Kate Harrison explains why she loves Mushroom coffee in this Ryze Mushroom Coffee review. The question is, does she love Ryze Mushroom Coffee? Find out the answer to that and all your other questions around this daily ‘drink with benefits’ below…
We all like a caffeine pick me up from time to time. That first coffee of the day, the midmorning cup of tea, your afternoon fix. It gives you more energy, sharpens your mind, lifts your mood, and just generally allows you to get on with your day with a bit more of a spring in your step.
However, overloading yourself with caffeine isn’t great.
For starters, you adapt to it very quickly. As with any stimulant or similar drug, over time you will find yourself needing ever increasing doses to elicit the same effects. That morning cup becomes two. That single espresso becomes a double, and so on.
Secondly, caffeine is fantastically healthy… in small doses. As we adapt and need more, we use increasingly higher doses, which can become very unhealthy. It can create energy crashes, low mood and depression, irritability, anxiety, and can interrupt your sleep patterns, actually making you more tired over time.
A solution is needed. Accordingly, we are seeing the rise in mushroom coffees.
One of the best comes from RYZE, a fantastic company offering us an alternative to our standard, heart thumping morning black coffees. RYZE Mushroom Coffee has a range of healthy mushrooms blended into it. They are adaptogenic, which means a mellower, longer lasting high. They should leave you with a calmer kind of energy boost, with improved focus and mood, as well as giving us a clear mind. All this and it also supports your immune health.
It has half the amount of coffee, and thus caffeine, in it than you would usually expect. This means no anxiety or nervousness, no drastic energy spikes, no jitters, and no crash. It is smooth and creamy, great tasting (which I was surprised about when I first tried out mushroom coffee), and, overall, pretty clever.
I’ll explain more below in my full RYZE Mushroom Coffee review.
RYZE Mushroom Coffee Explained
On the face of it, RYZE Mushroom Coffee is exactly what you think it is. It is a powdered drink, like powdered coffee, made from several types of functional mushrooms and coffee, with a little medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil added in for extra, longer lasting, clean energy.
You brew it and drink it exactly as you would a regular cup of coffee. Just this way there is less caffeine and more mushroom. It is far higher in nutrients than a regular cup of coffee. All taken together, this means a boost to energy, focus, and immune health.
As I mentioned above, I was surprised the first time I tried mushroom coffee – I forget which brand it was. In general, mushroom coffee is quite nice. RYZE Mushroom Coffee certainly is.
It doesn’t taste like coffee. Or, at least, it doesn’t taste exactly and only like coffee. The coffee part is layered with a subtle, earthy flavor. It is smooth and creamy, far more so than other brands I’ve tried, which is apparently due to the MCT oil. As a type of fat, MCT oil making it smooth and creamy is no surprise.
RYZE are based in the US. Their offices are all in Boston, MA, which is where they are registered, but their coffee is blended and shipped from Texas. All of their mushrooms are grown in California, and all of their coffee beans and MCT oil are sourced from around the US. Their mushrooms are certified organic – though, it should be noted, the coffee beans and MCT oil are not.
The Benefits of Ryze Mushroom Coffee
RYZE Mushroom Coffee gives pretty much the same benefits as any other mushroom coffee. As we’ve already seen, it gives you a smoother, more mellow high. There is no heart pounding energy kick involved with it. You get about half the amount of coffee per cup as a regular cup of coffee would give you.
Instead, you get slow-release energy, clarity and focus, with no jitters, no anxiety, and no energy crashes making you forever reliant on the next cup.
As we will see, the ingredient list is fantastic. I’ll get into some more detail on what each element brings to the table below. For now, however, suffice it to say that you will get a good load of antioxidants, a boost to your immune health, and some high quality fats with each cup.
RYZE Mushroom Coffee by no means dominates the market. There are plenty of good quality products from decent brands out there. For instance, I quite like Four Sigmatic’s mushroom coffees. They make four of them, all with different purported benefits (I particularly like their Lion’s Mane blend as a good nootropic).
