The Mushroom Boom
How fungi are taking over as flavor boosters, focus enhancers and depression dampers
By Laurel-Ann Dooley
It’s not often that something over 800 million years old becomes the latest rage, but there’s no denying it: the ancient mushroom is having a moment.
From gourmet kitchens to mental health clinics, mushrooms are everywhere. “We’ve been in business for five years, and the demand has skyrocketed,” says Evan Vatave, owner of SouthernCap Mushrooms, a small-scale urban farm in southeast Atlanta. “We’ve seen increased interest from athletes, biohackers and health-conscious consumers looking for natural ways to boost performance and longevity.”
Josh Wayne, who leads mushroom foraging tours for Whole, Inc., applauds the interest in mushrooms as a step towards improved health. “Since Americans don’t tend to eat a diversity of plant or mushroom foods, any addition of edible fungi will likely lead to health benefits.”
The trendy fungi generally fall into three sometimes overlapping categories: flavorful and nutrient-rich culinary varieties, health-boosting functional mushrooms and psychedelic mushrooms known for their potential to ease depression symptoms.
La Semilla
Culinary Mushrooms in the Kitchen
Bursting with flavor, meaty in texture and packed with vitamins and minerals, culinary mushrooms are incredibly versatile in use. This group includes the most familiar players: oyster, button, porcini, chanterelle, cremini, portabello, shiitake, morel and lion’s mane.
Reid Trapani, chef and co-founder of Reynoldstown’s vegan hot spot, La Semilla, often uses mushrooms in his Cuban-inspired plant-based fare and points to lion’s mane as his favorite. “They are not only super beneficial for the brain and overall cell functionality, they’re extremely versatile,” says Trapani. “We have a plate on the menu that’s a riff on a Cuban steak using lion’s mane that’s really rich and savory and a fried mushroom plate that gives the same satisfaction as eating a piece of fried chicken.”
For Victor Boroda, Culinary Director at Arden’s Garden, shiitakes take first place, “for their meatiness and umami,” or brothy flavor. “Rounding out my top five would be morels (smoky, earthy, nutty), porcini (rich aroma, nutty, umami), maitake (earthy, meaty) and chanterelles (fruit aroma, sweet, peppery).”
Arden’s Garden has recently started offering mushroom coffee, a decision Boroda says was a no-brainer. “Ultimately, we are a health and wellness company, so integrating ingredients that have been shown to boost the body’s natural ability to heal is very important to us. I believe it also opens up a very important conversation about consuming foods that have a direct impact on your health and longevity. Food is medicine.”
Functional Mushrooms for Health
“A functional food is one that provides health benefits beyond addressing the basic macro and micro nutrient needs of the body,” explains Molly Paulson, RD LD, Clinical Instructor in Nutrition at Georgia State University. “In the case of mushrooms, this can include high levels of antioxidants, brain development and cognition. Additionally, some mushrooms have adaptogenic properties,” meaning they help the body respond to stress and restore balance.
Leading functional mushrooms and their benefits include lion’s mane (cognitive health, focus), reishi (stress relief, immunity), cordyceps (energy, endurance, metabolism) and chaga (antioxidant).
Paulson recommends eating fresh mushrooms whenever possible over consuming them via mushroom powders, capsules or tinctures, because these supplements are not regulated by the Food & Drug Administration.
When purchasing mushroom products, she advises looking for third-party testing, avoiding additives and choosing organically certified supplements to avoid pesticides.
Along with growing and selling fresh mushrooms, Vatave says SouthernCap also creates mushroom coffee and powdered extracts “to make functional mushrooms more accessible in daily routines.” Their adaptogenic coffee combines coffee from a small farm in India with their own lion’s mane and reishi to “offer a smoother energy boost without jitters, along with cognitive and immune support,” while their mushroom powder is a blend of lion’s mane, reishi and chaga, ideal for adding to broths, smoothies and coffee.
Mushroom Powerhouses
Mushrooms are packed with vitamins, antioxidants and other nutrients that support whole-body health. Here are seven standout varieties UCLA Health cites and their key benefits:
Shiitake
Boosts immunity, heart health, and overall vitality thanks to antioxidants and B vitamins.
Maitake
Supports immunity, helps regulate blood sugar and cholesterol and may aid in weight management.
Oyster
Promotes gut health and offers a solid dose of protein and essential nutrients.
Lion’s Mane
Linked to improved memory, focus and cognitive support.
Reishi
Known for stress-reducing adaptogens that promote balance and well-being.
Cordyceps
May enhance lung function and protect against allergies.
White Button
A top plant-based source of vitamin D, great for bone and immune health.
Interested in growing mushrooms at home?
Why not try a Mushroom Grow Kit?
SouthernCap Mushrooms kits are designed to be beginner-friendly and come with everything needed for cultivation. Grow kits cost $30.
Psychedelic Mushrooms to Lessen Depression
And then there is the “magic mushroom,” a term that refers to a group of fungi containing psilocybin, a compound that produces psychedelic effects when ingested.
Taking very small amounts, or microdosing, is currently popular among those seeking mental health benefits like anxiety and depression relief, increased focus and heightened creativity.
But Ali Zarrabi, MD, palliative care specialist and principal investigator of clinical trials exploring psilocybin-assisted therapy at the Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality, explains that the effects are more expectation-based than physical when it comes to microdosing.
“There’s no shortage of people who find benefit from taking microdoses of a variety of classic psychedelics,” says Zarrabi, “but what the science has shown is that it’s no better than placebo. And that’s really remarkable – it speaks to the power of belief and expectancy.”
“That’s not to necessarily state that [microdosing] is not beneficial. It’s just that the mental health benefits may actually be solely due to the placebo effect.”
Larger doses, however, have been shown to make a physiological impact affecting mental wellness that can last for months. “There’s now a growing body of evidence that psilocybin at higher doses can help with the symptoms of major depressive disorder,” says Zarrabi, as well as aiding “people facing a life-threatening illness such as cancer who feel anxiety and depressive symptoms following their diagnosis.”
Psilocybin, however, remains a Schedule 1 drug under the Controlled Substances Act, “meaning it is believed by our federal government to have no medical purpose at all,” Zarrabi explains. Several jurisdictions – Washington, Colorado and Oregon – have decriminalized it, but Georgia has not. That means that outside of participating in a clinical trial, Georgians interested in pursuing psilocybin-assisted therapy must travel to one of these states or to a location outside of the U.S., such as Costa Rica or Jamaica.
Having facilitated significant psychedelic therapy through research at Emory, Zarrabi notes an unexpected finding. “What surprised me most about these trials was not so much the psilocybin itself, but the relationships that formed between the therapists and the patients. The psychedelics give me hope not so much in their promise as pharmacologies or therapeutics, but as an avenue for our greater society to value human relationship. They are teaching us to be doctors again.”
Resources:
Arden’s Garden, ardensgarden.com
Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality, psychedelics.emory.edu
Georgia State University Nutrition, lewis.gsu.edu/nutrition
La Semilla, lasemilla.kitchen
SouthernCap Mushrooms, southerncapmushrooms.com
Whole Inc., wholeatl.org/mushrooms-and-more-atlanta-tour
