Quick answer
No dose has been established. In healthy adults, studies used 3.6 g a day of the PSP extract for 14 days and 12 g a day of a two-mushroom blend for four days. A trial in people under medical care used 3 to 9 g a day of mycelium powder for six weeks.1,2,3
Key facts
- A four-month trial gave 50 mg of turkey tail per kg of body weight a day, combined with an herb.4
- The PSP extract was taken as 1.2 g three times a day with meals.1
- The highest daily amount, 12 g, was given for only four days.2
- The six-week trial used capsules of freeze-dried mycelium, 500 mg each.3
Amounts used in studies
| Study | Who took part | Form | Daily amount | How long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enzyme study | 12 healthy adults | PSP extract | 3.6 g | 14 days |
| Combination trial | 100 healthy adults | Turkey tail with the herb danshen | 50 mg per kg of body weight | 4 months |
| Vaccine trial | 52 adults on the blend | Mycelium blend with Fomitopsis officinalis | 12 g | 4 days |
| Dose-finding trial | 9 women under medical care | Mycelium powder | 3, 6 or 9 g | 6 weeks |
In a 14-day study in 12 healthy adults, the PSP extract was taken as 1.2 g three times a day with meals, 3.6 g a day in all.1
Studies split turkey tail across the day: three times a day in two studies, one of them with meals, and in divided doses in a third. None compared one schedule with another.1,2,3
Working the numbers for an adult
For a 70 kg adult, the 50 mg per kg a day used in the four-month trial comes to 3.5 g of turkey tail a day, close to the 3.6 g of PSP in the 14-day study. That trial paired turkey tail with an herb, though, so its amount is not a turkey tail dose on its own.1,4
The 12 g a day in the 2026 trial is more than three times that. It was a blend of two mushrooms, taken for only four days around a vaccine dose, so it says little about daily use.2
Extract, mycelium or mushroom
PSK (polysaccharide-K, also called Krestin) and PSP (polysaccharopeptide) are concentrated extracts of turkey tail, and most of the human studies cited here used one or the other.1,5,6
Some turkey tail products are made from mycelium grown on grain such as oats. One trial used freeze-dried mycelium powder in 500 mg capsules.3,7
These forms are not measured the same way. An extract concentrates some compounds, while a mycelium powder is grown on grain such as oats, so a gram of one is not a gram of the other. Compare products by form first and by milligrams second.7
What's in ours
Turkey tail is one of six mushrooms in the proprietary blend above, and the label does not give its share. Even if the whole blend were turkey tail, it would be well under a tenth of the 3.6 g a day used in the healthy-adult study.1
Amounts and safety
No upper limit has been set for turkey tail. The highest amounts reported in people are 9 g a day of mycelium powder for six weeks and 12 g a day of a mushroom blend for four days. Use beyond four months has been studied only in people under cancer care.2,3,4,5
The highest amounts were tried briefly or by very few people: 9 g a day by three women for six weeks after radiotherapy for breast cancer, and 12 g a day for four days. No amount has been shown to be safe for years of daily use in healthy people.2,3
- Ask your doctor before any amount if you are pregnant or breastfeeding
- Ask your cancer team first if you are being treated for cancer
- Ask first if you take a blood thinner or a medicine that suppresses the immune system
Questions people ask
How much turkey tail powder per day?
No amount has been set for powder. The one trial of turkey tail mycelium powder on its own used 3, 6 or 9 g a day for six weeks in nine women under medical care, mainly to check tolerance.3
Is a higher dose of turkey tail better?
There is no evidence that it is. We found no study in healthy people that compared amounts, and the one dose-finding trial was designed to test tolerance, not benefit.3
Can I give my dog these amounts?
No. These amounts come from studies in people. Ask a veterinarian before giving any supplement to a pet.
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Sources
- Nicandro JP, Tsourounis C, Frassetto L, Guglielmo BJ. In vivo effect of I'm-Yunity on hepatic cytochrome P450 3A4. J Herb Pharmacother. 2007;7(1):39-56. Opened 2026-10-07.
- Saxe G, Smith CN, Golshan S, et al. Polypore mushroom mycelia as an adjunct to COVID-19 vaccination: a randomized clinical trial. BMC Immunol. 2026;27(1):24. Opened 2026-10-07.
- Torkelson CJ, Sweet E, Martzen MR, Sasagawa M, Wenner CA, Gay J, Putiri A, Standish LJ. Phase 1 Clinical Trial of Trametes versicolor in Women with Breast Cancer. ISRN Oncol. 2012;2012:251632. Opened 2026-10-07.
- Wong CK, Tse PS, Wong EL, Leung PC, Fung KP, Lam CW. Immunomodulatory effects of yun zhi and danshen capsules in health subjects: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study. Int Immunopharmacol. 2004;4(2):201-211. Opened 2026-10-07.
- Pilkington K, Wieland LS, Teng L, Jin XY, Storey D, Liu JP. Coriolus (Trametes) versicolor mushroom to reduce adverse effects from chemotherapy or radiotherapy in people with colorectal cancer. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2022;11(11):CD012053. Opened 2026-10-07.
- Pallav K, Dowd SE, Villafuerte J, Yang X, Kabbani T, Hansen J, Dennis M, Leffler DA, Newburg DS, Kelly CP. Effects of polysaccharopeptide from Trametes versicolor and amoxicillin on the gut microbiome of healthy volunteers: a randomized clinical trial. Gut Microbes. 2014;5(4):458-467. Opened 2026-10-07.
- Mahadevan K, Daoust J, Brendler T, Chaudhary A, Saifi A, Garg VK. A toxicological assessment of Hericium erinaceus (Lion's mane) and Trametes versicolor (Turkey tail) mushroom powders. Front Toxicol. 2025;7:1651442. Opened 2026-10-07.
This page is information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about your own situation.