However, most of RYZE’s competitors make coffee to brew. You will need a filter coffee maker, Moka pot, espresso maker, cafetière, or something similar to make the most of it. You’ll need a little time on your hands, to be tied to one place, and you’ll need to know what you’re doing.
RYZE is instant coffee, however. I wouldn’t generally go for this – I typically work from home, where I have several brewing implements, a fair amount of time, and a good dollop of know-how and snobbery. I don’t drink instant.
I was therefore doubly surprised by RYZE.
Not only is it a good tasting coffee made in part from mushrooms, it is also an instant coffee powder that makes a genuinely lovely cup of coffee. The blend, breakdown, and MCT oil all combine to make it silky and fresh.
RYZE also give you more than a simple bag of mushroom coffee. Their founders are incredibly keen on mindfulness, and they like to share this passion and the knowledge they have.
First off, there is a RYZE app. You get lifetime access to their HOW I RYZE mindfulness service when you join up. It is easy to navigate and free to all members. It helps you learn how to practice mindfulness and gratitude, which pairs very nicely with the slow-release energy and mental clarity that their mushroom coffee offers. It’s an SMS based journal filled with prompts to help you motivate yourself, grow your inner awareness, and find gratitude in your daily life.
They take this further still, bringing mindfulness practice to the next generation. They donate a small percentage of their sales to funding mindfulness education in schools. This is done through a partnership with the non-profit organization Mindfulness First, who offer programs focussing on Mindful Awareness and Social-Emotional Learning to children.
RYZE Mushroom Coffee Ingredients
This is where it gets good. The ingredients that go into each cup of RYZE Mushroom Coffee are fantastic. The inclusion of six different medicinal mushrooms sets it apart from any of its competition, as does its use of high-quality medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil. As above, all the ingredients together should give you the lasting energy you need whilst also supporting healthy immune function.
Most of it all revolves around the 2,000 mg per serving mushroom blend, of course.
We have only really scratched the surface in looking at the medicinal and long-term health benefits of mushrooms. They have been used for thousands of years in traditional forms of medicine. However, a lot of the claims made about them are founded largely on anecdotal evidence or received wisdom – we’ll need to wait a few years for them to be completely validated by the scientific community.
RYZE don’t give a breakdown of their mushroom blend. We know how much we get in total – 2,000 mg per serving. However, we can’t know how much of each mushroom is in each, nor the consistency with which each mushroom type is dosed.
The mushrooms themselves are great, however – they are intelligent, worthwhile inclusions in RYZE’s formula.
The Mushroom Blend
We begin with one of my favorite supplement ingredients, Cordyceps Sinensis, or cordyceps mushroom. It has been used for at least three centuries in Chinese medicine, granting relief from fatigue and low mood. It is also used to treat other health concerns like kidney problems and chesty coughs, though I’m not sure on the validity of this.
Either way, it has been shown to be remarkably effective for combatting fatigue. A study from five years ago showed that athletes can raise their tolerance to high intensity training after just three weeks of taking it. The hypothesis is that it improves oxygen use efficiency within the body.
Taking it daily in your coffee can therefore improve how your body uses oxygen, giving you more energy overall and boosting your athleticism where relevant.
Then there is Ganoderma lucidum, or Reishi mushrooms. These too have been used in various forms of traditional Asian medicine. They have a slightly longer pedigree than the cordyceps mushroom, though, as use is thought to date from at least two thousand years ago. Western science is now beginning to verify many of the claims associated with it.
In one study, cancer survivors who took 1,000 mg of Reishi spore powder three times per day for a month reported significantly reduced levels of stress and anxiety. Their liver and kidney functions improved compared to the placebo group.
Reishi mushrooms are also known for their potential to boost immune function, particularly where that function is impaired. It is being touted in medical circles as a potential treatment for several forms of cancer.
