Why the 60 Minute Tea Steeping Time?

How to get the most out of our medicinal mushroom tea blends.

If you’re new to the world of Zoom Out Mushroom Tea, you may not know all the magic that happens during the hour-long steeping process. Common loose-leaf and bagged teas typically take 2-8 minutes to brew, so what makes mushroom tea special? Let’s investigate!

As you may know, Zoom Out Mycology offers a growing selection of medicinal mushroom tea blends that boast a wide array of reported health benefits (for more on this, visit past blogs!) When prepping your tea, be it in a teapot, infuser, or tea press, it’s important to steep your tea for a full 60 minutes.

Dr. Mark Stengler N.D., in his book "The Health Benefits of Medicinal Mushrooms," notes that independent scientific studies on medicinal mushrooms are based on the use of hot water extracts. “References from Traditional Chinese Medicine also recommend hot water extraction when preparing medicinal mushrooms. We have absolute consensus on this issue from two distinctly different healing traditions.”

How does hot water extraction measure up?

The polysaccharides in medicinal mushrooms (fruiting bodies) that contain immune-support are held up within the cell walls. These cell walls are made of an indigestible fiber called chitin, for which hot water extraction is the only “clinically validated method” for bioavailability.

“Hot water extraction dissolves the indigestible chitin allowing the fiber to be removed from the extract when the water is removed. This process concentrates the polysaccharides to the effective levels identified in the published research.”

This hour steep session is much longer than your average leafy tea. When researchers analyzed the total amount of polyphenol antioxidants extracted from black tea, they “found it [only] took 6–8 minutes to extract the maximum amount.”

While our teas are made using hot water extraction, other types of extractions you may see in herbal medicine include decoction, infusion, and percolation. (We’ll be exploring decoctions, dual extraction, and powdered extractions in our Medicinal Mushroom workshop in December!)

Structure of the chitin molecule

So what does this mean for your delicious cup of piping hot Berry Brain or Reishi Rose? The 60-minute steep time is when all the magic happens. Slowly but surely, the hot water unlocks the medicinal properties of our tea blends and makes it so your body will be able to reap all the benefits!

What are the key medicinal mushroom constituents?

Most mushrooms are composed of around 90% water by weight. The remaining 10% consists of 10–40% protein, 2–8% fat, 3–28% carbohydrate, 3–32% fiber, 8–10% ash, and some vitamins and minerals, with potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, selenium, iron, zinc, and copper accounting for most of the mineral content (Borchers et al. 1999). In addition to these, mushrooms contain a wide variety of bioactive molecules, such as terpenoids, steroids, phenols, nucleotides and their derivatives, glycoproteins, and polysaccharides (Venturella, 2021). The most important are polysaccharides, structural components of the fungal cell wall. The polysaccharides have a strong ability to carry biological information. More specifically, they have antitumor, immunomodulatory, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antidiabetic activity.

• Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus)  - the main ingredient in our Berry Brain blend was included for its nootropic properties. Nootropics are foods and beverages or other substances that are said to enhance cognitive function especially with memory, focus, concentration. Lion’s mane also supports the nervous system and gut health. The medicinal compounds in lion's mane include hericenones and erinacines. They both promote nerve growth factor (NGF) and easily cross the blood-brain barrier. According to a 2013 medical study from Malaysia, the aqueous extract of H. erinaceus contained neuroactive compounds which induced NGF-synthesis and promoted neurite outgrowth in NG108-15 cells. The extract also enhanced the neurite outgrowth stimulation activity of NGF when applied in combination. The aqueous preparation of H. erinaceus had neurotrophic but not neuroprotective activities.

• Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) - “G. lucidum is recognized for its numerous pharmacological properties, such as anticancer, hypoglycemic, immunomodulatory, antihypertensive, cytotoxic, anti-diabetic, antioxidant, antihyperlipidemic, antimutagenic, anti-aging, antimicrobial, and hepatoprotective properties, and many others. These properties are mainly due to two major groups of metabolites present in G. lucidum: triterpenes/triterpenoids and polysaccharides. Triterpene compounds are derivatives from lanosterol, including ganoderic acids, ganodermic acid, ganodermic alcohols, lucidones, and lucinedic acids, and they possess marked antitumor, antimetastatic, cytotoxic, and enzyme inhibitory properties. The main polysaccharides are α-1,3, β-1,3 and β-1,6-D-glucans and ganoderan with glucose as a major sugar component, characterized by a strong antiangiogenic and immune system-strengthening properties [20,21]” (Venturella, 2021).

• Maitake (Grifola frondosa) or maitake is another major medical mushroom with numerous medicinal properties and whose main bioactive metabolite is the so-called D-fraction or GFP, a β-glucan proteoglycan compound. Several studies have demonstrated its antitumor effect, such as the one conducted by Alonso et al. [38] on MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. Not only did it activate macrophages, T cells, and NK cells, but it also triggered the expression of BCL2-antagonist/killer 1 (BAK-1) and several other genes involved in apoptotic stimulation, the inhibition of cell growth and proliferation and cell cycle arrest, the suppression of tumor cell migration and metastasis, and the downregulation of the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway (Venturella, 2021).

Next time you’re waiting for your tea to steep, meditate on the incredible extraction process happening right before your eyes, the hot water transforming the mushrooms on a cellular level, translating them into a healing language human bodies can understand.

Then zoom out and consider the centuries of healers and scientists whose findings made your mug possible! Consider the water and soil that grew the mushrooms, the hands that harvested and blended your tea. Sip and enjoy!

If you’re interested in more hands-on experience with decoctions, extractions, powders, and the powers of mushrooms in herbal healing, get your tickets for our workshop ‘Medicinal Mushrooms: Ancient Allies for Modern Healing’ hosted in December 2021.

---

Sources:

1. Cronkleton, E. (2017, October 12). Maitake mushroom: Risks, benefits, and more. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/maitake-mushroom#research.

2. Elieh-Ali-Komi, D., & Hamblin, M. R. (2016, March). Chitin and Chitosan: Production and application of Versatile Biomedical Nanomaterials. International journal of advanced research. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5094803/.

3. Hot water extracted. Mushroom Science. (2015, September 4). https://mushroomscience.com/hot-water-extracted/.

4. Kawagishi, H., Ando, M., Sakamoto, H., Yoshida, S., Ojima, F., Ishiguro, Y., Ukai, N., & Furukawa, S. (2001, March 5). Hericenones C, D and e, STIMULATORS of nerve growth Factor (NGF)-SYNTHESIS, from the MUSHROOM Hericium erinaceum. Tetrahedron Letters. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0040403991800399.

5. Lai PL;Naidu M;Sabaratnam V;Wong KH;David RP;Kuppusamy UR;Abdullah N;Malek SN; (2015). Neurotrophic properties of the lion's mane medicinal MUSHROOM, Hericium erinaceus (Higher BASIDIOMYCETES) from Malaysia. International journal of medicinal mushrooms. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24266378/.

6. Lai, P. (2013). Neurotrophic properties of the lion's mane medicinal MUSHROOM, Hericium erinaceus (Higher BASIDIOMYCETES) from Malaysia. International journal of medicinal mushrooms. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24266378/.

7. Leonard, J. (2018). Lion's mane MUSHROOMS: Benefits and side effects. Medical News Today. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323400#risks-and-side-effects.

8. Venturella, G., Ferraro, V., Cirlincione, F., & Gargano, M. L. (2021, January 10). Medicinal mushrooms: Bioactive compounds, use, and clinical trials. International journal of molecular sciences. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7826851/.