Exploring the Health Benefits of Medicinal Mushrooms

Through years of cultivation, the team has mastered the expertise needed to manage light, temperature, hydration, and airflow for each of the 10 mushroom species. The controlled growing environment optimizes the growth cycle and enhances bioactive compounds. As mushrooms are bio-accumulators, they absorb elements from their environment. Om’s pristine facility ensures the mushrooms remain free from toxins, pesticides, and heavy metals—issues commonly found in mushrooms grown overseas.

The fungal kingdom shares greater DNA similarity with mammals than with the botanical kingdom. This unique similarity supports the role mushrooms play in cellular health. Mushrooms are widely recognized for their immune benefits, primarily attributed to beta-glucan compounds that activate a cascade of immune responses. They also contain prebiotic dietary fibre, which promotes healthy and diverse probiotic growth. Furthermore, mushrooms provide antioxidants, peptides, sterols, triterpenes, vitamins, proteins, and chelated minerals, all of which contribute to immune function.

Mushrooms possess a rare antioxidant, L-Ergothioneine, the only antioxidant with an active transport mechanism found in mammalian cells. This mechanism helps deliver antioxidants to areas of free-radical damage, demonstrating the remarkable potential of mushrooms.

Om cultivates its mushrooms on organic, gluten-free, non-GMO oats. The composition and texture of oats provide an ideal medium for even mycelium growth. Oats mimic the conditions of wood-decaying mushrooms in nature while offering high nutritional value, including naturally occurring beta-glucans and B vitamins. Om’s Mushroom Superfood powders are produced through Solid State Fermentation (SSF). During this process, enzymes naturally produced by the mushroom mycelia ferment certified organic, gluten-free whole oats. This fermentation breaks down the oats’ nutrients, allowing absorption into the mushroom mycelia, converting them into mushroom tissue and metabolites. No additional fermentation occurs after this stage.

Om incorporates all parts of the mushroom, as each stage offers distinct benefits. The mycelium, the vegetative and asexual stage of the mushroom life cycle, is analogous to the roots of a plant. Mycelium contains bioactive compounds that aid survival in hostile environments and are not present in the fruiting body. The fruiting body, the reproductive stage of the mushroom, produces spores and is the most recognizable part. Om’s whole-food mushroom products include the full lifecycle of the mushroom, encompassing mycelium, fruiting bodies, and a complete array of nutrients such as beta-glucans, antioxidants, prebiotic non-soluble fibre, digestive enzymes, proteins, vitamins, and other bioactive compounds.

Om offers a wide range of products, including powders and capsules, each containing an efficacious dose of mushrooms.

Sandra Carter (M.A., MPH, PhD), a health and wellness expert with a PhD in preventative medicine, and Steve Farrar, a mycologist with over 30 years of experience in mushroom cultivation, share a profound passion for mushrooms. Om grows 10 species of mushrooms at its Certified Organic, BRCGS AA-rated facility in Carlsbad, California. Certifications held by Om include USDA-Certified Organic, Non-GMO Project Verified, BRCGS Food Safety Certified, Grown in the USA, Vegan, Kosher, pesticide-tested, glyphosate-tested, heavy-metal-tested, and gluten-free.

About the Author: Om Mushrooms

Om Mushrooms grows organic mushrooms in a controlled environment in Carlsbad, California, with a focus on quality and well-being. Founded by Sandra Carter, PhD, and mycologist Steve Farrar, the company emphasizes on sustainable practices.