6 Minute English / Mushrooms: Medicine or myth?

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I m Neil.

And I m Beth. Do the names, 'Lion s Mane', or, 'Turkey Tail', mean anything to you, Neil?

Lion s Mane and Turkey Tail? Sounds like things you might find in the zoo!

Ha, good guess! But they re actually the names of mushrooms. Lion s Mane is a white hairy mushroom found across Asia, and Turkey Tail is a brown fan-shaped fungus which looks a bit like well, a turkey s tail! But if you haven t already heard these names you probably will soon, because these mushrooms are becoming popular as medicine.

Throughout history our ancestors used mushrooms as food, but also as medicine for physical problems and mental illnesses like depression. In the 21st century, this medicine is being rediscovered and marketed. Today, mushrooms are big business. In 2021, the global medicinal mushroom market was valued at 26 billion dollars and growing.

But how real are the supposed health benefits of mushrooms? In this programme we ll be finding out, along with some useful new vocabulary.

But first, I have a question for you, Beth. Neither plant, nor animal, mushrooms are mysterious and amazing things. But which of the following statements about mushrooms is actually true?

a) Most mushrooms are poisonous?

b) Some mushrooms can fly? or,