So, i am hoping not to ignite a war in which personal product promotion as slightly-veiled recommendations will occur.
Long-story short, i am intersex (biological). Mild form, if there is such a thing, not discovered until much later in life. Several autoimmune diseases that i think were associated with it that make sense in retrospect - all of which are mostly under control.
Sparing you all the gory details, i am actually trying to achieve anti-androgen effects along with whatever basic health improvements i can make. i take currently Meriva Curcumin and a high-dose EPA/DHA - and feel like these help quite a lot. Reishi - which seems to be strongly linked to 5-alphareductase inhibition (prevents testosterone from being converted into the more potent DHT) - seemed like a good one to add. Anti-androgen, and lots of other nice benefits also.
With all that, was hoping to pick your brain on your recommendations given my situation.
My understanding is that with Reishi - and mushroom-based supplements in general, there is a tremendous amount of hyped-up marketing going on, where people use terms that make them sound much better than they really are. But from what i've read, you want something:
1. Full spectrum
2. Dual extract (ethanol and water)
3. With high percentage of beta-glucans (80-90% of the polysaccharides)
4. With high percentage of triterpenes - especially important for me, since i think this is where most of the anti-androgen effects live.
The most convincing numbers so far have landed me at Oriveda's page - which are certainly not cheap. Some others have most of the 4 points above, but not all. For example Barlowe's Reishi extract claims 30% polysaccharides, dual extraction, full spectru, and 6% triterpenes, but when queried via email, said they had no idea what their beta glucan content was, and wasn't keen on providing it.
Anyways, would like to hear your thoughts and any recommendations that are in accordance with product promotion rules - or a PM if it would seem too much like product promotion.
Thank-you all very, very much!