Fun Fungi Facts with Mālama Mushrooms

Photo: Mushrooms

Over the years, functional or medicinal mushrooms have gotten more popular and we are stoked about it! Why? More and more studies have found that functional mushrooms could help with improving immune health, brain health, overall energy and help your body absorb more nutrients. Beyond cooking the mushrooms we're all familiar with - white, button, portabella - our nutrient dense fungi friends are now available in supplements, powders, and even chocolate! This might be where the mushroom varieties may become a little unfamiliar - Reishi, Turkey Tail, Tremella, etc.

There are a lot out there and if you need a starting point, we highly recommend our friends over on the Big Island, Mālama Mushrooms. Mālama Mushrooms cultivates all their mushrooms locally and are USDA Certified Organic. DTE carries many of their powders and chocolates in our grocery departments. Malama Mushroom Founder, Benjamin Lillibridge, is practically a walking encyclopedia about mushrooms!

Photo: Benjamin Lillibridge

Benjamin Lillibridge, Founder & "Funguy" of Mālama Mushrooms

We've also collaborated with Benjamin on a line of Mushroom Drinks you can order at any of our Delis. This is an excellent way to try functional mushrooms out for the first time. You get to try a little in a yummy drink and see if you're ready to upgrade to buying your own Mālama Mushrooms powders. The taste on it's own is very earthy but mixed in with powerful flavors like mocha or coffee, it's becomes less distinguishable. We use Mālama Mushrooms' Superfoods 8 Mushroom Mix to pack a nutritional punch to our Mush Love Latte, Mocha and Mood Boost Smoothie which you can order here. Use coupon code: malama15 to get 15% off any mushroom drink through the DTE Deli App. Limited 1 Redemption Per Customer. Expires 9/30/20.

Photo: Superfood Mushroom Mix

This well-rounded superfood mushroom powder has Reishi, Lion's Mane, Chaga, Cordyceps, Shiitake, Maitake, Tremella, and Turkey Tail extract powder blend. See our chart below for a quck nutrient snapshot of these amazing mushrooms.

Mushroom Mix Flyer

Download Malama Mushrooms Flyer - PDF Format

Here are some fun facts about Tremella, just one of the mushrooms found in our Mush Love Latte, Mocha and Mood Boost Smoothies. Tremella fuciformis aka snow fungus or silver ear, is a superfood mushroom of much adoration in Asia but that you can also find growing wild in Hawai'i. (Don't worry, Mālama Mushrooms' stock is organically cultivated!)

Tremella has been used as a skin beautifying ingredient dating back to the Tang dynasty around 710 AD. Yang Guifei, one of China’s famed four great beauties is said to have credited tremella with maintain her youthful appearance. If that weren't enough, this mushroom superfood also has modern scientific evidence on helping cardiovascular health by lowering cholesterol as well as having brain-boosting neuroprotective benefits!

Photo: Tremella

Tremella cultivated by Mālama Mushrooms