My Journey Into Functional Mushrooms (And Why They Ended Up In My Coffee)

 My Journey Into Functional Mushrooms (And Why They Ended Up In My Coffee)

I didn't set out to start a mushroom business. But looking back, every part of my life has been leading here.

Before I was a chef, I was an addiction counsellor. It taught me something I've never forgotten — that healing isn't one big dramatic moment, it's the small things you do for yourself every single day. When I moved into food, that idea came with me. I built my career as a plant-based chef, ran my own business for years, and wrote two cookbooks  *The Healing Cookbook* and *The Self-Care Cookbook* both built on the same simple belief: food can be one of the most powerful ways we look after ourselves.

 Where the mushrooms come in

I first tried functional mushrooms about ten years ago, working as a retreat chef in Ibiza. I quickly became obsessed with how they made me feel. Of course, mushrooms like Lion's Mane, Cordyceps, Reishi and Chaga have been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries — this is nothing new. But back then they weren't remotely mainstream. Now, functional mushrooms are one of the biggest wellness trends around, and I love that so many more people are discovering what I fell into all those years ago.

When I hit around 45 and perimenopause arrived, like so many women I found myself struggling. I knew functional mushrooms were helping me — but I couldn't find a blend that was truly right, one that fitted properly into a busy, real life. So I decided to create it myself. That's how Mama Shrooms was born: the best quality mushrooms I could source, everything third-party tested so you never have to take my word for it, and simple capsule blends made for people who don't have time for a cupboard full of separate supplements. One for the day, one for the night.

And because I'm a chef at heart, I also wanted a way to bring mushrooms into food, not just a pill box. That's exactly why I created our tinctures — they're so much easier to drop straight into food or your morning coffee, no fuss, no faff. Food as medicine. It's what my whole career has been about.

## Meeting James, and my go-to mushroom coffee ritual

One of the unexpected joys of building a business from scratch, with no investors, is the people you meet along the way doing exactly the same thing.

I met James, the founder of Balance Coffee, through our mutual friend Louis — and he's honestly been such an inspiration to me. We've shared so many conversations about what it really takes to build something from the ground up. What I love most about Balance is that it was one of the first toxin-free coffees on the market, and what James has done with his Nespresso-compatible pods is genuinely so creative — proper quality coffee, made properly.

Which brings me to my favourite morning ritual — and the easiest wellness habit you'll ever build.

Make your coffee, then drop in a little of our Lion's Mane tincture, or empty a Daytime Blend capsule — Lion's Mane, Cordyceps and Vitamin C straight into your cup. Stir, done. Smooth, focused energy that sits beautifully alongside your caffeine, without reinventing your routine.

If you want to start with the coffee itself, James's [Nespresso compatible pods https://balancecoffee.co.uk/products/balance-coffee-pods?are exactly where I'd point you - toxin-free, carefully sourced, made with the same values I built Mama Shrooms on. Which is exactly why I love it.

One cup, one drop, and you're good to go.

From my kitchen to yours

Everything I've done  the counselling, the cooking, the cookbooks, the mushrooms  comes back to the same thing: helping people feel better in small, doable, everyday ways. If you'd like to know more about me and the story behind the brand, it's all at https://www.mamashrooms.co.uk

And if you try the mushroom coffee ritual, let me know how you get on. It might just become your favourite part of the morning.

Gemma x