Chaga for clarity, reishi to relax: mushroom coffee adds antioxidants that slow ageing to your diet, morning or night

A personal trainer in Hong Kong is part of a growing army of mushroom coffee drinkers, whose chosen brew combines caffeine and medicinal mushroom powder

Lion’s Mane, cordyceps, chaga and reishi mushrooms are used in traditional Chinese medicine for their antioxidant properties, and fans say they lower stress too

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Andrew Cox, owner of Joint Dynamics, is part of a growing army of mushroom coffee drinkers, who drink coffee that contains medicinal mushroom powder. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 6:15pm, 15 Feb 2021Updated: 6:15pm, 15 Feb 2021

Andrew Cox has a little medicine cabinet in his office, where he stores his daily health supplements. His favourite is packaged in a bright green box: mushroom powder.

The personal trainer and lifestyle coach for Joint Dynamics in Causeway Bay on Hong Kong Island has been taking mushroom powder for a year. He was first introduced to chaga, a fungus used in traditional Chinese medicine, on a work trip to Russia.

“Chaga is known as ‘The King of Mushrooms’,” the 47-year-old Cox says, because it is a strong antioxidant. Our cells age more quickly if we feel stressed, because of a process called oxidation – a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals, leading to chain reactions that may damage cells. Antioxidants may slow that process.

Cox is part of a growing army of mushroom coffee drinkers. Their chosen brew is coffee that contains medicinal mushroom powder from reishi, cordyceps, chaga or Lion’s Mane mushrooms, commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

Mushroom coffee recommended by Cox. Photo: Nora Tam

Hong Kong nutritionist Mandy Wong says the caffeine in mushroom coffee can help to activate the sympathetic nervous system and stimulate the brain to release endorphins, which can act as an energiser. “These [powdered] medicinal mushrooms will not affect the taste of the coffee,” Wong says. The mushrooms may also help boost the immune system, she adds.