Health Benefits of Mushroom Coffee

Drinking mushroom coffee may benefit health in several ways. However, keep in mind that most of gbmushrooms.net these benefits are related to drinking coffee, not mushroom coffee specifically.

May Improve Energy, Mood, and Cognitive Performance
Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant, meaning it impacts neural activity in the brain, which increases alertness and helps you feel more energized.5

A cup of coffee provides around 96 milligrams (mg) of caffeine, which can temporarily boost your energy levels. In addition to improving energy, studies show that drinking coffee positively influences long-term mental health and boosts cognitive performance.6

A 2023 review of 29 studies found that drinking around one cup of coffee per day was associated with a 4% reduction in the risk of depression.2

Coffee intake has also been linked to better performance on cognitive tasks and improved focus, which is why so many people depend on coffee to get them through their workday.7

Mushrooms commonly added to mushroom coffee blends may also improve certain aspects of cognitive health. For example, Hericium erinaceus or lion’s mane, Ganoderma lucidum or reishi, and Trametes versicolor or turkey tail, have been shown to have cognitive-boosting effects when taken in supplement form.8

A 2023 study that included 41 healthy adults found that those who were supplemented with 1.8 grams (g) of lion’s mane experienced immediate and long-term cognitive benefits. Acute consumption of lion’s mane supplements helped improve performance on a cognitive test, while long-term 28-day consumption was associated with lower stress levels compared to a placebo group.9

However, these results can’t be applied to mushroom coffee as the majority of mushroom coffee products contain proprietary mushroom blends that don’t disclose the amount of each ingredient included per serving. For this reason, it’s impossible to know if these products contain doses of medicinal mushrooms necessary to influence health.

May Lower the Risk of Common Health Conditions
Coffee consumption has been associated with a decreased risk of common health conditions such as heart disease, certain cancers, liver disease, and diabetes.10

What’s more, drinking coffee may help you live a longer and healthier life. A 2022 study that included data on 468,629 people between the ages of 40 and 69 found that, compared to non-coffee drinkers, people who drank half a cup to three cups of coffee per day had a 12% lower risk all-cause mortality and a 17% reduced risk of heart disease-related mortality.11

Though coffee has been shown to positively influence health and disease risk, it’s unclear if drinking coffee with added mushroom extracts or powders would offer any additional benefits.

Contains Protective Plant Compounds
Coffee is a rich source of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds such as ferulic acid, chlorogenic acids, caffeic acid, quercetin, and quinic acid. In fact, coffee is the primary source of antioxidants like phenolic acids and polyphenols in the diets of habitual coffee drinkers.12

Medicinal mushrooms and other fungi commonly added to coffee, such as cordyceps, Phellinus (Phellinus linteus), Chaga (Inonotus obliquus), Agaricus mushrooms (Agaricus blazei), reishi, Turkey Tail, and lion’s mane, are concentrated in compounds that have immune-enhancing, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties.

For example, cordyceps, a type of fungi that grows on certain insects, contains cordycepin, a biologically active compound that’s been shown to have antitumor, immune-modulating, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, anticancer, antidiabetic, and anti-obesity effects. Chaga contains a variety of flavonoids and polyphenols, both of which have powerful antioxidant effects. Additionally, a number of medicinal mushrooms, such as Chaga and Phellinus, are rich in polysaccharides such as β-glucans. β-glucans are types of soluble fibers that are present in the cell walls of mushrooms that have immune-supportive, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties and may support and protect health in several ways.13

Though research investigating the antioxidant profile of mushroom coffee is limited, findings from a 2020 study suggest that coffee made with a blend of mushroom extracts provides several substances that could promote overall health, including β-glucans. The study found that green coffee beans mixed with extracts from cordyceps, Phellinus, and Chaga mushrooms contained higher levels of total polyphenol antioxidants than regular coffee and also contained cordycepin and β-glucans, which regular coffee does not.13

This means that drinking mushroom coffee over regular coffee may help increase your intake of certain antioxidants and beneficial plant compounds, such as polyphenols and β-glucans.

However, it’s unclear if mushroom coffee offers any significant health benefits over regular coffee as there are no studies investigating the effects of mushroom coffee on human health.