Make Room For Functional ‘Shrooms
The Best Stress Busting Food
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This article discusses the latest trends of including functional ‘shrooms or mushrooms for stress in our daily diet with a focus on alleviating stress and anxiety.
Undoubtedly, anxiety and stress in 2020 hit new heights. There were skyrocketing records of online searches for “panic”, and “anxiety”, followed by “how to stay calm” and “self-care”. This led us to round up the best natural foods that can reduce that adrenaline fatigue we feel nowadays.
The adrenal glands produce cortisol that helps maintain our blood pressure. When faced with chronic stress, these glands go into overdrive, causing hormonal imbalance resulting in adrenal insufficiency or fatigue.
While the best method to deal with this is to reduce exposure to stressful situations, adding foods in our daily diet that assist our body to deal with this strain is a good idea too.
There are many adaptogenic foods that are good for reducing adrenal fatigue, and you can learn more about them here.
Mushrooms for Stress: The Role of Psychedelic Mushrooms in Mental Health.
No, we're not talking about your regular White Button or Portobello mushrooms, but the kind that gives you a head trip. Scientists are studying the therapeutic effects of psilocybin mushrooms or ‘shrooms as they are popularly called. About 16 million Americans suffer from depression, out of which a third are already resistant to common medications. Psilocybin trials at John Hopkins University show a significant reduction in depression and anxiety and PTSD.
How Does Mushroom Affect Your Brain?
In 2019, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted permission for studies using psilocybin for treating major depressive disorders. One study found that people who took psilocybin as a form of therapy showed an increase in their brain connectivity during and after treatment. The “opening up” effect was related to their self-reported improvements in their anxiety and depression.
After successfully traveling through the wellness niche to a mainstream pipeline, mushrooms are set to get more “magical” with the prospect of wider legalization of psychedelics.
An adaptogen craze in 2020 meant that you will now find mushroom in just about anything, including coffee, tea, vegan jerky and even personal care and pharmaceutical products. The functional mushroom market worldwide is worth close to $23 billion this year, with an estimated annual growth rate of 5.6% by 2026. With legal functional mushrooms being touted for their health benefits, the latest development on psychedelic legalization in Oregon has wellness startups in this industry closely waiting and watching the potential shroom opportunity.
Disclaimer
Psilocybin is by large an illegal substance and we do not encourage or condone its use where it is against the law. The information in this article is strictly for informational purposes.
Foraging Mushrooms in Texas
Texas is home to more than 10,000 varieties of mushrooms, including medicinal mushrooms for depression. Not all of these are safe for human consumption, therefore it is incredibly important that you confirm the identity of any mushroom that you find foraging.
The Texas Wild Mushrooming Club and the Central Texas Mycology Society are great places where you can meet up with fungi enthusiasts and learn more about safely foraging and identifying these wonderful creations.
How Can We Benefit With ‘Functional ‘Shrooms’?
Functional or Adaptogenic Mushrooms are basically segmented into:
Reishi
Cordyceps
Lion’s Mane
Shiitake
Chaga
Turkey Tail
Others
Lion's mane and Reishi have been mainstays in wellness circles for quite some time now. But the pandemic created a sudden pique of interest in the potential of mushrooms for stress and anxiety. The organic immunity elixirs health & wellness brands are formulating have consumers hooked on.
Functional ‘Shroom Products That Are Gaining Popularity
For long, taste was long a barrier to mainstream acceptance of functional mushrooms. However, product innovation has made these potent fungi much more friendly to our palette. You can now find the very calming Reishi mushrooms incorporated in chocolates by our very own Texan chocolatier, SRSLY Chocolate. Revival Mushroom offers a cordyceps liquid tincture to be taken orally as is or in your preferred drink. This product has had quite a few outstanding reviews as well. Fallen Oak Mycology has a very unique Chaga mushroom coffee that is known for anti-ageing and supporting immunity-the need of the hour.
What’s better is that you can even grow your own mushrooms for stress with at home mushroom cultivating kits! Companies like Midnight Mushroom Co. offer Mini Mushroom Farm Kits that are simple to put together and grow!
Mushrooms for stress are on the way to becoming a major health and wellness trend in 2021 with highly popular healthy shots, lattes, skin care serums, face masks, and more already on the scene.
Mad About Mushroom 2021 Contest
If you like me, love cooking up a fungal feast with these umamilicious ‘shrooms, you need to check out the Mad About Mushrooms happening in January 2021. Send in your recipe entries featuring mushrooms for stress here and follow the link for more info!
