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People say that mushroom coffee is better for you than regular coffee because it has medical mushroom extracts and other health benefits.
This idea is familiar, even though it’s a popular coffee mix.
Online sites say that mushrooms were used instead when coffee beans weren’t available in Finland during World War II. Mushrooms have also been used for a long time in Asian cooking and medicine, especially Chinese medicine because they are healthy and good for you.
Trusted Source 1, Trusted Source 2, and Trusted Source 3).
This piece looks at the evidence about mushroom coffee and gives an expert opinion on the health benefits that are said to come from it.
What Does it Look Like Mushroom Coffee?
Take a deep breath and picture a cup of coffee with mushrooms floating on top. That’s not what this is.
When ground mushrooms and coffee beans are mixed gently, they make a dark, smooth, and nutty coffee.
Extracts of medicinal mushrooms, like shiitake and portobello, are often used in mushroom coffee instead of mushrooms used in cooking. Some common medical mushrooms that are used to make this trendy coffee are
- Chaga mushrooms
- Turkey’s back-end
- Mane of a lion
- With Reishi Cordyceps
- Several customer reviews say that mushroom coffee tastes similar to regular coffee.
- But mushroom coffee’s supposed health perks, such as lowering anxiety and strengthening the immune system, give it an edge in the market.
SUMMARY:
Ground medicinal mushrooms and coffee beans make mushroom coffee a trendy coffee drink. Mushrooms like Chaga, Cordyceps, Lion’s mane, Reishi, and Turkey’s tail are often used.
How Do You Make it?
- The growing bodies of the mushrooms are taken out and turned into an organic powder with no fillers, carriers, or other additives.
- After being extracted twice, the mushrooms are dried, ground into a fine powder, and mixed with coffee beans. In most cases, this is done one-to-one.
- You can buy mushroom coffee in the following forms: instant coffee packets
- ground coffee mixes
Pods for Coffee
You can make delicious mochas, lattes, and black coffee drinks with mushroom coffee in the same way you would with regular coffee.
SUMMARY
To make mushroom coffee, medicinal mushrooms are dried, ground into a fine powder, and mixed with coffee beans. After that, it’s made just like regular coffee.
It has less caffeine than standard coffee.
People are told that mushroom coffee mixes have less caffeine than regular coffee.
Caffeine is an addictive chemical naturally found in coffee beans, cocoa beans, and tea leaves. It is also added to other foods and drinks in a lab (4 Trusted Source, 5 Trusted Source).
People who are pregnant or breastfeeding, kids, and people who already have heart problems are more likely to have harmful effects from caffeine and should be careful how much they drink (5 Trusted Source).
Up to 400 mg of caffeine daily has no harmful effects, but this might differ for people sensitive to caffeine. In this case, even if you drink less coffee, you may still feel anxious, have a fast heart rate, have an upset stomach, and have other side effects (5).
Source You Can Trust).
For mushroom coffee, as was already said, a certain amount of mushroom powder is usually mixed with the same amount of ground coffee beans. Since mushroom powder doesn’t have caffeine, it cuts in half the amount of caffeine in the finished product compared to regular coffee.
This might only be true for some types of mushroom coffee, though. A lot of the time, the caffeine level needs to be written on the packages.
The amount of caffeine in 1 cup (180 ml) of three types of mushroom coffee, regular coffee, and decaffeinated coffee is shown below.
Product Category: Coffee Caffeine Content:
For 100-150 mg of Folgers Black Silk Dark Roast in a Keurig pod and 1-4 mg of Folgers Black Silk Decaf in ground coffee,
In a flash, 50 milligrams of Four Sigmatic Instant Mushroom Coffee infused with Lion’s Mane Instant Reishi Mushroom Coffee with 53 milligrams
Peppermint Tiger 2 Coffee Rhinoceros’ Mane and ChagaCoffee grounds sixty milligrams
So, compared to a regular cup of coffee, mushroom coffee drinks have around half the caffeine, but far more than decaffeinated coffee.
