The published research on every functional mushroom we sell
The functional mushroom category runs on cell-study headlines and borrowed claims. We did the slower thing. We pulled the published human trials, the mechanism studies that explain how these compounds behave, and the reviews that weigh it all up, then sorted every one by how much weight it can actually carry.
Below is the whole evidence base, in the open, for doctors, researchers, and anyone who wants to read past the marketing. Each record shows the dose the investigators used, the kind of study it was, and the honest limits of what it found. We sell these mushrooms. We think the strongest reason to trust a brand is that it shows you the evidence and grades it fairly.
30+published records catalogued across seven ingredients
10randomised controlled trials in human participants
1Cochrane systematic review, the top tier of evidence synthesis
100%of records verified against PubMed and linked to their DOI
How this page was built
Database: PubMed, maintained by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Every record retrieved and re-checked on 10 July 2026.
What is here: human trials, plus the mechanism and compound studies that show how these molecules behave in cells and animals, plus systematic reviews.
What is set aside: individual trials run in patients under active medical treatment. Those findings belong to medicine, not a food product. Where a high-tier review pools such trials, we include it only for its verdict on how strong the evidence is, never for a treatment claim.
Recorded verbatim: study design, sample size, dose, duration, the outcome measured, and the result, including the results that came back null.
Every record links to its DOI. The link text is the identifier, never the paper's title, so nothing here reads as a claim we are making.
The five evidence tiers
Every record below carries one of these. They are also the five rungs of the depth bar shown on each mushroom: compound characterised, tested in cells, tested in animals, tested in people, and confirmed in a review. A mushroom that lights all five has research at every level. A gap is shown as a gap.
A
Human RCT, placebo-controlled
Randomised, blinded, with a placebo arm. The strongest design here.
B
Human trial, weaker design
Human participants, but open-label, unblinded, pilot, a combination product, or without a true placebo arm.
C
Animal model
Rodent studies. Useful for mechanism; doses and physiology do not translate directly to a person.
D
Cell or compound study
Molecules applied to cells, or the chemistry of a compound characterised. Where most mushroom claims begin.
E
Review or meta-analysis
A weighing-up of many studies. Only as strong as the trials underneath it.
Show
Lion's Mane Hericium erinaceus
Research at every level
The most-researched species in this catalogue. Three human randomised controlled trials, a mechanism trail running from cultured cells to the mouse hippocampus, and a 2023 review that maps it. The trials are small and honest about it, which is exactly why they are worth reading.
3,000 mg/day4 × 250 mg tablets, 3×/day, 96% dried fruiting-body powder, not a concentrated extract.
16 weeks
A cognitive function scale improved versus placebo at weeks 8, 12 and 16, then fell back four weeks after stopping.Cohort screened on a cognitive score, so not the general population. Lead author lists a mushroom-company affiliation.
Stroop task speed was quicker 60 minutes after a single dose (p = 0.005). A 28-day self-report measure did not reach significance (p = 0.051).The authors report null findings alongside the positive one and ask that it be read with caution.
Of three instruments, only the MMSE showed a difference. The Benton and paired-associate tests did not.Two of three pre-specified measures returned nothing.
The extract raised nerve growth factor mRNA in cells and in mouse hippocampus, via the JNK pathway.A key honest detail the marketing skips: the hericenones themselves did not induce NGF in this study. The active fraction was something else.
Return of hind-limb function after a nerve crush occurred earlier than in untreated rats, with higher Akt and MAPK signalling.A rat model of nerve injury. Mechanism, not a human outcome.
Higher expression of Akt, MAPK, c-Jun and c-Fos in dorsal root ganglia after nerve crush, versus controls.Same group, same rat model. Consistent mechanism signal.
Summarises the neurotrophic and antioxidant research and the compound classes involved.Concludes that supplement standardisation and pure analytical standards are still needed to guarantee effectiveness and safety.
