You might be asking yourself, "What is Mushroom Coffee" and why would I want to drink such a thing? It certainly doesn't sound very appetizing!
However, mushroom coffee is primarily coffee, but with the addition of mushroom dust added to it. It doesn't contain bits of mushrooms floating in your coffee like you might be thinking.
The most popular mushroom coffee out there is from Four Sigmatic. They have coffee made with organic, 100% Arabica coffee.
They use the following mushrooms:
The Taste of Mushroom Coffee?
Everyone has unique tastes and opinions on mushroom coffee, but most say it tastes like coffee. Weird right? If you drink your coffee black, mushroom coffee might be something you like. However, like any coffee, you can supplement the milk of your choice to sweeten it up.
Or some might even add ice to cool things down this summer. It's up to you, but before you do, read on to learn more about this unique trend in the coffee industry.
It might fascinate you or get you thinking more about what you're drinking each morning.
Mushroom Coffee Availability?
Mushroom coffee is available in K-Cups and instant coffee. The K-Cups are a little expensive, so the instant kind is more popular. The downside to instant coffee is they only come in 10 packets.
Ground mushroom coffee is available too. It serves up to 24 cups, which isn't a whole lot of coffee for $20 on Amazon. I’m not sure this is a coffee to buy all the time unless you can afford it.
It’s relatively expensive, but Amazon has some great deals.
Four Sigmatic has a subscription that will give you a 20% discount if you sign up for three months. The delivery is free, so if you are confident you like their mushroom coffee, it's another place to receive a discount.
In addition, there's the decaf option, so that would be great for those who crave a cup at night. The significant thing about this drink is it has many health benefits.
Mushroom Coffee Health Benefits?
Presumably, there are many health benefits that these medicinal mushrooms can give you. There is very little clinical testing to conclude these scientific results.
People in China and Finland “have incorporated mushrooms into their diets in both solid and liquid form for thousands of years.” These mushrooms have been used as ancient medicine, but are they really beneficial for everyone?
People rave it’s healthy for you, but can they prove it?
Reishi Mushrooms
According to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Reishi mushrooms can do the following:
With so little clinical testing, is it safe to consume Reishi mushrooms regularly? Most people, including myself, can become addicted to coffee. People might assume that since it's healthy for you that you can have it as much as regular coffee.
Some Known Side Effects of Reishi Mushrooms
Of course, this doesn't mean that these side effects will occur. Be mindful of this, if you find yourself consuming more than the recommended dose.
Chaga Mushrooms
In agreement with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the following benefits of mushrooms are:
Some Known Side Effects of Chaga Mushrooms
There was only one case of kidney damage, so there isn't no real evidence that Chaga mushrooms will cause it.
Additional read: How to Harvest Chaga (The Ultimate Guide)
Cordyceps Mushrooms
Mentioned by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the following health benefits of Cordyceps mushrooms are:
If you are taking diabetes medicine, you might consider these mushrooms could lower your blood sugar.
Some Known Side Effects of Cordycep Mushrooms
These side effects aren't that unusual with regular coffee. Cordyceps seems like the safest medicinal mushrooms compared to the others. However, like the other mushrooms, there is very few clinical studies to know for certain.
Lion’s Mane Mushrooms
Most articles rave about the healthy benefits of Lion's Mane mushrooms. Yet, there have only two small studies (third one not available) on Lion's Mane mushrooms.
As reported by Healthy But Smart's article, "one small short-term clinical study showing that Lion’s Mane mushroom can help with cognitive function in patients with mild dementia." It is impossible to know if Lion's Mane mushrooms could help with dementia since there was only one study.
Another clinical study on Lion's Mane concluded NO significant benefits on mental states such as:
Some Known Side Effects of Cordycep Mushrooms
This doesn't mean you can't splurge on this new coffee trend, but I don't know if I would go crazy with it either. I would treat this mushroom coffee as a luxury item. These medicinal mushrooms might merely be causing people to think they feel better.
Caffeine Content of Mushroom Coffee?
What makes mushroom coffee so much different than regular coffee? The caffeine is about half the amount as regular coffee. You can still receive energy without feeling the effects of having too much caffeine.
Here are the following caffeine amounts in mushroom coffee compared to regular coffee:
Caffeine is widely known for making people stay awake. Mushroom coffee doesn't seem to contain much caffeine in it. Some people don't need a whole lot of caffeine to perk up their morning.
Final Thoughts
The majority of mushroom coffee drinkers say they don't experience shakiness, stomach issues, or any of the other side effects that regular coffee inflicts.
Mixed with coffee, these medicinal mushrooms might not be very potent. Therefore, the side effects might be non-existent. In this case, the health benefits also might not be very effective.
The great aspect of mushroom coffee is that it seems like a better alternative to those sensitive to regular coffee.
