There are those who are adding fungi such as cordyceps to coffee to lose weight. Science has many reservations

Coffee is a food, with numerous positive effects on our body. We get more and more about this Positive coffee actionbut we have determined to improve it adding supplements as proteins either Spirulina. One of the latest trends? Enrich coffee with fungi. So that? To lose weight.

And here the evidence is not so clear that this trend of ‘Mushroom Coffee’ is so healthy that invites a coffee with cordyceps to drink.

The promise. Eating mushrooms or fungi has nothing weird, but a few years ago we began to see how the food industry It began to add them to other foods to create improved versions of them. One of the first brands that added fungi to the cocoa or coffee was FOUR SIGMICan American company that creates “functional foods” and well -being supplements.

That is, coffee is not only coffee: it has a series of additions vegetables to relieve these, support the immune system or accelerate weight loss. The latter is what a more recent grabs Trend in networks like Tiktokthe baptized as ‘Mushroom Coffee’.

There are several brands that sell coffee with fungi

Cordyceps coffee. The defenders claim that coffee (and other foods) can be enhanced with medicinal fungi whose compounds carry a series of positive effects. Among those fungi are Reishithe León hairhe Maitake or the Shiitake (great in broths)but also the most famous cordyceps. Yes, that parasitic fungus that makes Some ants become ‘zombies‘And what is protagonist of the Apocalypse of ‘The Last of Us’.

These fungi can increase energy production and improve metabolic function, helping in the burning of fats. They can also help control hunger, stabilize glucose levels and have Probiotic properties that favor both digestion and nutrient absorption.

Market. And it is not a bizarre or the US thing: you can Buy coffee With cordyceps In Amazon If you want the healthy effects of coffee more, Chow they announcegreater energy and improvement in your mental clarity. There are different estimates, but this coffee market is expected to grow at a rate of between 5.4% and 5.7% during the next decade.

There are studies that place their value at 1,203.4 million dollars in 2023 with a growth up to 1,833.4 million by 2031. They are considerable figures, but we compare, the estimate of specialty coffee is 62,500 million by 2032 and that of the entire market It will be of 632,000 million for that year. But well, it seems that this trend, little by little, is consolidated and grows.

The small print. The logic here seems simple. In the case of protein: if it is a good supplement and coffee is a good food, mixing them works. With fungi and coffee the same thing happens, but something that should not be overlooked: there is a lack of research. The relationship between coffee and weight loss is well documented, being a good stimulating before performing some training and selling the caffeine as supplement.

But, although the properties of these fungi are also documented, evidence on coffee with fungi and its action in weight loss or mental well -being is limited. Clinical trials are missing that confirm its direct effectiveness to lose weight and most of those available studies are in animals. Also, as we read in VogueNutritionist Marta Marcè comments that it is not usually specified whether the extract is from the fruiting body (rich in properties) or the roots (less powerful), in addition to using very low doses. And sometimes It is not even the real fungus.

Dangers. Although cordyceps has a bad reputation due to fiction products in which it has been the protagonist and its effect on some insectsusually has no health hazards. Cordyceps coffee is approved by the USDA -The United States Department of Agriculture-, but you have to take some things into account.

It may produce some allergies in certain people and it is necessary Influence when combining it With other stimulating products or drugs, but most importantly, above all, it is to know where those fungi that supplement chocolate or cocoa.

Marketing, already such

Because here the danger is how that fungus has been manipulated and the example we have had in Colombia, where a health alert on cordyceps supplements not regulated or fraudulent. And if you dare to try it, be from reliable and out of curiosity, not so much for its numerous promises, that millions move in the other part of the world.

Images | Conasi, Four Sigmatic

In Xataka | It turns out that the myth that marriage fattens is true. But only for men