Healing Mushrooms: Tero Isokauppila On The Magical, Mysterious, Health Promoting Properties Of Fungi

We tend to think of mushrooms as a pizza topping. Something we toss in a salad. Or a psychedelic to alter consciousness. But that's pretty much where the inquiry ends. However, mushrooms are so much more. In fact, they comprise an entire kingdom. Invisibly surrounding us, they underpin the very foundation of our ecology, impacting us in ways far beyond our appreciation. It may surprise you to learn that mushrooms account for an astonishing 25% of the Earth's total biomass. 92% of all plants are dependent upon mushrooms for their survival. 40% of all pharmaceuticals contain some form of mushroom. And, quite incredibly, 85% of human RNA and 50% of human DNA is shared with fungi. Mushrooms are also woefully under-appreciated when it comes to promoting health, fighting illness, buttressing longevity, enhancing memory and even boosting libido. Indeed, when properly understood and utilized, mushrooms hold the capacity to change your life in an immediate, powerful, and exponentially beneficial manner. To walk us through the magical and mysterious world of mushrooms, I sat down with my long-time friend Tero Isokauppila, the original fun-guy himself. (behind the scenes of my podcast with Tero) A life-long student of nutrition and expert on natural health hailing from Finland, Tero is the co-founder, president and marketing director of Four Sigmatic, the company behind a wide variety of very popular (and globally available) medicinal mushroom coffees, hot cacaos and elixir products that has successfully begun to introduce the health-promoting benefits of mushrooms to the mainstream. I’m not talking about mind-bending psychedelics. And I’m not talking about garden variety portobellos or even gourmet truffles. I’m talking about adaptogenic, superfood varieties most people have never previously heard of or know little to nothing about. I'm talking about less-understood immunity, longevity, and energy boosting fungi like reishi, chaga, lion’s mane, and my all-time favorite, cordyceps. Tero has been a featured speaker at events like Summit Series and Wanderlust, was chosen as one of the world's Top 50 Food Activists by the Academy of Culinary Nutrition and both he and the work of Four Sigmatic have been profiled everywhere, including Vogue, Time, Forbes, W Magazine, Harper's Bazaar, BuzzFeed, Bon Appétit, Goop, Well+Good, and MindBodyGreen. In addition, Tero is also the author of Healing Mushrooms: A Practical and Culinary Guide to Using Adaptogenic Mushrooms For Whole Body Health*, which hits bookstores everywhere Oct. 10. If today's conversation sparks deeper interest, I highly suggest picking it up. Not only is it highly instructive, it include 50+ recipes sure to expand your culinary horizon. This is a phenomenal conversation that tracks Tero's unique path from a kid foraging mushrooms in a 13th generation Finnish farming family to the entrepreneurial success he is today. It’s also fascinating deep dive into this mysterious mushroom kingdom and how these fungi can support human health. More specifically, we get granular on the individual adaptogenic properties of the most prominent superfood varieties and how incorporating them into your daily routine can take your health, longevity and performance to the next level. Enjoy! Rich