Is an extract worth the money, or can I just buy the cheaper mushroom powder? Can you explain it simply for the layman? What is the difference between mushroom powder, extracts, heat treatments etc?
Most mushrooms are not digestible by humans unless you cook them. The cell wall of mushrooms are chitinous, meaning they are made of chitin, the primary component of the exoskeletons of arthropods, such as crustaceans and insects, and the scales of fish etc. So if you are taking just an untreated "powdered mushroom supplement" many of the amazing cancer fighting, nerve regenerating constituents etc. are passing right through you your digestive system. You will basically just have expensive urine.
Mushroom supplements need to be treated in such a way that the cell wall can be broken down to expose all the nutrients that fight cancer, repair nerves, and all the wonderful things they can do. There are a couple of methods to do this, and the different companies will defend their particular method over the other company's method to the death!
The extraction process breaks down the cell walls either with hot water or alcohol (or both) and then you have an extract which usually comes as a "powdered mushroom extract"
Another method is heat treatment. Using high heat for many hours helps break down the chitinous cell walls and also denature toxins naturally occurring in some mushroom species.
The long and the short of it is that you want your mushroom supplement treated by either an extraction method or heat, but not just untreated ground up "mushroom powder". If you get a "mushroom powder" you will know if has been treated because the company will be bending over backwards trying to tell you. They will definitely want you to know that it was heat treated to differentiate it from just "powdered mushroom".
At Adaptogen Superfoods we only have the best of the best. All of our products are either extracted or heat treated so they will actually do what you want them to. Adaptogenin™ is also
Certified 100% Organic
Grown in the USA
DNA verified
GMO Free
Gluten Free
Dairy Free
Sugar Free
Vegan
Keto
Paleo
Eco Friendly
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