Mushroom coffee and Anxiety

Gardenstater wrote: »

What kind of mushroom coffee blend do you drink? What's in it? I've been taking turkey tail mushroom powder for immune boosting/cancer prevention but I guess that doesn't have a calming effect or else I would've noticed it, nor does it have caffeine.

I'm addicted to caffeinated coffee and I recently slipped up and went back to 2 mugs from 1 and I need to go back to 1. It is a pretty good rule to not drink it after 12 pm, at least for me, if I want to not have difficulty staying asleep.

Jstas wrote: »

I don't know why I'm posting in this thread as I always get ignored but while Ryze has a neat set of commercials with the animated mushroom dude, make no mistake, many of the "mushroom coffee" products are not just mushrooms.

Ryze, for instance:

Ryze Mushroom Coffee contains a blend of organic Arabica coffee and six types of medicinal mushrooms: Cordyceps, Lion's Mane, Reishi, Shiitake, Turkey Tail, and King Trumpet. It also includes organic MCT oil and coconut milk, providing various health benefits such as sustained energy and improved focus.

About the only ingredient in that mix that has been shown, clinically, to have health benefits in regards to anxiety, stress and depression is Lion's Mane:

Lion's mane mushrooms may help with cognitive health, reduce inflammation, and alleviate symptoms of anxiety and depression.

The science on it is not completely "settled" though as there's still questions about the mechanisms that create these health benefits. The main thing I have seen about Lion's Mane is that it has been shown to have impacts on reducing cortisol levels which is a necessary hormone in your system but excessive amounts creates stress and anxiety and "the jitters". It's also a source of inflammation that leads to things like hypertension and even cardiac events of multiple varieties. Too much Lion's Mane can create a situation where you are too low on cortisol and that can mess up your glucose response which will mimic diabetes. It's also why if you have to be on a steroid of any kind, they tell you quit it with the Lion's Mane 'cause it reduces the effectiveness of the medication.

More on Lion's Mane:

They are also believed to support nerve growth and improve overall brain function, although more research is needed to confirm these benefits in humans.

This is due to the anti-inflammatory aspect of Lion's Mane but, like the quote says, the research has not been verified. So take it with a grain of salt. The anti-inflammatory nature of Lion's Mane lends credence to the concept but it hasn't been proven out. Inflammation can hamper growth and healing which is why things like NSAID drugs (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug, i.e.: ibuprofen, aspirin, etc.) are prescribed for injury pain instead of things like Acetaminophen.

There's no clinical proof that the other mushrooms. including Turkey Tail and King Trumpet, in any of the blends have any significant impact on health for immuno-responses, cancer prevention or metabolism outside of the antioxidants they carry. Antioxidants are not miracle drugs. While they do occur naturally and they have been proven to have affects on your health, they are not the magic bullet against things like cancer and immunocompromising diseases.

Anyway, the mushroom coffees often contain a significant amount of actual coffee in a lighter roast which tends to carry the most caffeine levels of any roast level. There is no edible mushroom on this planet that contains caffeine of any kind. Any "mushroom coffee", especially ones that claim "all natural ingredients" get the caffeine from coffee beans, cocoa beans, tea leaves, kola nuts or a number of flowering evergreens in the Rubiaceae family from South America. Not all of the caffeine sources are edible without extensive processing. Caffeine can be produced through chemistry labs but it's not "natural". Synthetic caffeine is what is used in most food products that have "added caffeine" because there is no natural source in the product's ingredients.

Almost all synthetic caffeine is created in labs by Chinese drug makers from petroleum products. The "naturally added caffeine" may still be added caffeine because no caffeine exists naturally in the product but the "natural" part means they collected the by-product of decaffeinated products and used that to caffeinate the product they "added naturally".

I could keep going on that as I did a ton of research on it a few years ago why my doc threatened to put me on blood pressure medication because I was "pre-hypertensive". I was "pre-hypertensive" only because they changed the standard minimum on what hypertensive was. The doc suggested mushroom coffee instead and I found out what a crock of hoohah the mushroom coffee actually is.

