Assessing Counterfeits

If someone were to offer you gold, the first thing you’d likely do is ascertain its worth. You don’t want to be ripped off, after all.

It seems easier, as society moves online, to accept a headline as true without passing much judgment. We’d be skeptical of free gold but all too eager to accept a stranger’s advertisement or news headline. We often parrot what we read with little questioning. I’m guilty of having done this. What we accept most readily depends on our preexisting ideology.

I aim to test the validity of anything before accepting it. It’s how I hope to refrain from becoming the product of someone else.

I’ve read a lot lately on the health benefits of mushrooms. There seems to be little scientific evidence one way or the other for most of the health claims, but I’ve been trying mushroom coffee in the morning. The brand I’m trying mixes six types of mushrooms: shiitake, lion’s mane, reishi, cordyceps, king trumpet, and turkey tail.

An old work friend recommended it. In the wake of COVID lockdowns, he said, feelings of isolation and depression began to overtake him. He tried mushroom coffee daily and it changed his life for the better. He slept better and felt both more energized and more hopeful about himself. His motivation skyrocketed. He completed his first triathlon and while nearing age 50, possessed the vitality of a 30-year-old.

Why not try it, I figured. He seems trustworthy, and he gave me a free 30 day supply. I’ll try just about anything… “for science.”

So I tried mushroom coffee for about 30 days. Did it make a difference? Well, my sleep improved to the point that it became top notch, I was writing creativity again for the first time in years, and I felt an overall sense of contentment. It could’ve just been the reduction in caffeine. That’s still a benefit though.

It was difficult to be sure what was real and what was placebo, so I went without mushroom coffee for about two weeks. In those two weeks my sleep quality worsened and I found some of my old anxieties slowly returning.

It’s difficult to know for certain what is and isn’t a factor of the mushrooms, but I’ll keep taking the mushroom coffee… for now, at least, it doesn’t seem to be counterfeit.