What is Tiger Milk Mushroom？

The Lignosus rhinocerotis (Cooke) Ryvarden, commonly known as Tiger Milk Mushroom, is an edible type of mushroom. It is high in nutritional and medicinal value and is used as a health tonic in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, China and the Philippines.

Tiger Milk Mushroom comes from the same fungi family as the lingzhi and is highly sought after for its health benefits and medicinal properties by both the aboriginal and urban populations. 

In fact, in the 1950s and 60s, it was not uncommon for Chinese families to keep some Tiger Milk Mushroom in their homes as a go-to medicine for cough, cold and asthma. The Malays also use it as a natural remedy for various ailments such as breast, liver and lung cancer. 

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History of Tiger Milk Mushroom
Used as Early as 1664
The earliest mention of Lac tygridis or Tiger’s milk was found in the diary of John Evelyn, which was published on 22 June 1664. Originally a government agent from Europe, he sailed off to the Southeast Asian region and came to know about this underground fungus. In his reports, he noted that this fungus was used by locals to treat diseases that doctors in Europe could not find a cure for. In 1879, MC Cooke was the first person to document the fungus scientifically. He studied a specimen found in Penang, Malaysia, and named it Fomes rhinocerotis. 

 
Once Used by Malaysia’s Former Prime Minister
In 2002, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed, mentioned at the opening of the Internation­al Convention on Biotechnology in Kuala Lumpur that his chronic cough was relieved after he took Chinese medicine derived from Tiger Milk Mushroom. 


Little Known Facts About Tiger Milk Mushroom
Native to Southeast Asia
Tiger Milk Mushroom is native to tropical forests in Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, as well as southern China. According to traditional folklore, Tiger Milk Mushroom is believed to grow whenever a drop of a tigress’ milk falls to the ground. 

Rare and Hard to Find
Looking for Tiger Milk Mushroom is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Unlike most mushroom species that grow in clusters, Tiger Milk Mushroom grow in isolation. You will only be able to find one stalk at a time, and it is unlikely to find another stalk within a 5km radius. Even if you do happen to find one, chances are that it may have sprouted out from the ground to produce a stem and cap. This will not be useful as the medicinal properties of Tiger Milk Mushroom is only found in the underground tuber or sclerotium. 

What is Tiger Milk Mushroom Good for？

Tiger Milk Mushroom can be used to treat over 15 medical ailments, which include breast cancer, fever, cough, inflammatory diseases such as asthma and food poisoning. Tiger Milk Mushroom is often used to treat: 

• Cancer
• Asthma
• Sinus
• Cough
• Smoker’s cough
• Bronchitis
• Nasal sensitivity
• Respiratory allergies, and
• Snoring

How Tiger Milk Mushroom Benefits Respiratory Health

Tiger Milk Mushroom helps improve respiratory health by reducing inflammation in the lungs and airways. It also bolsters the immunity system against viral and microbial infections. 

Apart from removing impurities from inflamed cells, detoxifying your respiratory system and soothing inflamed mucous membranes, Tiger Milk Mushroom also helps provide protection to your lungs and airways.  

All in all, Tiger Milk Mushroom enhances respiratory health through six key properties — it is anti-asthmatic, anti-inflammatory, anti-illness, anti-microbial and also an antioxidant.

Here are the respiratory benefits one can look forward to when consuming Tiger Milk Mushroom: 

1. Relieves cough and phlegm
2. Alleviates asthma symptoms
3. Improves breathing
4. Relieves respiratory inflammation
5. Helps to reduce airway inflammation
6. Promotes healthy mucus production
7. Boosts respiratory wellness
8. Improves sinus and lung respiratory system
9. Enhances your immune system

Tiger Milk Mushroom’s Six Clinically-Proven Healing Properties

This medicinal mushroom has six clinically-proven healing properties, which includes anti-inflammatory, anti-asthmatic, anti-illness, anti-microbial, antioxidant properties — all of which help strengthen and protect the respiratory system. 

1. Anti-Asthmatic

Tiger Milk Mushroom helps soothe respiratory inflammations, improves breathing and relieves asthma symptoms.

2. Anti-Inflammatory

Tiger Milk Mushroom also has anti-inflammatory properties that help asthma patients reduce inflammation in their airways and relax airway muscles for easier breathing.

3. Anti-Illness 

Tiger Milk Mushroom contains polysaccharides that are known for their immunoregulatory properties. They help to improve the recovery systems for respiratory allergies.

4. Antioxidant

Tiger Milk Mushroom is high in antioxidants, helping combat free radicals in the body and repairing cellular damage in the respiratory system.

5. Anti-Microbial

Tiger Milk Mushroom heightens the immunity of lungs to defend the body against allergic germs while relieving common allergy symptoms.

6. Boost Immunity

In-vitro tests have shown that Tiger Milk Mushroom play a role in improving and boosting the body’s immune system.