Biohacking with Functional Mushrooms
From meditation to intermittent fasting biohacking has become a common technique that people use to enhance their daily routine and optimize maximal performance. While some techniques blend with traditional herbalism others can encompass a different range of pursuits as an attempt at manipulating the brain and body.*
The field of biohacking became very popular in Silicon Valley, where individuals employ a technical mindset as a way to solve engineering problems but as also as a way to generate a greater level of awareness regarding human biology and our interactions with our social and ecological environment. While biohacking can be represented in many ways, there are three common subdivisions or subcultures that have come forth from the field of biohacking. These include nutrigenomics, DIY biology, and grinder.
Nutrigenomics focuses on the interactions of food and their effects on gene expression. This approach involves tracking how different nutrients affect how you feel, think, and behave and how they relate to your genetic profile. While nutrients hold a big part in our mental, emotional, and physical functioning a 2015 review of nutrigenomics suggested that nutrients were only just one piece of the puzzle and that other factors such as occasional stress levels, and exercise played an important role in the biological processes’ response to food. Additionally, DIY biology, or “citizen science” is another popular approach to biohacking that encourages education and experience in scientific fields outside of controlled experimental environments such as medical offices. Lastly, grinder is a biohacking subculture that sees every part of the human body as experimental and therefore “hack-able”. Grinder can be described as the most unorthodox approach to biohacking seeking to optimize the body with chemical injections, implants, and gadgets so that they can make their body do what they want it to do. Both DIY biology and grinder seem like futuristic approaches to biohacking and although there are positive outcomes that can come forth from these practices there can also be dangerous or fatal consequences.
While biohacking surely ranges in extremes an increasingly popular and safe tool to “biohack” with is through supplementing functional mushrooms*. This biohack consists of including popular functional mushrooms such as Lions Mane, Cordyceps, and Reishi into your daily routine to support vitality.* Functional mushrooms have roots since antiquity and have been implemented in traditional practices such as western herbalism and traditional Chinese herbalism.*
Lion’s Mane mushrooms, for instance, is known as a nootropic or an adaptogen that has been traditionally used to support cognitive function*. In western herbalism Lion’s Mane mushrooms have been used as a nervous system tonic to support healthy recall and focus*. For this reason, it is one of the main ingredients in both our Lion’s Mane Focus tincture and our Daily 10 tincture. Lion’s Mane can be described as a helper while you are trying to finish tasks and check items off of your to-do list!*
On the other hand, Reishi mushrooms can support relaxation and are great after work, and before bedtime*. They benefit sleep and facilitate our journey during times of stress. They can also be used to support certain daytime activities such as an ongoing meditation practice, or creative writing and art projects. Along with other herbs and mushrooms, Reishi belongs in our Calm tincture.
Last but not least, Cordyceps, the main mushroom in our Energy tincture has been shown to support healthy energy levels and stamina*. This mushroom can help “biohack” your day by supporting long workdays, household tasks, and exercise routines. This mushroom may provide the extra push to get you through without the need to consume several cups of coffee.
These three mushrooms are a great starting point to optimize your day and help you feel as good as you can. This is the overarching aim of biohacking! While life may always be throwing curveballs, they are much easier to handle when you're equipped and supported from the inside out.
