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Why Are Athletes Taking Mushroom Gummies?

One study found mushrooms improved VO2 max and time to exhaustion, but what does that even mean?

By Sam Watanuki | Reviewed by Ysolt Usigan

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If, like me, the word “mushroom” has mostly meant one of two things—a topping you pick off a pizza, or a topic you only bring up around someone who just got back from Joshua Tree—I feel you. No judgement, either. They’ve just never been my cup of tea (which, in 2026, is ALSO a thing).

I can count the mushroom dishes I’ve genuinely enjoyed in my life on one hand, with fingers to spare—my wife’s mushroom salsa, and the fried up mushrooms/green goddess dressing combination from a fondue restaurant I used to go to. And yet, somehow, over the last couple of years, mushrooms have become completely inescapable (not that kind… the functional “good for you” kind), whether they’re in my coffee, plastered across my algorithm with every scroll, or in conversations during get-togethers with my friends.

Athletes, too, are seeing benefits from these functional mushrooms.

So how did we get here? And is there actually anything to the hype, or is this just marsala sauce going through a weird, global rebrand?

A Little Fun(gi) Background

The mushrooms behind all this noise aren’t specifically culinary, and they’re not psychedelic. The product ads you’re likely seeing on your Instagram are for what the wellness world calls “functional” or “adaptogenic” mushrooms, which include cordyceps, lion’s mane, reishi, chaga, turkey tail, and shiitake. Some have been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for centuries. What’s new, though, is the industrial-scale marketing push turning them into gummies, chocolates, powders, and coffee.

And the money backs up the vibe. The global functional mushroom market was valued at roughly $31.7........

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