They say you are what you eat because what you ingest has a direct impact on your health and quality of life. However, this goes far beyond what you eat, it's about what your body absorbs.

You can take in the healthiest nutrients, but if your body can't absorb them properly, then it's of little use.
The bioavailability of something determines how much of a substance is absorbed by your body and thus can be used.

Heat and the absorption of mushrooms

Mushrooms have strong cell walls that consist of chitin.
Chitin is mainly responsible for the structure and shape of mushrooms, but it is also found, for example, in the wings of insects.

Chitin makes it difficult to get to the nutrients of mushrooms.
Raw mushrooms are largely indigestible due to the firm consistency of their cell walls.
Dr. Andrew Weil, a well-known mushroom expert advises to always cook them.
This is because heating them releases nutrients such as proteins, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other substances which then become available to be absorbed by our body.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, mushrooms are also always cooked, usually during several hours.
According to Paul Stamets, another mushroom expert suggests that mushrooms be heated to at least 60 degrees C. and preferably more than 90 degrees C.

This research showed that Shiitake mushroom that was heated at 100 and 121 degrees C for 15 and 30 minutes had a higher bioavailability. The antioxidants and polyphenols increased as the temperature and heating time increased.

How do you get the most out of your adaptogenic mushrooms?

The I am glowing blend consists of seven mushrooms; Tremella, Reishi, Shiitake, Chaga, Cordyceps, Maitake and Lion's Mane.
For an optimal result you should warm it and you can do this in different ways such as:

- cooking in a dish such as a curry, pasta sauce, soup, stir-fry etc.

- in the pancake mix, oatmeal porridge or an egg dish.

- adding it to cake, muffins , pie, quiche and other oven dishes, both sweet and savory.

- heating in a pan with some water to make an elixir. You can then keep it sealed in the fridge for a few days and add it to both cold and hot recipes.

- as an addition to hot drinks such as hot chocolate, homemade Chai, golden milk, latte or tea.


What's also nice about the blend is that it gives extra flavor to your food, but it is not overpowering.
For example, you can use it as a mild stock and it also combines well with cacao.

There are also people who use the I am glowing and experience very nice effects without always heating it.
This will vary from person to person and it is possible that if they suddenly start to heat the blend all the time, they will see even better results.

If you want to maximize the properties of the mushrooms, I recommend heating the blend and experiencing what it does for you.