A human exercise trial, a well-characterised signature compound in cordycepin, and detailed work on its polysaccharides. The one caveat worth stating up front: the human trial tested a mushroom blend, not the single species, so read its numbers with that in mind.
4 g/dayOf a mushroom blend containing Cordyceps militaris, not the species alone.
1 week, then 3 weeks
At one week, no measure was significant. At three weeks VO2max differed from placebo (p = 0.042, +4.8 ml/kg/min).The three-week result rests on the ten participants who continued. Widely cited as though the mushroom alone did it.
A polysaccharide purified from the fruiting body activated macrophages and its structure was mapped (glucose 56%, galactose 26%, mannose 17%).Fruiting body, matching our product form. Compound-level, not a human result.
Maps cordycepin, the signature nucleoside of C. militaris, and its intracellular targets in nucleic acid handling and the cell cycle.A compound review. Describes mechanism, not a benefit of any product.
Reviews how C. militaris is cultivated and how cordycepin yield is influenced by strain and substrate.Why the cultivated species is scalable where the wild caterpillar fungus is not.
Places Cordyceps among the functional-food mushrooms and their beta-glucan and compound profiles.States that the detailed mechanisms still require long-term clinical studies to confirm effects and dosage.
Several human exercise studies and a strong antioxidant and immunology strand, including work on the Indian-sourced species by a Delhi defence institute. One honest thread runs through it: the best human trial used Cs-4, a tank-grown mycelial strain, and the two field studies were combinations, so none isolates the wild caterpillar fungus itself.
999 mg/day333 mg × 3, of Cs-4, a fermented mycelial preparation, not the wild fruiting body.
12 weeks
Metabolic threshold rose 10.5% (p < 0.02); ventilatory threshold rose 8.5%.VO2max did not change in either group. The material tested is not what is sold as wild keeda jadi.
Longer exhaustive run time versus placebo (+5.7% vs +2.2%) and better preserved parasympathetic activity.A combination with Rhodiola. The cordyceps contribution cannot be separated out.
The testosterone-to-cortisol ratio and serum free-radical scavenging both shifted favourably after racing.Seven people, a combination, and no placebo arm. Suggestive only.
Cordyceps polysaccharides raised antioxidant enzyme activity (SOD, GPx, CAT) and lowered oxidative markers after exhaustive swimming.A mouse dose-response. Does not convert to a human amount.
An aqueous extract of the Indian species lowered TNF-alpha and IL-1-beta release in cultured cells; phenolic and flavonoid content and adenosine were quantified.Run at a Delhi defence physiology institute on the Indian-sourced species. Cell-level.
Two thousand years of recorded use, human antioxidant and immune trials, a triterpene chemistry that is genuinely distinctive, and something rare in this field: a Cochrane systematic review. The review is also the most honest voice here, and it does not flatter the underlying trials.
720 mg/day10-day arm; single acute doses of 1.1 g and 3.3 g also tested.
Acute + 10 days
Plasma antioxidant capacity rose and peaked at 90 minutes; after 10 days, urine antioxidant capacity and one tocopherol marker rose.Ascorbic acid, SOD and GPx did not move significantly. N = 10; the authors call for further study.
10 or 20 capsules/dayMilligram content per capsule not disclosed.
6 weeks
The CD4+/CD8+ T-lymphocyte ratio trended higher in the 20-capsule group during altitude training.The headline comparison did not reach statistical significance. Often cited as if it did.
Favourable shift in the testosterone-to-cortisol ratio and serum antioxidant capacity after racing.Seven people, a combination, no placebo. The same trial appears under Cordyceps.
Reishi, shiitake and maitake extracts were sorted by beta- and alpha-glucan content and altered cytokine expression in human macrophages.Cell-level immunology. The blend appeared to act more strongly than single extracts.
Pooled the randomised evidence and reported the immune-parameter and quality-of-life signals.Judged the methodological quality of the primary studies "generally unsatisfying" and the reporting inadequate.
