What Makes Our Mushrooms Different: Fruiting Body vs. Mycelium

TL;DR

  • Most mushroom coffees use mycelium on grain, which contains low levels of active compounds
  • NutraCup uses 100% fruiting body mushrooms, third-party tested to contain >25% active compounds like beta-glucans and triterpenoids.
  • We believe that real function starts with real fungi, and that's why we only use the most potent part of the mushroom.
  • No fillers. No proprietary blends. No shortcuts—just clean, effective ingredients that work.

When I first started formulating NutraCup, I assumed the “mushroom coffee” space would be packed with quality ingredients.

What I found instead was a lot of clever branding—and not much substance.

Many products on the market use what’s called mycelium on grain. It’s fast and cheap to produce, but here’s the issue: it’s mostly filler.
The result? Coffee that says it supports brain health or immunity… but doesn’t contain the active compounds to actually do it.


🍄 Fruiting Body vs. Mycelium: What’s the Difference?

Here’s the simplest way to think about it:

  • The fruiting body is the actual mushroom—the cap and stem you’d see growing out of a tree.
  • The mycelium is the root-like structure underground or in a grow bag.

Both are part of the fungus, but the fruiting body is where the good stuff lives—the compounds responsible for supporting focus, immune health, and energy.

Mycelium, on the other hand, is often grown on grain (like rice or oats) and harvested before a mushroom even forms. When dried and ground, it’s mostly starch from the growing medium—not the potent compounds people think they’re getting.


💥 Why Active Compounds Matter

The power of mushroom coffee comes from beta-glucans, triterpenoids, and other bioactive compounds—not just the word “mushroom” on the label.

At NutraCup, we use 100% fruiting body mushrooms that are third-party tested to contain over 25% active compounds, and less than 3% naturally occurring starch.

That’s an important benchmark—because active compound content is what determines whether a mushroom ingredient actually does anything.
And let’s be honest: if you’re putting mushrooms in your coffee, you want them to work.


🔬 Most Products Won’t Tell You What’s Inside

Here’s something frustrating: most mushroom coffees don’t tell you what’s really in them.

They’ll talk about “cognition,” “immunity,” or “energy,” but when you flip the bag over, you’ll often find a proprietary blend that lumps all the mushrooms together—with no breakdown of how much of each one you’re actually getting.

Even worse? They almost never disclose the level of active compounds—the beta-glucans, triterpenoids, and other bioactives that actually make mushrooms functional.

That means you could be drinking a coffee that claims to contain Lion’s Mane, but it might be just a sprinkle—and not even from the fruiting body.
You deserve better than that.

At NutraCup, we chose to do the opposite.
We list exactly which mushrooms we use, how much of each (500mg of Lion’s Mane, Cordyceps, and Turkey Tail), and verify that our mushrooms contain over 25% active compounds, backed by third-party testing.

Transparency isn’t a marketing gimmick for us—it’s the foundation of everything we do.


⚡ The Result? A Better Kind of Mushroom Coffee

By using real, tested fruiting body mushrooms, NutraCup delivers the benefits people expect when they reach for functional coffee:

  • ✅ Sharper focus
  • ✅ Calmer energy
  • ✅ Resilience under stress
  • ✅ Immune system support

And unlike most “wellness” coffees, we’re not sprinkling in fairy dust—we’re delivering full, clinically mindful servings of the best mushroom ingredients available.


🌱 Quality Isn’t Just a Claim. It’s a Standard.

Functional ingredients should be functional, not just fashionable.
That’s why we source mushrooms grown to strict standards, measure the actual active compounds, and verify it all with third-party testing.

Because if it’s not something I’d feel confident taking myself every day—as a pharmacist and formulator—it doesn’t go into NutraCup.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for holding us to a higher standard. You deserve to know what’s in your cup.

—
Henry Yu, PharmD
Founder, Formulator & Registered Pharmacist
NutraCup Performance Coffee

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