What exactly is meat lingzhi? The latest answer is here

Meat lingzhi, also known as taishui, is said to be the elixir of immortality that Qin Shi Huang searched for tirelessly. Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" records meat lingzhi and includes it in the “vegetable” section under the “lingzhi” category; it can be eaten and used as medicine, and is regarded as a “top-grade herb in the Materia Medica,” with effects described as “taken over a long time, it lightens the body, prevents aging, and makes one immortal.” According to the "Shennong Bencao Jing": “Meat lingzhi is non-toxic, supplements the center, boosts essence and qi, increases wisdom, treats accumulations in the chest, and taken over a long time lightens the body and prevents aging.” The "Classic of Mountains and Seas" calls it “shirou,” “jurou,” “taishui,” and “feng,” and it was a fine health-preserving food for ancient emperors. Taishui is very rare and is a top-grade among all medicines. Some ancient texts record that taishui is neutral in nature, bitter, non-toxic, and has values such as tonifying the spleen, moistening the lungs, tonifying the kidneys, and benefiting the liver.

Modern science has found that meat lingzhi is a large slime mold complex between protozoa and fungi. Its structure is not composed of a single type of cell, but is an aggregate made up of three types: bacteria, slime molds, and fungi. Research has shown that meat lingzhi feeds on tiny organisms such as bacteria, yeasts, and mold spores, and uses cellulose, chitin, and chitosan as nutrients. Its body is rich in protein, nucleic acids, as well as Candida and Geotrichum candidum. Its cells contain photosynthetic pigments. According to the "Chart of the Origin of Life and Evolutionary Lineage," its position should be between fungal (algal) plants and protozoa/animals. It has both a trophic form and a fruiting body. Unfortunately, after this organism evolved to this degree, it stopped evolving because of limitations from external light. Therefore, biology experts call it a “blind branch,” sitting at a fork in the road of life's evolution. To the left it would develop toward the plant kingdom, to the right it would develop toward the animal kingdom, and if it stays where it is, it becomes a fungus like mushrooms and lingzhi. It is the fourth life form in nature that is neither plant, nor animal, nor fungus. It is the oldest living specimen of ancient life discovered so far, and the ancestor of humans and all animals and plants.

Although many ancient texts record that “meat lingzhi” has the effect of enhancing human immunity, fungal varieties are in fact very complex. Even if it really is “taishui,” it may itself carry various harmful organisms or toxic substances. Before the material composition of “taishui” is clarified, it is not recommended that people take it casually. Scientists worldwide still have very limited research on fungi. There are 1.5 million to 2 million species of fungi in nature, including myxobacteria, and the scientific community has studied only 5% of them. At this stage, human research on ‘taishui’ is still in its early stages.

Wild taishui meat lingzhi has been able to survive since ancient times, which is enough to show the strength of its vitality, and it is just as ancient books describe: “when eaten completely, it seeks to regenerate as before,” meaning that eating one piece allows another to grow. Although taishui grows very slowly, it is still growing all along. In a suitable environment, taishui meat lingzhi can reproduce indefinitely at any volume. One jin of taishui divided evenly into 100 parts or 10,000 parts, each cut piece is a living body, and each piece grows on its own. This is a characteristic unmatched by any other living thing in nature. It also has some characteristics that other species do not have: it cannot be killed by freezing——stored at minus 18 degrees for 50 hours, it is still alive after being taken out. Taishui meat lingzhi has strong anti-rot properties, and cannot be killed by sun, thirst, or hunger. Although the one-time cost of buying taishui is very high, because of its undying characteristics, the relative price is still cheap.

Scientific research has found that meat lingzhi has major development value in three aspects. First, because its body contains highly anti-rot substances, it has major development value in the fields of pollution-free food development, food additives, and food preservatives. Second, meat lingzhi has extremely strong vitality and adaptability, and its body is rich in substances that improve immunity, so it has development value in health products. Third, meat lingzhi can replicate itself by absorbing organic matter and humus. Its body contains the strongest bioactive component substance discovered on Earth so far, and has the most complete functional nutritional elements. In traditional Chinese medicine, it is a top-grade tonic, so it has major development value in medicine.