Covers Reishi's triterpene and beta-glucan profile in the functional-food context.Notes that confirmatory long-term clinical studies on dosage are still outstanding.
Turkey Tail is one of the most-studied mushrooms in the world, but the great majority of that work sits in patient populations under active treatment and is out of scope for a food product. What sits inside scope is a clean randomised trial in healthy volunteers, plus decades of compound and production science.
PSP produced stool microbiome changes consistent with prebiotic activity.The authors note each person's baseline microbiome tended to overshadow the treatment effect.
The reference review on how the PSK and PSP polysaccharopeptides are produced, recovered and characterised from the fungus.Chemistry and bioprocess, not a clinical claim.
An India-authored review of the nutrition, bioactive polysaccharides and food applications of Turkey Tail.Food-science framing, useful for the culinary and functional-food angle.
Chaga has a genuinely deep laboratory literature: a characterised antioxidant profile, mapped polysaccharides, identified triterpenoids, and two current reviews. It is also the one mushroom here where we have to be straight with you about a gap, and we would rather say it plainly than let you find out later.
6 records
The honest gap: as of 10 July 2026, a PubMed search for Chaga in human clinical trials returns no completed randomised controlled trial in people. The research below is real and substantial, but it lives in cells, in compounds, and in animals. When a human trial is published, this is the first place it will appear.
The polyphenolic fraction scavenged free radicals and protected cultured cells from oxidative stress.A useful honest detail: the polysaccharide fraction was inactive here. Not every part of Chaga is an antioxidant.
Isolated and structurally characterised a Chaga polysaccharide and measured its effect on splenocyte and lymphocyte proliferation.Chemistry-level characterisation of what a Chaga polysaccharide actually is.
A Chaga polysaccharide modulated cytokine release through the NF-kB and MAPK pathways.Mechanistic, at the level of signalling pathways in cultured cells.
Identified triterpenoids, including trametenolic acid, as the likely active constituents by combining animal work with compound analysis.Points to which molecules matter. Still an animal model.
Reviews the cultivation, bioactive compounds and evidence status for Chaga, one of three medicinal fungi it covers.Read alongside the gap note above: the human evidence base is the thin part.
Worth stating plainly: in MycoSynergy Mushroom Coffee, the ingredient with the strongest human evidence is not a mushroom. It is the L-theanine, and its pairing with caffeine has been tested and re-tested in randomised controlled trials, with a systematic review on top.
100 mg L-theanine + 50 mg caffeineOne MycoSynergy serving contains 100 mg of Suntheanine L-theanine, the amount used here.
Acute, 60 + 90 min
The combination improved attention-switching speed and accuracy at 60 minutes and reduced susceptibility to distraction.Acute, one session. Says nothing about daily use over months.
The combination improved reaction time, working-memory speed and sentence-verification accuracy, and reduced tiredness ratings.A different dose ratio from ours; useful as replication of the direction of effect.
Improved accuracy during task-switching and self-reported alertness; no effect on several other tasks.Honest mixed result: it helped attention-switching, not everything measured.
Reviewed green tea, L-theanine and caffeine effects on cognition and brain function.Concluded the cognitive benefit shows up under caffeine and L-theanine combined, and is weaker with either one alone.
The dose column records what investigators gave participants, or the amount used in a cell or animal study. It is a description of the published research. It is not an instruction, not a recommendation, and not a usage guide. Many of these studies used preparations that differ from ours: dried powder rather than extract, fermented mycelium rather than fruiting body, a multi-species blend rather than one species, or a single compound in isolation. A dose that appeared in one study tells you little about another material.
Usage guidance for anything we sell is printed on the product label. If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or managing a medical condition, speak with a qualified practitioner before adding any of this to your routine.
Where a cell reads Not stated in abstract, the figure was not present in the record we retrieved, and we have left it blank rather than fill it from a secondary source.
Records retrieved from PubMed, maintained by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, on 10 July 2026. Each DOI link resolves to the publisher of record.
