements. You can easily mix supplements in your pet's food; they are fuss-free and packed with all the beneficial bioactive compounds in the mushroom.
FAQs About Turkey Tail Mushroom For Dogs
How Much Turkey Tail Mushroom Can I Give My Dog?
The dosage of Turkey tail mushrooms for dogs depends on their overall health and body weight. The recommended turkey tail mushroom dosage for dogs is 0.17 gms (for 1-30lbs body weight), 0.3 gms (for 31-60lbs), and 0.6 gms (for 61-100 lbs).
What Are The Safety Considerations Of Giving Turkey Tail To Dogs?
Turkey tail mushrooms can produce side effects on higher-than-recommended dosages. They can cause intestinal irritation, low blood pressure, and sugar levels. Always consult your vet for turkey tail dosage for dogs with cancer.
Key Takeaways
Turkey tail mushroom for dogs offers a kaleidoscope of health benefits. They keep our pups healthy by boosting immunity, fighting cancer and fungal infection, preventing obesity, and protecting against digestive issues and oxidative stress.
Have you tried turkey tail mushrooms for your dog? What were the results? Let us know in the comments below! We would love to hear about your experiences.
References
- Coriolus versicolor (Yunzhi) Use as Therapy in Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients with Poor Liver Function or Who Are Unfit for Standard Therapy, (1) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28375640/
- The mycelium of the Trametes versicolor (Turkey tail) mushroom and its fermented substrate each show potent and complementary immune activating properties in vitro, (2) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6889544/
- The lignicolous fungusTrametes versicolor (L.) Lloyd (1920): a promising natural source of antiradical and AChE inhibitory agents (3)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6010034/
- In vivo and in vitro anti-tumor and anti-metastasis effects of Coriolus versicolor aqueous extract on mouse mammary 4T1 carcinoma, (4)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0944711314002049
- Protein-Bound β-glucan from Coriolus Versicolor has Potential for Use Against Obesity, (5)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30667154/
- Protective effects of a protein-bound polysaccharide, PSK, on Candida albicans infection in mice via tumor necrosis factor-α induction, (6)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11562071/
- Coriolus versicolor aqueous extract ameliorates insulin resistance with PI3K/Akt and p38 MAPK signaling pathways involved in diabetic skeletal muscle, (7)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29243310/
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