What's in a Reishi mushroom tincture?
There are a lot of Reishi mushroom tinctures out there on the market today — and we've tried a lot of them. With due respect to our competition, the vast majority of them simply do not cut it. So we set out to make our own, a Reishi tincture that hits on that elusive combination of high potency and great taste, and something that athletes would be excited to use every day.
It's not so easy to find or buy high quality Reishi. And then, even if you got a hold of some, how do you make sure your body can access all the active compounds in the mushroom? You can't just eat it, unfortunately. The cell walls of these functional mushrooms are made of chitin, a super-fibrous substance, and humans don't naturally produce enzymes to break it down. In other words, when eating Reishi, it cannot easily be digested and the active compounds inside are not available for the body to use (a.k.a. bioavailable). This is why functional mushrooms are often consumed in extracted forms, like tinctures, to make sure the beneficial compounds in the Reishi are more readily bioavailable and absorbable by the body.
A pic from inside Jake Plummer's mushroom farm, where he is checking in on the Reishi mushrooms growing there: 
Why use a Reishi tincture?
We think of taking functional mushrooms kind of like taking your vitamins. Obviously, you should check with your medical professional about what's right for you, but generally speaking, for most people, it's something we think you should do every day, and that Reishi is an all-star that should be a part of an athlete's daily diet. You can easily take a tincture every day, adding it to a morning coffee or smoothie, or just popping it straight into your mouth. Not only will you be able to get more of the active compounds, those compounds will be as bioavailable as possible.
What makes our Reishi tincture the best?
We like to think that our Reishi mushroom tincture is is the best. But how can we be so sure? Here are six reasons why:
Reason #1: Professional-grade, organic mushrooms
All our Reishi mushrooms are grown in North America and are USDA certified organic. And we use a third-party lab to test for microbials, heavy metals, and any foreign matter.
We do not import any of our mushrooms — which is important because mushrooms grown overseas are not required to follow or report the same regulations as those grown here. We do not want our ingredients processed, shipped, or stored, with any harmful chemicals. We prefer to closely monitor the farming process, allowing us to have a lot more control over the quality of the ingredients we use.
Reason #2: Fruiting body mushroom goodness
Fruiting bodies are the real powerhouse in functional mushroom products. Packed with high levels of beta-glucans, triterpenoids, and polysaccharides, they deliver the key benefits athletes need, like boosted immunity, enhanced energy, and faster recovery.
Many products contain mycelium. Now don't get us wrong — there are lots of beneficial compounds in mycelium too, some of which can't be found anywhere else. But the issue is that mycelium is usually grown on grain and it's hard to make sure you're not getting a big dose of grain instead of the mycelium. So we focus on the fruiting bodies of the functional mushrooms only, so we can pack as much punch into each serving as possible.
Reason #3: A triple-extraction process for high potency
We use a triple-extraction process to ensure our Reishi tincture is potent and highly bioavailable. The three steps of the triple-extraction process takes approximately 120 days. Here’s how it works:
- Fermentation: To break down the tough outer cell walls (a.k.a. chitin), ensuring our bodies will be able to absorb and use the active compounds in the mushrooms
- Water extraction: We use filtered water to draw out the alpha- and beta-glucans, along with other polysaccharides.
- Alcohol extraction: We use organic cane alcohol to free other active compounds that the water extraction could not, including non-polar triterpenoids.
Then we remove the alcohol — the final product is less than 1% alcohol — and stabilize the tincture using organic vegetable glycerine, which gives our tinctures a slightly sweet taste.
Reason 4: Made with love on Jake Plummer's mushroom farm
After he co-founded Umbo, Jake Plummer realized that Umbo's products wouldn't be able to do anywhere near as much for people as he wanted them to without a reliable and high-quality source of functional mushrooms. So he founded a functional mushroom farm too, right down the road in Fort Lupton, Colorado. The wizards who run the farm are so smart about how to grow and extract functional mushrooms. They're some of the best in the world. And what's more, they do it with love. This means they are able to keep Umbo supplied with the highest quality and certified-organic functional mushrooms, so Umbo products are as potent and effective as they can be.
Reason 5: Tested and used by professional athletes
As you may already know, Umbo was founded by professional athletes. All of our products are created, tested, and used by them and their close circle of friends who are also pro athletes, trainers, and nutritionists. So by the end of the product development process, we have a really good idea of what works best for an athlete.
They call it the mushroom of immortality, of longevity. Reishi helps with anxiety, the nervous system, vitality, all sorts of stuff. In the world, we're under stress, constantly. And especially so as athletes. That's why I take Reishi every day.
—Jake "The Snake" Plummer, Pro-Bowl NFL quarterback
Reason 6: Our customers love it
As of the publication date of this article, at the beginning of 2024, our Reishi tincture was reviewed exceedingly well by our customers, earning an average of 5 stars out of a possible 5 stars.
Here is a quote about our Reishi tincture, straight from a real, verified Umbo customer:
Life Changing! I take a drop of it along with my Myco Rest before I go to bed and I've never slept better. UMBO has changed my life!
—Jason K, 5/26/23
That's it. Those are the six reasons we consider our Reishi tincture to be the best available on the market today. Let us know what you think. Even better, try our Reishi tincture for yourself — or learn more about the Reishi mushroom and its benefits for athletic performance.