Next up, we have King Trumpet, or Pleurotus eryngii. There is very little scientific investigation into it. As such, there is no real evidence attesting to its efficacy. However, as with the two ingredients above, King Trumpet has a rich history of use in traditional medicine across Europe and Asia. It is thought to help heal wounds, improve immune health, and fight cancer, in much the same way Reishi mushrooms do.
We do know for sure that King Trumpet mushrooms are rich in the phytonutrient ergothioneine. Ergothioneine is a potent antioxidant which should defend the body against free radical damage and the effects of aging.
We’ve all tried eating Shiitake Mushrooms, a Japanese delicacy served around the world. Those of us old enough to have laughed our teenage years away to Austin Powers will definitely know what we’ve got here.
Shiitake mushrooms really excel as a health ingredient, though. They are rich in several vitamins and minerals. These include pantothenic acid and the B vitamin niacin, both of which aid in energy production within the body, and copper, which also aids in energy production, is central to brain development, and gives immune function a lift.
There is good research into shiitake mushrooms’ benefits for immune health.
Next up we come to another of my favorite supplement ingredients, the nootropic Hericium erinaceus, or Lion’s Mane Mushroom. Lion’s Mane Mushrooms are known to support cognitive function and focus. They are currently being investigated as a potential treatment for neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
Some research suggests that they help the brain maintain its health long term by stimulating the growth and maintenance of nerve cells.
Finally, the mushroom blend contains Trametes versicolor, or Turkey Tail Mushrooms. The feed the microbiome with their polysaccharide content, which in turn supports and greatly enhances immune function and healthy gut bacteria formation.
It is also thought to be a good potential treatment for gastric cancer.
MCTs and Coffee
The mushroom blend is less than half the total formula, however. It’s a potent 1/3. However, we can’t forget the MCTs and Coffee.
We all know what we want coffee for, right? Caffeine. It gives us energy and supports cognitive function.
You get 48 mg of caffeine per serving with RYZE Mushroom Coffee. This is about half what you can expect from an average cup of coffee. This is enough to perk you up, for sure, but without pushing you into jittery, nervous territory. Combined with the mushroom blend, the energy boost will also be longer lasting than you would get with a standard cup of coffee, meaning you won’t need cup after cup.
Coffee itself is also rich in antioxidants, which further RYZE Mushroom Coffee’s free-radical fighting credentials.
We finish this list with medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), a favorite of ketogenic evangelists. It is a high-quality chain of fatty acids taken from coconut oil. It both adds a creamy, silky, texture and mild (very mild) coconut taste to the end brew and brings about a raft of health benefits.
It may give you a small amount of energy. This will be more pronounced for those following ketogenic diets, where ketones form their bodies’ main energy source.
MCTs may also improve endurance during exercise, though this has only been shown in animal studies. Data from human trials needs to be collected before we can say this with any kind of certainty.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- It contains a small amount of caffeine, giving you an energy boost without overloading you as more traditional forms of coffee might
- Can bring about lasting energy
- Antioxidant and immune boosting properties for lasting health
- The mushrooms all have a range of evidence showing their health claims, scientific and/or anecdotal
- Safe for people with food allergies
- Includes organic ingredients
- Well priced compared to the competition
- As an instant coffee, it’s far more practical and easier to use on a daily basis, no matter your lifestyle
- The taste isn’t too dissimilar from standard more types of coffee
Cons
- Harder, more reliable scientific data is needed to support some claims
- The exact amount of each mushroom included is unknown
- More expensive than standard coffee
- Instant coffee isn’t to everyone’s taste
- The caffeine content may still be unsuitable for some people
How to Take Ryze Mushroom Coffee
As an instant coffee, RYZE Mushroom Coffee is a lot easier to take and use than many of its competitors’ products. You don’t need specialist equipment – no Moka pot or cafetiere at the office, no fancy espresso machines. Just a kettle, spoon and cup (and even the spoon isn’t strictly necessary!)
