Mushroom Coffee Benefits: What the Research Supports

Mushroom coffee is everywhere right now: in your feed, in your friend's pantry, maybe already in your cart. Before you check out, you want to know whether the mushrooms do anything, or whether you're paying extra for coffee with a good story.

Fair question. Mushroom coffee benefits depend on which mushroom, how much of it, and who took it. Lion's mane and cordyceps have both been tested in small human trials, each with its own dose and its own limits, and a well-made label gives you enough to judge any bag yourself.

Mushroom Coffee Benefits at a Glance

Mushroom coffee is regular coffee, usually instant, ground, or a latte powder, blended with dried mushroom extracts. These are functional mushrooms, also called medicinal mushrooms, and they're a separate group from the culinary mushrooms you'd slice into a stir-fry.

They're also unrelated to psilocybin, so nothing in the cup is psychedelic. The five you'll see most often are lion's mane (Hericium erinaceus), cordyceps (usually Cordyceps militaris, though some research uses a cultivated strain derived from Cordyceps sinensis), reishi (Ganoderma lucidum), chaga (Inonotus obliquus), and turkey tail (Trametes versicolor).

Most mushroom coffees taste like coffee, with a little extra earthiness at most.

Each of the mushroom trials below studied a supplement at a set daily dose. None of them studied mushroom coffee.

Where the Benefits Come From

Every functional mushroom carries its own compounds. Beta-glucans, a type of polysaccharide, show up across nearly all of them. Reishi is known for triterpenes, lion's mane for hericenones and erinacines, and cordyceps, especially Cordyceps militaris, for cordycepin.

Those compounds sit inside tough mushroom cell walls, and extraction is how they get out. Hot water does most of that work. A dual extraction adds a second pass with alcohol. Our page on the science behind our formulas explains how we think about dosing and absorption.

Two numbers tell you how concentrated an extract is. The extract ratio, such as 10:1, describes how much dried mushroom went into each unit of finished extract. Beta-glucan percentage tells you how much of that extract is the compound researchers measure most.

A good label also says whether the mushroom is fruiting body (the cap and stem), mycelium (the root-like network underneath), or both.

Mushroom Coffee Benefits by Mushroom

1) Caffeine and the Jitters

Caffeine in a mushroom coffee comes from the coffee in it. How much coffee a blend uses per serving decides how much caffeine you get, and that varies widely by brand, so check the label before you assume anything.

For a reference point, the FDA lists a typical 12-ounce cup of regular brewed coffee at 113 to 247 milligrams of caffeine. For most adults, the FDA has cited 400 milligrams a day, about two to three 12-ounce cups of coffee, as an amount not generally associated with negative effects.

If a second mug leaves you wired, or an afternoon cup lingers into your evening, a blend with less coffee per serving is the simplest adjustment.

2) Lion's Mane and Focus

Lion's mane is the mushroom most often sold for focus and memory. In a 2023 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot, 41 healthy adults aged 18 to 45 took 1.8 grams of lion's mane a day in capsules or a placebo. An hour after a single dose, the lion's mane group was faster on the Stroop task, a test of attention.

The same study also ran 28 days of daily use. Subjective stress trended lower in the lion's mane group, though the overall effect fell just short of statistical significance. Results on word-recall tasks were mixed, and with 41 participants, the researchers described the findings as tentative and called for larger studies.

Much of the research interest in lion's mane centers on two groups of compounds, hericenones and erinacines, which have been linked to nerve growth factor (NGF) and nerve cell health in lab and animal studies. Those early findings are part of why researchers are now testing lion's mane in people.

3) Cordyceps and Exercise Capacity

Cordyceps is usually marketed for energy and for how well your body uses oxygen during exercise. In a 2010 double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot, healthy adults aged 50 to 75 took 333 milligrams of Cs-4, a cultivated cordyceps strain derived from Cordyceps sinensis, or a placebo three times a day for 12 weeks. Twenty people enrolled and 15 finished.

In the Cs-4 group, metabolic threshold rose 10.5 percent and ventilatory threshold rose 8.5 percent, with no significant change in the placebo group. Both measure how your body handles effort as it gets harder. VO2 max, the top end of oxygen use, didn't change.

A 2017 trial gave 28 recreationally active adults, average age about 23, 4 grams a day of a mushroom blend built around Cordyceps militaris. After one week, changes weren't significantly different from placebo, though time to exhaustion rose within the mushroom group. In an exploratory three-week phase with 10 volunteers, VO2 max improved in the mushroom group compared with placebo, and time to exhaustion also rose within the mushroom group.

Results depend on who's taking it. In a 2004 study of 22 endurance-trained male cyclists, 3.15 grams a day of Cs-4 (two capsules three times a day) for five weeks didn't change VO2 peak, ventilatory threshold, or time-trial performance, so the more encouraging results so far come from older adults and recreational exercisers rather than trained athletes.

4) Reishi and Calm

Reishi has centuries of use in traditional Chinese medicine as a tonic for calm and vitality, and it's the mushroom you'll most often find in evening drinks. Researchers studying it focus mainly on its triterpenes and polysaccharides, and the triterpenes are behind reishi's bitter taste. Reishi is also in our Blueberry Cobbler Latte, a completely caffeine-free Evening blend built around magnesium, 5-HTP, and chamomile.

What Else Is in the Cup

Many mushroom coffees are full drinks with long ingredient lists, so the way you feel after a cup may come from the coffee, the add-ins, or both.

