What is Mushroom Coffee?
Mushroom coffee is a blend of regular coffee mixed with medicinal mushroom extracts. It is a better, healthier way to get your caffeine fix for the day. Mushroom coffee tastes just like regular coffee. For some coffee afficianados, they might describe some mushroom coffee blends as having an “earthy” taste, but to most people it just tastes like coffee. There is nothing that would make you say, “Wow! That tastes like mushrooms!” The mushrooms most often added are lion’s mane, chaga, and cordyceps. Each of these types of mushrooms are known as medicinal, or “functional” mushrooms.
What are functional mushrooms?
Functional mushrooms are the often overlooked superfood. The term functional mushroom may be applied to any mushroom that has the ability to provide positive health benefits. And there are many of these mushrooms and many health benefits! These health benefits include the power to boost immunity, boost energy, and even boost overall brain health and cognition. Functional mushrooms contain potent amounts of molecules known as beta-glucans which have been found to provide many of these health benefits. Researchers have found evidence supporting significant anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and even anti-cancer properties of functional mushrooms.
Why Should You Drink Mushroom Coffee?
Regular coffee has several benefits attributable to caffeine and its antioxidant properties. When you drink mushroom coffee, you get all the benefits of regular coffee plus the added benefits of functional mushrooms. And most importantly, you will get enhanced brain and cognition effects with less caffeine, which means more focus with less “jitters.”
When Should You Drink Mushroom Coffee?
Enjoy mushroom coffee anytime you would normally drink regular coffee! I find mushroom coffee to be especially great when I want to work on a project or brainstorm ideas for a project, such as building a website, coding, writing, or just planning a garden. Although mushroom coffee may contain less caffeine than regular coffee, you should still limit your consumption to avoid side effects from excessive caffeine.
Who Should Drink Mushroom Coffee?
Because there are almost no reported side effects from functional mushrooms, anyone can enjoy the benefits of mushroom coffee. If you have digestive health problems, brain fog, or just need better focus and clarity to get things done, mushroom coffee is defintitely for you. However, if you take medications for autoimmune disease or blood clotting disorders, it is always best to consult your doctor before trying mushroom coffee.
Where do You Get Mushroom Coffee?
You can find many brands of mushroom coffee blends online, but you want to be sure that they are made from “fruiting body” extracts. The “fruiting body” is the part we typically think of as the mushroom. The mycelium is like the “roots” of the mushroom. Many products use “mycelium on grain” extracts which are cheaper to produce and not as pure, therefore not as beneficial as the the true fruiting body extracts. Companies will usually want you know if they only use fruiting body extracts, so if you don’t see it mentioned, they probably use the mycelium based extract.
There are many powdered preparations of functional mushrooms available. These can easily be added to your favorite regular coffee as well. Again, be aware that you really want to look for products that are made with fruiting body extracts.
Personally, I enjoy the convenience of the mushroom coffee blends from Four Sigmatic. The company founder, Tero Isokauppila, is an enthusiastic functional mushroom advocate who is committed to delivering exceptional products and the company culture reflects that attitude.
If you would prefer to keep your favorite coffee and just add mushroom powder, a great option I have found are the products available over at Freshcap. They are mushroom growers and also advocates committed to providing high quality mushroom extracts.
However you choose to try mushroom coffee, your overall health and well being will benefit from the amazing power of functional mushrooms!
For more information about me and my journey with mushroom coffee, see my About page here.
Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food
Hippocrates
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