So, back to "mushroom coffee". It's just coffee with mushrooms in it. They use light roasts because they are cheaper and still pack a caffeine punch in smaller amounts of the coffee. The mushrooms are there for filler because, again, CHEAP. You can grow mushrooms in a shed with no lights and they will grow like wildfire. The only reason mushrooms are so expensive to buy is because the farmers have to recoup all the costs associated with the inspections and regulations around mushroom farming. That's because you can easily kill someone if you aren't paying attention to what you are doing. A good mushroom can actually get infected with spores from a bad mushroom or molds and they will be just as dangerous as the actual bad mushroom and it's REALLY hard to tell without testing in a lab. If a batch has even one test sample test positive, they trash the WHOLE batch because they can't tell how far the infection spread. Then they have to disinfect and sterilize that entire grow operation to make sure the bad stuff doesn't resurface and ruin another batch. So, yeah, you want a commercial mushroom license, you're gonna fork over out your nose.

The mushrooms do bring a variety of nutrients with them in various forms of vitamins and minerals so it's not like they are empty calories or something. They just don't have any of the properties that are claimed outside of what a B-complex vitamin dose will get you. But even then, those B-vitamins are in such low concentrations that they wouldn't affect anything measurably in your system. Besides that, the B-vitamins that are found naturally in higher enough concentrations to affect mood and metabolism are found in sun-loving plants and the meat of animals that eat those sun-loving plants. Both of which are not mushrooms.

So don't go believing the hype about the "mushroom coffee" products. They are still actual coffee and if you want the actual coffee taste with the reduced caffeine and other compounds, get yourself a dark roast coffee. Depending on the roast and bean type a dark roast can have as much as 25% less caffeine than a light or medium roast of the same blend.

Best part is, it tastes like coffee 'cause it's coffee.

As far as stress an anxiety goes, it's not wholly diet dependent and the solution isn't found in a bottle. Stress is an environmental response. Yeah, foods and drinks can exacerbate that stress response but they are rarely the only cause. You need to figure out what is bugging you so much and address it. Is it money? Well, plan better. Find out if your bank that you have your accounts at has financial planning help. Most do and many of them are fiduciaries, not financial consultants. They can help you get a handle on your finances. Is it work? Well, what's bugging you there? Too many hours? Underpaid? Uncertain future? Only you can fix that. It requires talking to your boss, talking to your spouse, figuring out what's missing that makes work a stress factor. Maybe even changing jobs or whole career paths to something less volatile? I dunno, only you can answer that. Is it home life? Again, you gotta talk to people there. A therapist can help, especially if you feel like you can't talk to those who are the source of your stress. Or, maybe you're just in your own head too much? Again, a therapist can help here as well. If you're already seeing a therapist and you're not getting the help you need, it's time to find a new therapist that isn't telling you what you want to hear just to collect your money. Find one that is going to tell you what is hard to hear. It'll suck, it'll hurt but we grow through pain even if the growth is just learning not to do that painful thing again.

But banking the farm on a mushroom coffee being the cure for your stress, anxiety and depression is a path to failure. You're only treating a symptom, not the actual cause.

You're better off exercising more and changing your diet instead of substituting one bad habit for another.

halo71 wrote: »

I use to take 2 anxiety meds and a blood pressure med. For several years. Changed my diet and ate better, tried to exercise more, cut way way back on alcohol, Quit drinking any soda, cut out sugar as much as possible. That did help I do believe. But didn't solve things.

In the end the cure? DIVORCE!!!! After she left and the meds ran out i never had them refilled. Just quit taking them. And within 4 months I was feeling so much better. I've been divorced 8 years now. I am 54 and do not take any meds now.

halo71 wrote: »

Thats a crazy short story

May sound crazy, but its true!