While magic mushrooms might grab all the headlines, there’s another fungal revolution quietly taking root in Britain’s health stores. Functional mushrooms, unassuming fungi packed with bioactive compounds, are quickly becoming the latest health craze, with major retailers such as Holland & Barrett and Boots now stocking many different brands. Even M&S is now selling their own line of ready-to-drink mushroom lattes.
The buzz around these fungi suggests they can boost everything from brain function to immunity, stress resilience and sleep quality. But is this genuine science or just another health trend destined for the compost heap?
Far from being just another wellness fad, these fungi come with centuries of credibility. Certain cultures have utilised different types of mushrooms for their nutritional and medicinal benefits for the past couple of thousand years. Lion’s mane and reishi, for example, have spiritual significance in places such as Japan and China due to their ability to provide support on both a mental and physical level. The traditional use of fungi has a rich history in Traditional Chinese Medicine and other forms of folk medicine, with a seemingly endless list of ailments which can be treated using different types of mushrooms! As the functional mushroom industry grows, we can align this ancient wisdom with modern understandings of wellness and find something which works for us.
If you’re feeling sceptical, you’re not alone. The supplement world can be an exhausting maze of promised miracle cures and empty wallets. But what if certain mushrooms could actually provide a more targeted approach to your health?
What is a functional mushroom?
Functional mushrooms are non-psychedelic fungi that help our bodies work better – think of them as nature’s tune-up for your system. While the list of these types of fungi is quite large, there are some key players when it comes to mushroom supplements – Lion’s mane is probably the most popular fungi around, with it’s active compounds being utilised for cognitive function and focus, and then we have other powerhouses such as cordyceps which is becoming popular for its energy-boosting properties, and reishi which is known for providing relaxation and stress-relief. Other fungi of notable importance include chaga and turkey tail, which have been used for thousands of years to support immune function.
Beyond these ‘big five’ fungi, newcomers like tremella, maitake and shiitake are making waves for their benefits to skin health, blood sugar control and immune function. The important thing to note about these mushrooms is that while some of them have a crossover with culinary use (lion’s mane and shiitake, for example), we need to put them through different extraction methods to obtain the medicinal benefits. This is somewhat down to the structure of the mushroom cell wall being made of a compound called chitin (which is also what insect shells are made of), which needs to be broken down for our bodies to access the beneficial compounds that have a therapeutic effect.
The benefits of functional mushroom extracts
Throwing some mushroom powder in your coffee might seem like an easy shortcut, but here’s the catch: you might be missing out on most of the benefits. While it might be tasty to cook up a lion’s mane steak or stir a spoonful of something into a drink, you might be missing out on the actual brain-boosting benefits.
The bioactive compounds contained within these functional mushrooms are soluble in alcohol and water, and more often than not, companies use methods of dual-extraction to get these types of compounds into their products. One of the main things listed on products is the term polysaccharides – these are long sugar molecules (particularly beta-glucans (β-glucans), which are found in the cell walls of all fungi) which are resistant to degradation by our digestive system, and have a prebiotic effect on the gut microbiome where they play key role in the immunomodulatory and anti-cancer properties of medicinal mushrooms. While all fungi contain these water-soluble compounds, some, like chaga and turkey tail are particularly rich in polysaccharides, working alongside other compounds to supercharge your immune system.
Other compounds like diterpenoids and triterpenoids are alcohol-soluble and are the compounds within mushrooms such as lion’s mane and reishi, for example, which are responsible for many of the therapeutic effects on things like brain health, inflammation, and sleep. These types of compounds are useful to look for when buying your functional mushroom product, as they show the quality and depth of a product which has been tested for active compounds besides polysaccharides (which all mushrooms contain).
What should I look for in a functional mushroom product?
Navigating the world of functional mushrooms can feel overwhelming, but understanding a few key factors can help you make smarter choices. At the very least, you should be ensuring that your product has been tested for heavy metals; ideally, it should be organic where possible and affordable.
Don’t be fooled by impressive-looking ratios on labels (like 20:1 or 40:1). While these numbers might suggest more mushrooms were used to make the extract, what really matters is the concentration of beneficial compounds in the final product. Counter-intuitively, a lower ratio often indicates higher-quality starting material with more potent compounds. Even this is becoming somewhat irrelevant information, and now the main thing to look out for is brands that are actually testing for these active compounds (and publishing the results!)
As the functional mushroom market continues to expand, staying informed is your best defence against marketing hype and subpar products. Armed with this knowledge, you can make choices that actually benefit your health, not just your Instagram feed.
