Mining Wellness Gold from Both Mycelium & Fruiting Bodies
Chances are, you’ve heard - it’s mushroom mania in the supplement world. And for once, the hype is well-founded. With head-to-toe support for immune, digestive, brain health, and more, functional mushrooms bring wellness wealth as deep and wide as their mycorrhizal network. So you can count us among the mushroom fan club.
For other companies, this new demand sometimes means quality is sidelined for sales. But for us, it meant a chance to take a closer look at our fungi formulations, unearthing an opportunity to weigh the benefits of each part of the mushroom and bring a new type of ingenuity into the spotlight.
Mama Mycelium
Mushrooms’ exceptional nutrient stats aren’t their only distinctive quality. The way they grow also follows an unconventional path. Starting from spores, mushrooms are built from the (under)ground up from a mother-like biomass that plays a significant part in earth’s ecology.
Consisting of an untold number of threads (hyphae) of nascent mushrooms (primordia) interwoven with its growing source, mycelia nourish and uphold their entire environment. Some even say that this subterranean “wood-wide web” is nature’s internet – serving as a key informer of past, current, and future events (incredibly, mycelia can even remember and predict).
Clearly a trove of Earth’s wisdom, mushroom mycelia are not just a marvel of science but a bounty of rewards for human health. With similarities to plant seeds and roots, mycelia pack everything needed for potential life – energy, nutrition, enzymes, and more. They’re a perennial life force that nourish multiple generations of mushrooms.
Like all good mamas, mycelia don’t just feed, they fortify and “teach” their progeny how to defend themselves. Rich in antioxidants, organic acids, and volatile sulfur compounds, mushroom mycelia are master protectors. And this is a major reason that we love them. Abundant clinical research has proven the wide-reaching benefits of mushroom mycelium, concentrated with potent bioactive compounds that help our bodies stay well.
A Fruiting Body of Evidence
If mushroom mycelium is so great – why look further? It’s undeniable that this formative form of fungus holds compounds that promote health. But there are a few noteworthy reasons for peeking above the ground, too.
Grown-up mushrooms – from the edible ones we slice and dice for our salads and stir-fries to those that litter our lawns after a rainstorm – are technically called “fruiting bodies.” Receiving all they need from their mycelium “roots,” mushroom fruiting bodies feature both similarities and differences from their below-ground counterparts. Also rich in vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, and antioxidants, mature mushrooms are packed with nutrition and wellness.
Fruiting bodies, as true “mushrooms” are the dietary staple linked to greater human health and longevity in populations with greater consumption. Many comprehensive reviews provide robust evidence that the nutritive and bioactive qualities of mushrooms promote both short- and long-term health when consumed regularly.
Thanks to ever-improving scientific know-how and know-what, we now know why. Fruiting bodies are abundant in polysaccharides (think lots of carbon and hydrogen molecules holding hands) called beta-glucans. Lots of plants have beta-glucans in their cell walls, since they’re a key part of their structure. But mushrooms hold a specific branched form with distinct attraction for their immune benefits.
In contrast to the simple beta-glucan chains in oats, or the straight beta 1,3 glucans derived from algae or yeast, mushrooms are highly concentrated with the more complex, branch-chained beta 1,3-1,6-glucans. Since humans lack the ability to break down 1,6 linkages, beta 1,3-1,6-glucans serve our immune systems in two key ways: (1) they act as prebiotic fiber for our all-important gut microbiome, and (2) they help prime and train our immune cells for action.
So Mush to Love
So is it necessary to fracture the fungal family by pitting the “root” against the “fruit”? Isn’t it possible to appreciate and apply the benefits of each, recognizing nature’s wisdom in keeping mama mycelium and fruiting body connected for life? At Pure Synergy®, we trust both tradition and science, and believe there’s plenty of reason to love both.
Science may have only recently discovered how these capped crusaders powerfully nourish human health, but mushrooms have been consumed for centuries as fresh, dried, and in teas and tinctures. A unique botanical source of fiber, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and fatty acids, their most vital treasures are their unique array of phytonutrients.
As the nucleus of life and health of the mushroom, the nutrient stats of mycelia provide essential nutrients and enzymes for everyday energy, phytosterols linked to cardiovascular wellness, and potent organic acids and sulfur compounds that promote healthy cellular function. Fruiting bodies bear many of mycelia’s merits, but as the part of the organism facing the outside world, emergent mushrooms beef up their cell walls with polysaccharides (like beta-glucans) and up the ante on antioxidants for more targeted immune support.
Making Immune Health™ Even Beta
We constantly strive to improve our formulations, driven by an insatiable curiosity and drive to bring you the best ingredients possible. With ancestral wisdom and scientific data as our guides, we have mined the deepest evidence for mushroom truth. And like the earth that bears these wellness treasures, the answer lives in balance.
This is why we are excited to announce that we have replaced the mycelium in our Immune Health™ supplement with organic mushroom fruiting body extracts. Crafted with equal care and intentionality, we’re giving you more comprehensive support for immune vigilance and everyday immune balance.
Still built upon a foundation of 7 mighty mushrooms from the ranks of immune infamy - cordyceps, turkey tail, shiitake, chaga, reishi, maitake, and poria - Immune Health™ is now enriched with all-important beta-glucans from fully standardized organic fruiting body extracts.
Our new, more balanced formula is grain-free and optimized to yield a maximized mix of soluble beta 1,3 and insoluble beta 1,3-1,6-glucans from these potent 8:1 extracts. We’ve harnessed the whole synergistic organism (like a whole plant or whole food) to foster both short-term immune resilience and long-term immune robustness. Plus, our better-than-ever Immune Health™ product still covers every base with the immune ingenuity of astragalus, fucoidan, and the inimitable beta 1,3 glucans from Euglena gracilis algae.
However, our love for mycelium still runs deep. You can find this nutritional matriarch in our Superfood formulation, which features reishi, shiitake, agaricus, and cordyceps mycelia.
Here at Pure Synergy, we believe there’s plenty of room for the entire mushroom - from root to fruit - on your wellness journey!