L-theanine, an amino acid found in tea, is a common partner for caffeine. In a 2008 trial of 27 healthy adults, 100 milligrams of L-theanine taken with 50 milligrams of caffeine improved both speed and accuracy on an attention-switching task at 60 minutes and reduced distraction during a memory task at 60 and 90 minutes.

Other frequent additions include adaptogens like rhodiola and Panax ginseng, MCT oil powder, creatine, and B vitamins. Coconut milk or creamer gives latte-style blends their body. Sweeteners vary a lot, and if you drink one every day, sugar and creamer add up quickly.

Our Mochanut Latte starts with flavor: rich mocha and coconut, creamy enough to feel like a café order. Behind it are balanced caffeine from organic Arabica coffee, L-theanine, and lion's mane, plus cordyceps, reishi, chaga, and turkey tail. It's naturally sweetened with monk fruit and allulose.

You can read what each one is there for on our Ingredients page.

How to Read a Mushroom Coffee Label

Start with whether the label shows each ingredient's amount. A proprietary blend gives one total weight for a group of ingredients, so you can't tell how much of any single mushroom is in your scoop.

Once you can see individual amounts, look for:

• Milligrams of each mushroom per serving

• Fruiting body, mycelium, or both

• Extract ratio and beta-glucan percentage

• Where the caffeine comes from (coffee, matcha, or none)

• Added sugar and calories per serving

• Third-party testing

Plenty of supplement labels hide doses inside proprietary blends. We list every ingredient on its own on the Supplement Facts panel of our Mochanut Latte, so you can check the amounts for yourself.

Every batch goes to an independent, third-party lab, where it's checked for purity, potency, and safety. We make our blends in America, in FDA-registered facilities that follow Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMP).

Side Effects and Who Should Skip It

Four things to know before mushroom drinks become a daily habit:

1. Coffee and your gut

In a 1990 study, 29 percent of healthy volunteers said coffee made them need to go, and in those people both regular and decaf coffee increased activity in the lower colon within about four minutes.

Since decaf had the effect too, caffeine alone doesn't explain it, though a 1998 study found caffeinated coffee's effect on the colon was 23 percent stronger than decaf's. A mushroom coffee can send you to the bathroom the same way a regular cup can.

2. Chaga and your kidneys

Chaga is high in oxalates, and a handful of case reports link heavy, long-term use to kidney injury. In a 2020 report, a man developed end-stage kidney disease after about five years of taking chaga powder.

In another case report, a man who took 10 to 15 grams of chaga powder a day, along with 500 milligrams of vitamin C, for three months developed acute kidney injury and recovered after treatment. If you've had kidney stones or kidney problems, check with your healthcare provider before chaga becomes a regular habit.

3. Reishi and your liver

Reishi is generally well tolerated, and the NIH's LiverTox database notes only a small number of case reports linking it to liver injury. If you have a liver condition, check with your healthcare provider before adding it to your routine.

4. Caffeine totals and medications

Caffeine from mushroom coffee counts toward your daily total like any other cup. If you're pregnant, nursing, or taking medication, especially blood thinners, blood pressure medication, or immunosuppressants, talk with your healthcare provider first. It's the same caution we give for our own blends.

Common Questions About Mushroom Coffee

Is It Safe to Drink Mushroom Coffee Every Day?

For a daily habit, the questions that matter are about totals. Stick to the serving size on the label, count caffeine from every source in your day, and keep track of how much chaga you take in over months. If you take medication, run it by your healthcare provider.

Does Mushroom Coffee Help With Weight Loss or Belly Fat?

Look at calories per serving. A plain mushroom and black coffee powder adds very few. Latte-style blends with coconut milk, MCT oil, or creamer carry more, and a sweetened coffee-shop drink can carry more again. Weight change comes down to those calories alongside everything else you eat and drink.

Does Mushroom Coffee Make You Poop?

It can. Coffee, including decaf, gets the colon moving within minutes for some people, so a mushroom coffee can have the same effect a regular cup would.

Does Mushroom Coffee Break a Fast?

That depends on how strict your fast is and what's in the blend. A plain mushroom and black coffee powder has so few calories that many people treat it as fasting-friendly. Latte-style blends with coconut milk, MCT oil, or sugar have real calories and break a strict fast.

Mushroom Coffee vs. Regular Coffee

Regular coffee has a large body of research of its own. A 2017 umbrella review in The BMJ found coffee generally safe at usual intakes, except during pregnancy and for women at higher risk of fracture, and more often associated with benefit than harm. Most of those findings come from observational studies, so they show associations, not cause and effect.

Day to day, the differences you'll notice are caffeine per serving, taste and format, price, and whatever else is in the scoop.

Switching to a coffee alternative makes the most sense if you want to cut back on caffeine and keep the ritual of a morning cup, or if you'd like one drink to cover your coffee and a few separate supplements. If regular coffee already sits well with you, the reasons to switch are flavor and the add-ins you want.

If you'd rather take your functional mushrooms in the afternoon, our Midday blend, Matcha Strawberry Lemonade, is a bright, tart refresher with natural caffeine from organic matcha. It also brings rhodiola and ginseng, plus lion's mane, cordyceps, reishi, and chaga.

Before a Bag Goes in Your Cart

Check it for milligrams of each mushroom, where the caffeine comes from, and added sugar. A label that shows those details tells you what's in every scoop, and a proprietary blend leaves you guessing.

If you want to try ours, the Daily Bundle brings our Morning, Midday, and Evening blends together in one daily ritual. You can see every blend, plus our frother and tumbler, on All Products. Our mushroom coffee also makes an excellent wellness gift for the health nut in your life!