What You Really Need to Know Before You Buy Mushroom Supplements

Mushroom supplements are quite popular these days, as more people look to nature as a way to support their overall health and well-being.* Mushrooms are known for their ability to support the immune system (thanks to the unique complex carbs they contain called beta-glucans), and individual mushrooms offer other types of support that’s backed by a combination of traditional use and modern scientific research.*

We sell Certified Organic mushroom supplements made only from fruiting bodies, including Lion’s Mane for clarity, Reishi for relaxation, Cordyceps Militaris for energy, or Daily 10 for immune support.*

Whether you choose our brand or another, you need to know a few things before you buy another mushroom supplement.

What are Mushroom Supplements?

Mushroom supplements are simply mushrooms that have been processed to allow the human body to better access their active components. As you may already know, we need to cook mushrooms before eating them — and supplements have been processed in a somewhat similar way so you get more of their health-supporting goodness.*

Different types of mushroom supplements include:

•       Tinctures, or mushrooms that have been extracted in alcohol (and often hot water, too).
•       Powdered extracts are a mushroom extract (or tincture) that has been dehydrated. It’s not the same as a dried, powdered mushroom (those are for culinary and functional nutrition purposes).

You might see capsules, powders, tinctures, and more at your local health food store and online. We sell dual-extracted mushroom supplements, which we believe gives you the best quality.

That’s because the active parts of functional mushrooms are inside their cell walls. The human body can’t break down those tough cell walls, so mushrooms need to be extracted before they’re sold as supplements. Ideally, mushroom supplements will have been extracted twice. The best ones use two methods. (You’ll learn more about this in Question 2 in the section below.)

What Kinds of Mushrooms Are Used in Mushroom Supplements?

Thousands of edible mushrooms exist on the planet — and of those, plenty have found their way into different herbal and wellness traditions around the world. Back in the day, mushroom “supplements” were simply mushrooms simmered in tea and perhaps soaked in alcohol. Now we have far more exact ways of extracting them. (There’s so much science involved.)

Some of the most popular mushrooms used in mushroom supplements include:

Chaga mushroom

(Inonotus obliquus)

Traditionally used to support the skin, immune system, healthy digestion, and the body's natural cleansing processes.*

Cordyceps mushroom

(Cordyceps militaris)

An adaptogen traditionally used to support healthy stamina and energy levels (including at the cellular level), lung health, sexual health, and kidney health.*

Lion’s Mane mushroom

(Hericium erinaceus)

Traditionally used to support memory and cognitive function.*

Maitake mushroom

(Grifola frondosa)

Traditionally used to maintain nervous system health, healthy digestive function, immune health, and cardiovascular health.*

Meshima mushroom

(Phellinus linteus)

Traditionally used to support women's health, healthy immune function, and cellular health.*

Poria Cocos mushroom

(Wolfiporia extensa)

Traditionally used to promote healthy sleep, normal and healthy hydration levels, healthy sleep and relaxation, nervous system health and memory, and normal stomach function.*

Reishi mushroom

(Ganoderma lucidum)

An adaptogenic mushroom that helps supports your body’s natural stress response.*

Also traditionally used to support the immune, cardiovascular, and nervous systems; liver and kidney health; and healthy sleep and relaxation.*

Shiitake mushroom

(Lentinula edodes)

Traditionally used to support immune, liver, and cardiovascular health.*

Tremella mushroom

(Tremella fuciformis)

Traditionally used to promote healthy skin, support memory, a healthy metabolism, and bone health.*

Turkey Tail mushroom

(Trametes versicolor)

Traditionally used to support the immune system and liver health.*

Ask These Questions Before You Buy Mushroom Supplements

Ready to buy? Ask these questions first.

1. What part of the mushroom is used?

Only certain parts of mushrooms are traditionally used in herbalism. Fruiting bodies are the above-ground parts of a mushroom. (These are the parts you most commonly forage, cook and extract.)

Mycelium is usually underground. While important to the mushroom, mycelium is not traditionally used to support your health.*

It’s cheaper and faster to grow mycelium on grain, so many products use it instead of fruiting bodies.

Our products use only 100% fruiting bodies, never mycelium, so you never pay for grain or filler.

2. How do you make your mushroom supplements?

Mushroom Revival supplements undergo a dual extraction of water, known as decoction, and alcohol, known as tincture. The active compounds in mushrooms are both alcohol-soluble (triterpenes) and water-soluble (beta-glucans). To get full-spectrum support from mushrooms, we extract our mushrooms with 190-proof alcohol and hot water, then carefully combine the two.

We follow the science and extract each mushroom at specific, optimal alcohol percentages, temperatures and durations.

3. Are your supplements tested for purity and potency?

When you’re buying mushroom supplements to support your health, you should get proof they are pure and potent.*

Every batch of mushrooms we use goes through lab testing. We test for heavy metals and biological contamination, to ensure the purity of our products. We also check the concentration of active compounds such as beta-glucans and triterpenes. We want to see the science when it the potency of our supplements, so we make sure to get exact numbers.

4. Are your mushroom supplements Certified Organic?

Mushrooms can be Certified Organic, but not all of them are. Our products are Certified Organic by a independent third party named Baystate Organic Certifiers. Everything we use is organic, from our substrates to even our cleaning supplies. Every product we sell and every ingredient we use is tracked by a batch number and can be traced back to its origin. This offers you peace of mind.

Pro tip: You can find the answers to these questions and more on every one of our products.

Now you’re ready: Browse our products, including  Lion’s Mane for clarity, Reishi for relaxation, Cordyceps Militaris for energy, or Daily 10 for immune support.*