When you’re shopping for mushroom supplements, it’s important to know what to look for in order to ensure that you’re getting a quality product. First and foremost, you should look for supplements that contain not just mycelium. Mycelium is the part of the mushroom that grows underground and is responsible for absorbing nutrients from the soil. The fruiting bodies are the familiar bulbous features we see popping out of the ground. Most of the mushroom's nutrients will be concentrated in the fruiting bodies.
You should also look for supplements that are certified organic and also preferably third-party lab-tested. This means that they were grown without the use of pesticides or other harmful chemicals. Avoid any supplements that have been irradiated, as this can destroy many of the beneficial compounds present in mushrooms. Finally, it's better to buy freshly harvested plants where possible, but if that is not practical make sure the product says it was extracted or dual-extracted to ensure bioavailability when you consume it.
Mushrooms grow in a variety of shapes and colors, but all mushrooms have one thing in common: they are the fruiting bodies of a larger organism. The fruiting body is the part of the mushroom that produces spores, and it is also the part that is typically eaten.
Mushroom supplements are available in a variety of forms, including powders, capsules, and tinctures. When shopping for a mushroom supplement, it is important to look for one that contains mushroom-fruiting bodies. Some supplements are made from mycelium, which is the vegetative part of the mushroom. Mycelium is not as beneficial as the fruiting body and may not provide the same benefits.
You may see some less reputable sellers use obfuscated marketing terms such as "mycelial biomass," "mushroom powder," "full-spectrum," or "mushroom mycelium." These terms only try to hide the fact that they are predominantly made of mushroom-fruiting bodies. The FDA mandates that the word mushroom, as used on supplement products, must mean the actual fruiting body of the fungi. This helps to ensure that consumers are getting the nutrients they pay for and not diluted or weak substitutions.
The bioavailability of a supplement is an important factor to consider when shopping for them. This refers to the amount of the supplement that is actually absorbed and used by the body. The two factors to consider about bioavailability are the mushroom's extraction method and the dosage amount as listed on the packaging. Some supplements are more bioavailable than others, which means you may need to take a higher dose to get the same results.
Assuming you've already ensured that the supplement manufacturer has used actual mushroom fruiting bodies, the next thing to pay attention to is that the nutrients from the mushroom were extracted properly and not just simply ground up and powdered.
Mushroom cell walls are made up of a substance called chitin--the same stuff a crab's shell is made of. Humans cannot digest chitin so much of the culinary mushrooms you eat simply pass through your gut as insoluble fiber. This is great for your gut, in general, but you also miss out on many of the magic nutrients that deliver most of the benefits to the body. This is where extraction methods come into play.
Typical extraction methods use alcohol (for alcohol-soluble nutrients) or water (for water-soluble nutrients) as a solvent to extract the bioactive compounds from the mushroom before turning it into a powder or tincture. Dual extraction methods use both alcohol and water to capture the broadest range of compounds possible. Make sure your supplement of choice indicates that it has been extracted, or preferably dual-extracted.
The next factor to pay attention to is the dosage amount. There is a rather underhanded practice by disreputable supplement manufacturers called "pixie-dusting." This is where manufacturers stuff their products with tiny ineffective amounts of particular ingredients just so they can advertise their inclusion of that ingredient. This can be sniffed out if you come across a product advertising more than 10 - 12 mushrooms in one product. Any more than that and you can almost guarantee that the dosage of each mushroom is far too small to be adequately absorbed, much less effective. The general rule of thumb is to be skeptical of any product offering less than 100 milligrams per ingredient. Effective dosages are should be closer to 200 - 300 milligrams per serving for each ingredient.
Organic certification is another indicator of quality. Many certified organic supplements are grown in controlled environments and are free from pesticides and other harmful chemicals. The goal is to ensure the product you put in your body is as pure as possible and free of toxins such as pesticides, heavy metals, irradiation, mycotoxins, and other biological contaminants.
If a company claims to use organic ingredients, look for their organic certification. This is an indicator that they care about quality farm-to-table food delivery--at least enough to get the certification. Many supplement manufacturers, unfortunately, care more about profits than they do quality. You may find such companies adopting buzz terms like "beyond organic" or similar. This does not actually mean they have been certified organic even if they may claim to use organic biodynamic farming methods. Save yourself the headache of wondering and look for the certification.
Third-party testing is another level of certification that could ensure the supplements you are getting are free of contaminants and actually contain the ingredients printed on the label. In the strictest sense of the word, organic certification is itself a form of third-party testing. However, the term third-party testing usually means the product was independently tested by an outside company, at the manufacturer’s expense, for other contaminants that aren’t usually tested for in organic certification process. These testers will often measure the concentration and potency of the bioactive components as well as their purity. However, it is worth keeping in mind that the breadth of what they test for is usually stipulated by the manufacturer of the product. So, the broader the tests administered, the more reliable the results (and hopefully, product) should be.
Now you can call yourself a savvy mushroom supplement buyer. It's important to look for products that clearly say they use the mushroom-fruiting body and not just the mycelium or other marketing mushroom hyphenates. It is also highly recommended that the manufacturer is certified organic by a reputable certification body. Lastly, to ensure that the benefits of the supplement are bioavailable when you consume them, purchase powders or tinctures that offer at least 200 milligrams of each ingredient per serving and have undergone an extraction or dual-extraction process. By following these guidelines, you'll be sure to get the most out of your mushroom supplement.
Good luck on your supplement shopping journey! :)
