What are the Benefits of Mushroom Coffee?
If you want to know what’s trending, all you need to do is hop onto social media. Celebrities, influencers, and friends constantly share their current obsessions, and who can blame them? If a product is truly amazing, we’ll shout its praises from the rooftops!
One product you may have seen on your FYP is mushroom coffee. There’s a lot of hype around mushroom coffee right now, but does it really have more benefits than a regular old cup of joe? Here’s everything you need to know about the benefits of mushroom coffee.
4 Health Benefits of Mushroom Coffee
Drinking mushroom coffee can be a transformative experience. Not only does it taste delicious, but there are also plenty of potential health benefits you may start to see over time. We’ve looked at the research and tried it for ourselves, and we can confidently say that mushroom coffee is the real deal. Here are a few of the benefits you might see once you start drinking it.
1. Supports Digestion
Coffee is known for its ability to support quick digestion. Many people drink too much caffeine, which can cause this ability to go into overdrive (if it’s happened to you, you’ll know what we mean). However, in moderation, this benefit can encourage healthy gastric motility.
Many mushrooms also contain beta-glucans, a type of carbohydrate that functions as prebiotic fiber. This type of fiber helps feed good gut bacteria, which can have benefits for the joints, skin health, immune function, digestion, and more. Lion’s mane mushroom is particularly high in these polysaccharides.
2. Lower Caffeine Content
Let’s be honest — many people don’t guzzle down their favorite lattes because of their delicious flavors. Instead, many people view coffee as simply a conduit for caffeine.
Caffeine is known for its stimulant properties. In moderation, caffeine intake can help people feel awake, energized, and focused. However, if you take too much, you can say “hello” to anxiety, jitters, sweat, caffeine crashes, and heart palpitations. The average eight-ounce cup of coffee contains up to 150 grams of caffeine, which can easily be too much depending on your genetic caffeine tolerance.
You might be surprised to learn that many mushroom coffee brands don’t even include coffee or coffee beans as an ingredient in their blends. Obviously, these mushroom blends are typically caffeine-free.
Here at Everyday Dose, we don’t mess around when it comes to coffee. There’s no faking the coffee taste, and more importantly, there’s no faking the benefits of a moderate dose of caffeine.
That’s why our Mushroom Coffee+ is based on coffee extract as well as medicinal mushroom blends. Each dose contains only 45 milligrams of caffeine, which is far less caffeine than a regular cup of joe.
3. Supports Mental Health
Lion’s mane mushroom is a little-known but very powerful adaptogen. These substances can help support the body’s ability to handle stress in a healthy way. This particular mushroom can also support the nervous system by encouraging the body’s production of nerve growth factor. Reishi mushroom is another common mushroom coffee ingredient that may lower cortisol.
Our Mushroom Coffee+ includes both lion’s mane and L-theanine, an amino acid that can minimize feelings of stress, encourage feelings of relaxation, and support balanced mental health overall.
4. Encourages a Good Night’s Sleep
We can’t speak for other brands of mushroom coffee, but our blends are formulated to help support a good night’s sleep. L-theanine can encourage alpha brain waves, which are associated with sleep, while lion’s mane mushroom can also support healthy sleep.
Some of these benefits may actually be due to lion’s mane’s ability to support a thriving gut microbiome. Among other things, good gut bacteria produce 95 percent of the body’s serotonin, which helps regulate our internal clocks. Of course, simply feeling less stressed and supporting your immune system via prebiotic fiber can also contribute to better sleep.
Yeah, Yeah — But What Does the Research Say?
All of these benefits sound great, but is there any scientific research to back them up? Give us a little credit — we’d never use ingredients that weren’t tested and true. Read on to learn the latest research about our favorite ingredients.
Lion’s Mane
Lion’s mane mushroom (Hericium erinaceus) is best known for its potential to support cognitive health. Studies show lion’s mane may encourage the production of nerve growth factor (NGF), a protein that’s important for the growth and maintenance of brain cells.
According to one literature review, mice with mild cognitive impairment who were given lion’s mane showed significant improvement in cognitive function. More research suggests lion’s mane could also have antioxidant effects, which might translate to neuroprotective benefits.
Chaga
Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) is full of antioxidants. High in melanin and polyphenols, chaga helps neutralize oxidative stress in the body, which may protect your cells from damage.
One 2021 review emphasized chaga’s immune-supporting properties, especially in preclinical models. Chaga has also been found to help encourage cytokine production. Cytokines are the little messengers in your immune system that keep systemic irritation in check.
L-Theanine
Found naturally in tea leaves, L-theanine is an amino acid known for its calm-but-alert effect. A 2011 study found that L-theanine supplementation could support focus and reaction time in people with high anxiety.
It's also been shown to ease stress-related symptoms without causing drowsiness, making it a match made in heaven for caffeine. In fact, the combination of caffeine and L-theanine (which is found naturally in green tea and also in our Mushroom Coffee+) has been shown to support attention and task-switching accuracy.
Collagen
Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body — think of it as the glue that holds your joints, skin, and gut lining together. And, according to studies, supplementing with collagen may support skin elasticity, joint health, and even gut integrity.
One 2019 randomized controlled trial found that daily collagen peptides improved skin hydration, elasticity, and roughness in women over 35. Collagen may also play a role in joint pain reduction, with several studies showing improvement in athletes and older adults with osteoarthritis. It also contains amino acids like glycine and proline, which may support gut health.
Coffee
Coffee might be a morning ritual for most people, but it also contains some pretty amazing health benefits. Research consistently shows that moderate coffee consumption may support healthy blood sugars, heart health, liver health, and even long-term brain health.
