Is Mushroom Coffee Worth The Hype?
Mushroom coffee has been praised as a healthier option than regular coffee. It contains medicinal mushroom extracts and other health benefits.
This is a popular coffee blend becoming increasingly popular, but it’s not a new concept.
Online sources claim that mushrooms were used in Finland to substitute for coffee beans during World War II. Mushrooms’ medicinal and culinary use in Asia has a long history, especially in Chinese medicine.
This article examines the evidence regarding mushroom coffee and offers an expert opinion on its health benefits.
What is it?
Imagine a cup of coffee with mushrooms floating at its top. Take a deep breath of relief. This is not the case.
Mushroom coffee is a blend of coffee beans and ground mushrooms that produce dark, smooth and bitter coffee.
Mushroom coffee is made with medicinal extracts rather than culinary mushrooms like portobello and shiitake. These are some of the most popular medicinal mushrooms that are used in this defiant coffee:
- Chaga
- Turkey’s tail
- Lion’s mane
- Reishi
- Cordyceps
Numerous consumer reviews have shown that mushroom coffee tastes the same as regular coffee.
However, its health benefits, such as reduced anxiety, active body, and better immunity, make it an attractive marketing tool.
How does it happen?
The mushroom fruiting bodies are removed from the mushrooms and ground into an organic powder. This is a great way to make mushroom coffee.
The mushrooms are extracted twice. After drying, they are ground into a fine powder and mixed with ground coffee beans. This is typically done in a ratio of 1 to 1.
To make delicious mochas and lattes from mushrooms coffee, you can use the same methods as regular coffee.
It has a lower caffeine content than regular coffee.
Blends of mushroom coffee have a lower caffeine content than regular coffee.
Caffeine, a psychoactive compound, is naturally found in certain foods such as coffee beans, cocoa beans and tea leaves. However, it can also be added to synthetic beverages and foods in a synthetic form.
Caffeine consumption can have adverse side effects in pregnant women, infants, and people with heart disease.
While 400mg of caffeine per day isn’t likely to cause adverse effects, it can be a problem for those who are sensitive to it. You may experience side effects such as anxiety, rapid heartbeat, upset stomach, or other side effects, even with a lower caffeine intake.
As previously mentioned, mushroom coffee is often made with equal amounts of ground coffee beans and mushroom powder. The mushroom powder does not contain caffeine, reducing the caffeine content by half compared to regular coffee.
This may not apply to all brands of mushroom tea. The product’s caffeine content is not always listed on its packaging.
Potential health benefits
Traditional Chinese medicine has used medicinal mushrooms for centuries.
The adaptogens are compounds found in medicinal mushrooms that may help improve the body’s ability to deal with stress.
Researchers have studied the health benefits of adaptogens from medicinal mushrooms since the 1970s.
It is important to remember that most research on medicinal mushrooms has been done on animals, in a laboratory, and few clinical trials have included humans. These studies cannot be applied to human diseases or humans.
These studies don’t only focus on mushroom coffee. It’s not clear if there are any combined positive or detrimental health effects from mixing mushrooms with coffee beans.
While medicinal mushrooms and coffee do have certain benefits, it is safe to say there are many unsubstantiated health claims regarding the benefits of mushroom coffee.
Here are some scientific studies that support the health benefits of medicinal mushrooms.
- Increased immunity Some immune-boosting properties were demonstrated in test tubes using Turkey’s tail and fermented substrates.
- Potential for cancer prevention. Research has shown that there is potential for Reishi, Turkey’s tail, Chaga and Lion’s mane to be supportive therapies for patients with cancer. This includes helping to fight nausea and vomiting.
- Antiulcer. Research done on rats has shown that Chaga mushrooms might be able to fight ulcers.
- Anti-allergenic (food allergies). The chaga mushroom was shown to suppress the activity of immune cells that cause allergic reactions.
- Heart disease. Reishi extracts have the potential to lower blood cholesterol and reduce your risk of developing heart disease.