EVO+ Protein Functional Mushrooms Smooth Chocolate

Choosing the right mushroom starts with your reason for taking it. These are the questions our naturopaths ask in store.

A good fit if

• You have a specific reason in mind and want the mushroom matched to it
• You're an athlete looking at cordyceps for endurance
• You want a dual extract and know the triterpenes need alcohol to draw them out
• You'd rather buy the fruiting body than mycelium grown on grain

Check with us first if

• You're having, or have had, cancer treatment. There are case reports of serious outcomes, and reishi has only been studied alongside treatment.
• You take warfarin, especially with maitake, which carries a mandatory warning.
• You've reacted to mushrooms before, or your skin reacts easily.
• You take any medicine that affects your immune system.
• You're pregnant or breastfeeding. There's no safety information for this yet.

• Fruiting body. Best known for: The mushroom you would recognise, and what Schedule 1 species entries normally mean. Absorption: Contains the beta-glucans the species is known for. Typical use: The default if you want what the trials mostly used.
• Mycelium. Best known for: The growth stage, and where lion's mane erinacines come from. Absorption: Grown in liquid or on a solid base (substrate). Typical use: Relevant specifically for lion's mane compounds.
• Mycelium grown on grain. Best known for: Bulk material, and the format most argued about. Absorption: The mycelium is not separated from the rice or oats it grew on. Typical use: Check whether you are buying mushroom or the grain it grew on.
• Hot-water extract. Best known for: The beta-glucans. Absorption: Draws out what dissolves in water. Ratios like 8:1 are common. Typical use: The standard for immune-focused products.
• Dual extract (water and ethanol). Best known for: Adds the triterpenes, the bitter compounds found in reishi and chaga. Absorption: Two extractions rather than one. Typical use: The fuller extraction if triterpenes are what you are after.

Reference values. There's no recommended intake for any functional mushroom, because they're fungi rather than nutrients.

Typical supplemental range. Doses depend on the species and what's being studied. One review of beta-glucan pooled doses from 2.5 mg to 1,000 mg a day, taken for up to six and a half months. The lion's mane memory trial used four 250 mg tablets three times a day, 3 g a day of 96% dry powder in total, for 16 weeks.

Upper level. There's no upper limit, and Australia's permitted ingredients list (Schedule 1) sets no daily maximum for any of these species. The rules cover what's in the product and how it's taken instead: cordyceps must not contain material of animal origin such as insect larvae, and turkey tail proteoglycan concentrate is for oral use only.

Worth knowing. Match the mushroom to your reason, and check the extract type, because a hot-water extract and a dual extract aren't the same thing. What you need depends on your age, diet and health, so talk to one of our naturopaths.

Food first, where the diet allows it.

• Shiitake: eaten as food as well as taken as a supplement
• Maitake: A culinary mushroom in its own right
• Reishi, chaga and turkey tail: too woody to eat; taken as extracts

If any of these sound like you, talk to one of our naturopaths or your doctor before you start.

• You take warfarin. Maitake (item 2456) must carry the Australian warning: "Do not take while on warfarin therapy without medical advice."
• You have cancer. A review of 92 case reports found that 70% of those with a known severity had severe outcomes. Reishi has only been studied alongside standard treatment.
• Shiitake, whether raw, undercooked or as a supplement. It can cause flagellate erythema, a streaky rash that looks like whip marks.
• Lion's mane. Stomach discomfort, headache and allergic reactions have been reported, though they often go unreported.
• Reishi at higher doses. In 29 men with Gulf War Illness, symptoms were worse than on placebo at the higher dose.
• Reishi side effects overall. Over four months, people taking it were 1.67 times more likely to report one (95% CI 0.86 to 3.24, so the interval crosses 1).
• Cordyceps. Schedule 1 requires that it contains no material of animal origin, such as insect larvae.
• If you take prescription medicines, check with your doctor, pharmacist or our naturopaths before you start.