THE GREENEST SAYS:

As wellness product reviewers, we see a lot of stupid products. CBD bath bombs, as an example, is a stupid product. The CBD in CBD bath bombs is not going to have any effect. Floating around in a tub with a few milligrams of CBD is not the as ingesting it. It’s not going to get into your bloodstream or give your endocannabinoid system any benefit. Don’t buy CBD bath bombs unless you’re buying them for the aroma, OK? But this Forest Juice Medicinal Mushroom Maple Syrup from Rainbo is NOT a stupid product. (That’s right, we went, all caps, bold and italics.) It is an effing awesome product. (Are we allowed to say effing on the Internet?) Anyway, this is a perfect marriage of two fantastic things into one even fantasic-er thing.

Why? Let’s dig in.

First, the maple syrup. Maple syrup is great. Like, really great. It’s a natural sweetener that has a richer and deeper flavor than regular old sugar. Plus it’s better for you from a glycemic standpoint. You should use maple syrup in place of natural sugar whenever you can. And always in place of one of those fake sweeteners that trick your body into thinking it’s getting sugar. (It’s great for baking!) In fact, just put natural maple syrup in everything and thank us in the morning. Or next week. Whenever you get around to it we’ll be here.

Second, its infused with medicinal mushrooms. Which is such a great idea that we’re kind of annoyed we didn’t think of it. Medicinal mushrooms have a ton of helpful antioxidants, and things called phenols, sterols, statins, vitamins, minerals and enzymes to help support your immune system and stress responses. Our FDA hasn’t approved medicinal mushrooms to treat or cure and disease, but Asian and Eastern European cultures have used them for centuries. If you are a believer in the power of adaptogens and medicinal mushrooms, then infusing them into syrup is the best way to sweeten almost anything that needs sweetening.

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WHAT IS THIS PRODUCT?

This is a Canadian maple syrup infused with Reishi, Chaga and Turkey Tail medicinal mushrooms. Reishi mushrooms have been taken to help with support sleep, gut and immune health. Chaga has been taken to support liver, blood sugar and fatigue. And Turkey Tail has been taken for immunity. And there are some studies that show promise in fighting certain cancer cells (we need much more research before being able to make a claim.) These medicinal fungi have been infused into the syrup making this some sort of super syrup. Feel free to add it to your coffee in the morning and it will change the way you think about waking up. You can also add it to everything from yogurt to pancakes (obvs.) And it will take a guilty pleasure to a nutritional powerhouse. Buddy the Elf would live forever if he had this stuff.

It’s also organic, vegan and non-GMO. And they grow their mushrooms on oat grains. In case you were wondering. You were wondering that, weren’t you?

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Does this Use Fruiting Bodies or Mycelium? 

Fruiting bodies. If you’re new to the medicinal mushroom world, fruiting bodies are where all the good stuff is highest concentrated. All those beneficial healthy vitamins, minerals and adaptogens are in the fruiting bodies the most. And the fruiting body is the mushroom cap — the part that’s above ground. The mycelium is the root system. This isn’t junk. But it isn’t thought the have as much of the adaptogenic qualities as the fruiting body. Although some people like Paul Stamets beg to differ.

HOW MUCH FUNCTIONAL MUSHROOMS Forest Juice Medicinal Mushroom Maple Syrup?

We don’t know! And that’s a little weird. So we aren’t sure exactly how many milligrams of Reishi, Chaga and Turkey Tail mushrooms are in a serving size of syrup. So you’ll just have to go with it, we guess. Rainbo is a reputable brand, so we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt on this.

Why don’t we take this moment to tell you that Chaga isn’t actually a mushroom. They are actually a sclerotia. Which is a fungus that grows on birch trees. But they look like mushrooms. So we’ve decided to just sort of lump them into the mushroom family and call it a day. No one wants to order a pizza that’s half onions and half sclerotia.

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WILL THIS Forest Juice Medicinal Mushroom Maple Syrup GET YOU HIGH?

No! These aren’t magic mushrooms. I mean, they’re pretty great. But they have no psychoactive effects. These are like the mushrooms that your pizza guy (who may or may not sell magic mushrooms) delivers on your pizza.

HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU TAKE?

Use it like you would any syrup. Don’t chug a bucket of it just because it has medicinal mushrooms. But just know that when you are using this syrup it’s better for you than Mrs. Buttersworth.

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO BECOME EFFECTIVE?

You likely will not feel any effects from this. But do you feel any different after taking a daily vitamin or fish oil pill? No. You do it because you believe in its power to help your body.

IS THIS Forest Juice Medicinal Mushroom Maple Syrup LEGAL?

Yes, of course they are. Jeez, we can’t even believe you asked that. So embarrassing.

IS THIS Forest Juice Medicinal Mushroom Maple Syrup TESTED AND CERTIFIED?

Yes. Rainbo says they test all their mushrooms for mytotoxins, heavy metals and microbial contamination. They don’t provide test results, but we haven’t seen many mushroom brands provide those, either.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Consult your healthcare practitioner before use if pregnant or on medication.