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Looking for an easy way to bring more balance to your gut? Consider adding functional mushroom tinctures to your favourite Pulp & Press juices! Different from mushrooms you'd toss in a salad, functional mushrooms are varieties like Chaga and Turkey Tail that have been shown to promote immune and digestive health. In this article, we'll explain everything you need to know about these natural superfoods—what they are, what they do, and how you can start incorporating mushroom tinctures into your daily juice routine.
What Exactly are Functional Mushrooms?
When most people think of mushrooms, they tend to think of the brown-capped cremini or white button mushrooms in grocery stores. But there's a world of mushrooms beyond these common varieties. In addition to their nutritional benefits, functional mushrooms (also referred to as medicinal mushrooms) provide unique health benefits such as lowering stress levels, balancing healthy bacteria in the gut, improving cognitive function, and bolstering the immune system. Functional mushrooms contain many beneficial compounds, including beta-glucans, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and polysaccharides, giving them potent healing properties.
What can Chaga and Turkey Tail Mushrooms do for me?
If you're looking for gut benefits, two functional mushrooms are best at regulating the digestive system and the healthy balance of your gut flora. First is Chaga, a mushroom known for its powerful anti-inflammatory properties, which can help alleviate inflammation in the stomach and intestines to increase nutrient absorption. In addition, Chaga helps stimulate the liver, prompting it to create digestive bile, which allows the digestive system to break down food more effectively.
Second is Turkey Tail, which contains prebiotics that nourish healthy bacteria in the gut and suppress harmful bacteria. Maintaining a healthy balance of bacteria in your gut is very important for many aspects of health. It plays a critical role in immune health, mental health, and the absorption of nutrients. A healthy gut also communicates with the brain through nerves and hormones, which helps maintain strong overall health.
Why Tinctures?
Eating fresh mushrooms must be the best way to reap their health benefits, right? Actually, no! A tincture (also known as a liquid extract) is a much better choice. Functional mushrooms contain several bioactive and therapeutic compounds, such as polysaccharides and triterpenes, however, these compounds are locked behind the mushroom's cell wall. Fungal cells are strengthened by chitin, a substance that many humans cannot digest well. That means when we eat fresh mushrooms, their fungal cells—and any medicinal substances inside these cells— exit our bodies still intact. The key to unlocking all the healing properties of medicinal mushrooms is to break down the chitin cell walls through an extraction process. Soaking the mushrooms in a solvent like alcohol or simmering them in hot water breaks down the chitin, which releases the nutritive compounds, enabling you to reap the full benefits of medicinal mushrooms.
Mushroom tinctures are very concentrated, meaning you'll receive an abundance of high-potency nutrients in a small amount of liquid—much more than you could receive from mushrooms in any other form. To top it off, tinctures are exceptionally easy to digest and convenient to consume. They can be added to any beverage or soft foods like soups and sauces, and they are particularly helpful for those who have trouble swallowing capsules.
We've partnered with Forage Hyperfoods, a functional mushroom company that sources wild and cultivated Canadian-grown mushrooms to produce tinctures in-house. They offer Chaga, Turkey Tail, Lion's Mane, and Reishi tinctures in two accessible formats, Original (alcohol-based) and Alcohol-Free (vegetable glycerin-based) formats.
Pulp & Press Juice and Forage Hyperfoods Tincture Pairings
Are you looking for the perfect pairing between your favourite Pulp and Press juice and mushroom tincture? See our suggestions below!
Spicy Lemon with Turkey Tail Tincture- The perfect combination for improving your gut flora with a delicious zest and pleasant taste. Spicy Lemon has ginger to help with gut health, and turmeric to help alleviate inflammation, which pair well with many of the benefits Turkey Tail delivers.
Hulk and Chaga Tincture- The heavy hitters of the tincture and fruit juice world coming together to deliver the benefits of nutrient-rich green juice combined with Chaga’s powerful immune boosting properties while giving you the maximum dose of nutrition everyday.
Envy with Reishi Tincture- Few would consider additional fruits and vegetables as part of your bedtime routine, but combining the adaptogenic benefits of Reishi with this drink will leave you feeling well rested and provide natural stress relief.
Beta Blaster with Lion’s Mane Tincture- Wake up and feel refreshed and energized, with healthy skin and sharper eyesight. You’ll also notice an increase in overall energy and a sharper mental state.
Interested in adding tinctures to your daily routine? Enjoy 20% off your first order of tincture products from Forage Hyperfoods using coupon code TryMushrooms at checkout!
Giveaway!
Be sure to join our joint Forage and Pulp & Press Instagram giveaway starting on January 10th for your chance to win a variety of cold-pressed juice and wellness shots - up to $150 value and a complete tincture collection- the Original Forager’s Set.