As a fungus, mushrooms are widely revered for their nutritional benefits. Packed full of flavor and offering umami notes in dishes, mushrooms are an excellent source of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants while being low-calorie and fat free! So it should come as no surprise that mushrooms have enjoyed such a resurgence as part of wellness: you can now find them in powders, capsules, tonics and even gummies! Mushrooms have long been used in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine; now you can even get them in coffee form! Mushroom coffee has quickly become an acclaimed beverage. People claim that it provides several health advantages, including improved sleep, greater energy levels and stronger immunity. Some brands even advertise its ability to help people lose weight since its lower caffeine content allows people to better focus.

Actually, there is little evidence supporting mushroom coffee’s claims. Mushroom coffee combines traditional coffee grounds with extracts from medicinal mushrooms like Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus), Chaga (Inonotus obliquus), Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) or Cordyceps militaris. Mushrooms may be dried and ground into powder in order to concentrate their bioactive compounds, which results in flavors similar to regular coffee yet often with slight earthier or nuttier notes.

Most blends contain no more than 250 to 500 mg of mushroom extract per cup, far below the doses used in scientific studies that have demonstrated real benefits. Furthermore, there’s no evidence to indicate that medicinal properties of mushrooms are preserved by mixing with coffee; rather, you might benefit more by enjoying whole mushrooms as food or taking supplements containing them to get their wellness effects.

Concerns with mushroom coffee include its potential to aggravate digestion in those who suffer from kidney conditions or gluten sensitivity, as well as being high in oxalates – which may increase risk for kidney stones – so before switching from your traditional cup of joe to this weird-sounding beverage it would be wise to speak to either your physician or dietitian first.

What Is Mushroom Coffee‘s Purpose? While some companies advertise that their mushroom coffee product is caffeine-free, it’s important to remember that most of its blend still consists of coffee grounds. Depending on which type of mushroom used, this might not be an issue for some; but those sensitive to caffeine could find this a problem. Furthermore, most of the benefits attributed to mushroom coffee have been proven through preclinical animal models; therefore more human research needs to be completed to truly comprehend its true potential as an functional beverage beverage.