SUMMARY
Some coffee mixes with mushrooms have less caffeine than other coffee blends because they use fewer ground coffee beans. They do, however, have a lot more energy than decaffeinated coffee.
Possible health benefits
For centuries, medicinal mushrooms have been used in traditional Chinese medicine (1, 2, 3, and 6).
The chemicals that are taken from medical mushrooms are known as adaptogens, and they may help the body deal with stress better (2, 7).
Researchers have been interested in the adaptogens in medical mushrooms since the 1970s because they might be good for your health (2, 6, 8 trustworthy sources).
Keep in mind that the majority of research on medicinal mushrooms takes place in controlled laboratory settings or on animals. Few human subjects have been used in well-designed clinical trials. This means we must use more than what we’ve learned from these studies on people or diseases that people have.
Plus,There is a lack of specificity in this research about mushroom coffee, and it is not known whether combining coffee beans with mushrooms has any beneficial or negative health effects.
- There are a lot of health claims about mushroom coffee that have yet to be proven to be true. Both medical mushrooms and coffee have some known health benefits on their own.
- Here are some scientific results that support the idea that medicinal mushrooms are good for your health:
- Better immune system. Turkey’s tail and fermented bases have been shown to boost the immune system in test tubes (11 Trusted Source).
- Possible way to stop cancer. There is some evidence that Lion’s mane, Reishi, Turkey’s tail, Chaga, and Cordyceps could be helpful as supportive therapies for cancer patients. For example, they may help with nausea and vomiting (3 Trusted Source, 6 Trusted Source, 10 Trusted Source, 11 Trusted Source, 12 Trusted Source, 13 Trusted Source, 15 Trusted Source).
- For ulcers. It was found that Chaga mushrooms may help fight ulcers in rats (16 Trusted Source).
- Not allergenic (for food issues). Chaga mushroom has been shown to slow down the activity of immune cells that cause an allergic reaction to some foods in test tubes (9 Trusted Source).
- Heart trouble. Reishi products may be able to lower cholesterol levels, which in turn reduces the risk of heart disease (3, 13, 14).
- There is some promising evidence, but more studies with real people are needed to confirm these health effects, especially regarding mushroom coffee blends.
There is some promising evidence, but more studies with real people are needed to confirm these health effects, especially regarding mushroom coffee blends.
SUMMARY
Scientists have been interested in medicinal mushrooms since the 1970s and many health claims have been made about them. Many of these claims aren’t true, and we need more rigorous clinical studies with real people.
Bad Things
You might be excited to try mushroom coffee, but you should know some bad things about it.
The biggest problem is that no studies have yet been conducted on its health effects on humans. Most studies have been done in test tubes or on animals. More studies need to be done on people to prove those health claims.
This means that not much is known about the safe dosage, who would benefit from this product, who might need to stay away from it, and whether medicinal mushrooms mix with medications. This may make people worry about their safety.
Also, mushroom coffee costs a lot. A 12 oz (340 g) bag of this coffee is often twice as expensive as a standard bag.
The higher price could be because medical mushrooms are grown in natural environments and not on farms for profit. This means it might take a lot of work to find them.
SUMMARY
The biggest problem with mushroom coffee is that there needs to be more studies on humans to back up health claims and ensure it’s safe to drink and has no harmful effects. Plus, it costs more than regular coffee.
In the end
Mixed with standard coffee are extracts of medicinal mushrooms like Chaga, Cordyceps, Reishi, Lion’s mane, and Turkey’s tail. This trendy coffee drink is called “mushroom coffee.”
There are a lot of health claims about how mushrooms and mushroom coffee can help with different health problems, but most of them haven’t been proven yet, and more studies with real people are needed.
It might be safe for most people to try, but if you’re on medicine or already have a health problem, you should always talk to your doctor before you do it.