Simply mix a single scoop (about one tablespoon) into a mug of hot water. You can use whatever sweeteners, sugars, syrups, or milks you like, mixing to taste. I would suggest trying it neat, however – the MCT oil gives you all the creaminess you could want, and it’s sweet and tasty enough without having to add excess sugar.
I love RYZE’s website. They have plenty of information on there, so you should be able to learn all you need to know about their product (though I’ve covered most of it today). Their recipe list really caught my eye, however. They have dozens of recipes of things you can make using RYZE Mushroom Powder, far above and beyond a simple cup of coffee.
They have recipes for everything from breakfast bars to hazelnut and chocolate balls. It’s a foodie’s heaven.
There are very few side effects associated with RYZE Mushroom Coffee and the ingredients included in its formula. It is likely safe for most people, though long term effects are currently unknown.
RYZE Mushroom Coffee contains mushrooms and coconut oil. If you’re allergic to either of these, you should obviously avoid it. For the rest of us, that MCT oil may still cause some gastrointestinal discomfort, especially in the early days. You might find yourself getting bloated, suffering from nausea and stomach cramps, and seeing your appetite change a little.
All effects are mild, though.
As above, you get about half the amount of caffeine in one cup of RYZE Mushroom Coffee compared to a regular cup of coffee, at about 48 mg on average. This is a light dose for most people. However, if you are sensitive to caffeine, under the age of sixteen, pregnant or breastfeeding, you might want to avoid it.
If you have any concerns about using RYZE Mushroom Coffee, speak to your healthcare provider, especially if you have any underlying health conditions.
FAQs
Does RYZE Mushroom Coffee taste like coffee?
RYZE Mushroom Coffee does taste like coffee, sort of. It has about half the amount of coffee per serving as a regular cup. This means that the coffee taste is obviously less strong. The mushrooms and MCT oil also offer their own flavors. The mushrooms don’t taste of mushroom, luckily. Rather, they just give the overall taste a bit of an earthy tone. The MCT oil makes everything creamy and silky smooth.
How strong is RYZE Mushroom Coffee?
RYZE Mushroom Coffee contains an average of around 48 mg of caffeine per serving. This is about half what you would get in a regular cup of coffee.
How good is mushroom coffee for you?
The caffeine content is dosed well, giving you plenty of health benefits. It is neither too high nor too low. In addition, the antioxidants and other compounds in the mushrooms should aid long term energy and immune health whilst delivering anti-aging, free-radical fighting benefits.
Does mushroom coffee do anything?
Mushroom coffee does a lot. First of all, products like RYZE Mushroom Coffee still do contain coffee and, thus, caffeine. In RYZE’s case, it’s an average of around 48 mg of caffeine per serving. This is about half what you would get in a regular cup of coffee. The mushrooms also give you energy whilst aiding long term health.
Verdict
I like mushroom coffee far more than I ever thought I would. From the first time I tried it, I have been surprised at how nice it is. I speak as a coffee snob who drinks plenty of it, strong and black, every day.
RYZE Mushroom Coffee is surprising on two fronts, therefore. Not only is it good, as a mushroom coffee, it is also an incredibly palatable, tasty instant coffee. Even snobs like me can enjoy it, with no need to rely on any specialist equipment or knowledge. For the sake of a kettle, you can have a good cup of health-giving, energy-enhancing mushroom coffee wherever you are.
I would like to see some more scientific data underpinning many of the claims inherent to mushroom coffee. However, this is a work in progress, and the research so far is incredibly promising. For the extra energy and added antioxidants alone (which have been proven to a decent standard), RYZE Mushroom Coffee is worth giving a go.
It is more expensive than regular coffee, of course. But it is highly competitive with other mushroom coffee products, so you’re far from being ripped off.
I would recommend RYZE Mushroom Coffee to almost anyone.
Written by Kate Harrison
Kate is one of our nutrition experts at PathMed and is also one of our in-house writers. There is little that gets past Kate when it comes to nutrition and she has a wealth of experience when it comes to fat loss and supplementation around losing weight. She is thorough in her research and is a real advocate for living a healthy lifestyle.