We've heard of mushrooms on pizza, maybe even given them a chance to replace our beloved burger patty, but mushroom coffee? Mushroom chocolate?
According to a Pinterest study, mushrooms have been gaining search traction this year from its 250 million worldwide users, but not just mushrooms themselves. The fungi are appearing in coffee, chocolate, protein powders and more.
Though wellness blogs have been buzzing recently about health-forward mushroom products, they’ve actually been used for medicinal purposes in other cultures for a long time, explained Rachael Hartley, a registered dietitian.
But in your favorite snack? You may see products like mushroom coffee, mushroom granola bars, mushroom chocolate milk and mushroom chocolate bars to name a few.
Mushroom coffee has seen a 471 percent year-on-year spike in searches on Pinterest, according to the site's report.
Tero Isokauppila, the founder of Four Sigmatic, said he's trying to make coffee healthier by adding medicinal mushrooms to coffee. He said by doing so, it makes the coffee less acidic, which makes it easier to drink without adding milk or sugar.
FourSigmatic uses a couple of types of mushrooms to make their coffee: chaga, lion's mane and cordyceps, which have been studied for the purposes of "prevention, alleviation, or healing of diseases and/or for nutritional reasons," though the National Institutes of Health paper also notes that research is limited.
Four Sigmatic says that adding chaga to your coffee helps to support your immune system while lion's mane helps you focus and cordyceps are supposed to help with energy production.
"Medicinal mushrooms have been used for thousands of years, so many of the claims come more from tradition than science," Hartley said. "That doesn't necessarily mean there isn't a benefit - just that we don't know."
According to one study, lion's mane has been linked to preventing cancer cells from growing, but Sharon Palmer, another registered dietitian, said that the research is preliminary.
"We need much more research to determine specific benefits related to specific types of mushrooms in these beverages," Palmer said.
"Mushroom coffee is made with extracts of medicinal mushrooms, so it's impossible to compare to the health benefits of eating, say, a side of grilled Portobellos," Hartley said in an email. "According the nutrition facts of Four Sigmatic, it's not a significant source of any nutrients. The extract is made with a dual extraction process that spray-dries an initial mushroom extract to remove the fat and water soluble compounds, so you're losing all the vitamins you get in fresh mushrooms, but supposedly this leaves the medicinal compounds behind."
But does it taste good?
Elizabeth Kott and Stephanie Simbari, hosts of "That's So Retrograde," a podcast focused on wellness, think mushroom coffee tastes better than regular coffee.The two say they enjoy drinking it for the added health benefits Four Sigmatic touts as well as how much gentler it is on the stomach than regular coffee. Simbari said that regular coffee would often give her stomach pains, while mushroom coffee does not.
"I think it tastes better, it has a different kind of flavor," Simbari said. "Definitely not as harsh (as regular coffee) and it has a nutty flavor."
So, mushroom coffee can be a great addition to your morning routine if you're looking to add a little boost to your day, but take your mushroom coffee claims with a little grain of salt for now until there's more research on this trend.
