And it certainly turned out to be true.
Not sure what functional mushrooms are?
To be clear, functional mushrooms certainly arentnew.
Functional mushrooms have been used in Eastern medicine, including Traditional Chinese Medicine, for centuries.
This is just another case of Westerners being late to the partyand this particular party is full of fungis.
Tinctures, teas, chocolates, gummies… youll find it all there.
Alli Schaper is the co-founder and CEO of Multiverse, a marketplace devoted to functional mushrooms.
Here, co-founder and CEOAlli Schaperreveals what led to the launch of Multiverse and how their curation process happens.
Well+Good: What led to the founding of Multiverse?
Why was launching a functional mushroom marketplace so important to you?
Alli Schaper:Before co-founding Multiverse, I did a lot of healthcare consulting.
And as I immersed myself in the health space, I became vehemently fascinated by and passionate about wellness.
This led me to founding a company that was essentially a Birchbox for wellness products.
We worked with hundreds of brands, some of them being functional mushroom brands.
Ive been using mushrooms every day for the past six years.
Around four years ago, really prominent figures in wellness started talking more about functional mushrooms.
Alli Schaper is the co-founder and CEO of Multiverse, a marketplace devoted to functional mushrooms.
For example, itsbeing used [as a vegan alternative] to leather.
Also, certain types offungi can reverse environmental damage.
I believe fungi have the potential to save the world.
I know thats a really dramatic statement, but its one I truly stand behind.
Functional mushrooms have become so popular that theyre popping up in new products all the time.
How do you decide what youre going to include in the Multiverse?
We have a couple of standards that brands must meet.
One is that the products we include must truly be wellness products in every regard.
We want to be theThrive Marketof mushrooms.
But everything in our marketplace must have a measurable dose thats enough to truly make a difference for someone.
Its Amazing How Its All Connected.
What is a good dosage people should look for on product labels?
We like to look for around 500 milligrams of functional ingredients (mushrooms and adaptogens) per serving.
That would be the minimum and then there are some products that have 3,000 milligrams.
Most products fall between 500 and 1,500 milligrams.
What is the main reason youre seeing people seek out functional mushrooms?
Is it for stress?
Using mushrooms to help with immune health, focus, and chilling out are the most popular reasons.
This is more how theyve been used in Eastern medicine for thousands of years.
What are some of your personal favorite products in the Multiverse?
That would be like picking a favorite childIm obsessed with them all.
But the more people learn about mushrooms, the more they uncover the magical species that they are.
Im really excited to see where the mushroom movement leads.
This conversation has been condensed for clarity.
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