The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the views of Spoon University.
If you are a caffeine addict like me then you can’t get through your day without a cup of coffee. But I have also experienced a number of negative side effects from my daily cup of joe. My gut acts up because of the acidity, I experience constant sugar cravings, and I always succumb to the post lunch slump. That is, until I tried mushroom coffee.
Mushroom coffee is a trendy new drink that combines coffee with mushrooms. Many brands claim that the idea is to offset some of the negative side effects of caffeine. Unfortunately, there is no research evidence to back this claim, but many reviewers claim they receive certain benefits from mushroom coffee. Every mushroom coffee brand differs in what kind of mushrooms are used and how much caffeine is in each cup. RYZE, one of the brands reviewed in this article, describes the health properties of each type of mushroom to give you a sense of potential benefits you would receive.
Cordyceps: Improve stamina and support rapid recovery.
Reishi: Relieves stress and encourages peaceful sleep.
Lion’s Mane: Helps calm nerves and improves focus.
Turkey Tail: Protects the gut and promotes healthy digestion.
Shiitake: Supports the immune system.
King Trumpet: Fights stress and boost immunity in the long term.
Each brand of mushroom coffee uses a different combination of these mushrooms to achieve a specific function. Still, the three most popular brands I will discuss in this article are RYZE, MUD\WTR, and Four Sigmatic.
RYZE Mushroom Coffee
This brand is my go-to when my gut is super messed up. I like that RYZE uses every mushroom listed above because I feel like I get many of the benefits that it claims. After about two weeks of this, my sugar cravings were significantly reduced and as someone with chronic gut issues, I saw an improvement in digestion. The taste of RYZE is alright and goes great with a sweet breakfast. However, the social media advertisements are a bit misleading because it does not taste like coffee. Although I see the similarities the taste is very earthy and since they only have an instant version the drink is a bit grainy. Overall, I would recommend RYZE, but you have to go in knowing that it will take a minute to adjust to the lower caffeine level and the taste.
MUD\WTR
Unlike the other two brands, I didn’t keep up with MUD\WTR for months to see if I could tell a difference in symptoms. The reason why though is because I did not like the taste. The thing about MUD\WTR is that it isn’t really coffee at all, but rather tea. It exists for people who want to get away from caffeine permanently and that is just not me. But honestly, I could not deal with drinking that low level of caffeine and felt exhausted all day. In my opinion, I don’t think this brand is worth the hype.
Four Sigmatic Mushroom Coffee
Of the three brands I feel like this one is less present on social media. However, it should be way more hyped up in the mushroom coffee community. This brand tastes just like coffee and has several different methods of preparation from instant to beans, to Keurig cups. They also have several different brews designed to let the consumer decide the main benefit they want from mushroom coffee. I tried their Happy Gut and Balance brews using the K-Cup version. Not sure if I personally felt the claimed health benefits of mushroom coffee but they both tasted so good. I would recommend this brand to people just starting to get into mushroom coffee because it is an easy transition since the caffeine levels and taste are not so different from actual coffee.
I am a huge fan of the mushroom coffee trend and depending on what brand you go with you will notice an improvement in side effects compared to coffee. I personally always have RYZE and Four Sigmatic around my house so that I can change what I need depending on what I am feeling. If you are in need of caffeine but constantly find yourself losing focus, craving sugar, or falling asleep after lunch then I highly encourage you to hop on this new trend.