A 2022 umbrella review (yes, that’s a real thing) confirmed that coffee drinkers had a lower risk of all-cause mortality and many chronic diseases. These benefits come from its caffeine content and its rich antioxidant profile, including compounds like chlorogenic acid. As it turns out, your cup of joe is doing more than just waking you up — it might be helping you live life to the fullest, too.
Functional Mushrooms in Traditional Medicine
Long before functional mushrooms hit your Instagram feed, they were staples in traditional healing systems like Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Ayurveda, and Siberian folk medicine. For centuries, chaga was brewed as a tea in northern Europe and Russia, revered for its immune-supporting and anti-aging properties. It was called the “King of Mushrooms” and used to support vitality in cold climates.
Meanwhile, lion’s mane was treasured by Buddhist monks in East Asia who believed it helped enhance focus and support meditative clarity. In TCM, it’s been used to support digestion and cognitive well-being. While ancient practitioners didn’t have access to clinical trials, they clearly knew what they were doing, since modern research is now validating these benefits.
What’s Wrong With Regular Coffee?
Regular coffee is made with ground coffee beans. Many Americans treasure their morning coffee the way they treasure running water — in fact, about 62 percent of Americans drink at least one cup of coffee every day.
However, as we mentioned before, regular coffee tends to be pretty high in caffeine. That downside can cause unpleasant side effects like jitters, heartburn, trouble sleeping, and anxiety.
Which Mushrooms Are in Mushroom Coffee?
Not all brands of mushroom coffee are not created equal. Each mushroom coffee blend typically uses different mushrooms, supporting ingredients, and formulations. Because of this, it’s hard to say which types of mushrooms you’ll find in your mushroom coffee.
A few of the basic functional mushrooms you could find include the following:
- Lion’s Mane Mushroom: As we mentioned earlier, this edible mushroom can support mental health, brain health, a good night’s sleep, and the gut microbiome.
- Chaga Mushroom: Chaga mushroom is known for its powerful antioxidant properties and its ability to support the immune system.
- Shiitake Mushroom: This mushroom is rich in vitamins and minerals that can support immunity and heart health.
- Reishi Mushroom: This mushroom is known for its ability to support heart health and lower stress levels and is a staple in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
- Cordyceps: Cordyceps can increase athletic performance and lower blood sugar.
- Turkey Tail Mushroom: This mushroom can support the immune system and encourage longevity.
Some mushroom coffee brands include other ingredients as well. For instance, our Mushroom Coffee+ features lion’s mane and chaga mushrooms, as well as L-theanine, collagen protein, and coffee extract.
Does Mushroom Coffee Taste Like Mushrooms?
We’re here to put your fears to rest — no, mushroom coffee doesn’t taste like mushrooms. At least ours doesn’t. Our Mushroom Coffee+ uses smooth, rich Arabica coffee extract, so the flavor is the same as your favorite brew. It’s got a mellow, low-acid profile with a hint of earthiness that plays really well with oat milk, cinnamon, or whatever your heart desires.
How Is Mushroom Coffee Made?
Mushroom coffee isn’t made by simply tossing a portobello in your French press — it’s a careful process rooted in science. First, it’s important to use the right part of the mushroom.
Fruiting bodies are the parts of the mushroom you actually see above ground, while mycelium is the underground root system. While mycelium is easier and cheaper to grow, fruiting bodies contain significantly higher levels of beta-glucans, terpenes, and other bioactive compounds. That’s why we use 100% fruiting bodies.
Next comes extraction. Raw mushroom powders are hard for your body to absorb because of chitin, a tough, fibrous compound in mushroom cell walls. That’s why we use double extraction (hot water and alcohol) to break down the chitin and pull out the good stuff (like polysaccharides and triterpenoids).
Finally, don’t forget how your mushrooms are fed. Many mushrooms are grown on grain, which is fast but nutritionally lacking.
We grow ours on natural wood substrates, just like in the wild. Sure, it takes longer, but it also produces higher-quality, more potent mushrooms. Then we hand-harvest the mushrooms, blend them with smooth Arabica coffee extract (and a few other ingredients) to make our signature mushroom coffee.
Why Does Mushroom Coffee Cost More, and Is It Worth It?
We get it — shelling out for functional coffee might not make sense when $2 coffee pods at the gas station exist. So why does mushroom coffee cost more?
To start, real functional mushrooms take time and care to grow, especially when you’re using 100% fruiting bodies grown on wood (like we do). Then, there’s the double extraction process, which is more expensive but also far more effective than tossing ground mushrooms into a mix.
Most cheap mushroom coffees cut corners with mycelium grown on grain, minimal extraction, and low mushroom content. So yes, ours costs more — but it’s based on methods that actually work.
Choosing Mushroom Coffee+ is investing in a good morning. Remember, you're getting caffeine, cognitive support, antioxidants, and adaptogenic bliss in one smooth, delicious sip.
The Bottom Line
Mushroom coffee might be a trend, but its benefits are tried and true. Unlike other fads that may not have much substance to their health claims, medicinal mushrooms can actually have noticeable benefits for your health — just ask anyone who consistently drinks mushroom coffee!
At Everyday Dose, we know mushroom coffee is the real deal because we’ve seen the benefits for ourselves. Ultimately, you need to see it to believe it. Decide for yourself whether mushroom coffee is worth the hype when you try one of our mushroom blends today.
Sources:
Effects of Coffee on the Gastro-Intestinal Tract: A Narrative Review and Literature Update | PMC
Coffees Serving Size Caffeine (mg) | Center for Science in the Public Interest
NCA releases 2020 National Coffee Data Trends, the "Atlas of American Coffee” | NCAUSA
Neurohealth Properties of Hericium erinaceus Mycelia Enriched with Erinacines | PMC
Lion’s Mane - LiverTox | NCBI Bookshelf
Effects of l-theanine on attention and reaction time response | ScienceDirect
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