We’ve all seen it, that quizzical look when people hear the word Ganoderma for the first time. Because most people aren’’t familiar with this ancient medicinal mushroom, we don’t just get frequently asked questions, we seem to receive what we call the Frequently Frequently Asked Questions.
Today, we’ll address five of the most popular ones, in order to help you field queries and smooth over obstacles with potential clients and prospects.
1. WHAT IS GANODERMA?
The Ganoderma lucidum mushroom has a long and prestigious history — and has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years, making it one of the oldest mushrooms known to have been used medicinally. The spectacular mushrooms, with a shiny orange cap and long brown stem, grow naturally in the heavily forested mountains of China.
2. WILL MY COFFEE TASTE LIKE MUSHROOMS?
Organo Gold grows its Ganoderma Lucidum mushrooms high in mountains of China’s FTK region, then it is processed in a state-ofthe-art $240 million facility in the Fujian Province of China. Our talented food technologists transform the woody caps and stems into a fine, flavorless powder. Which means your cup of OG coffee has ALL of the benefits of this amazing mushroom, but NONE of the taste!
3. COULD I MAKE A GANODERMA MUSHROOM RISOTTO?
In short, no! Well, you could, but it may not taste great. While they have been used for literally thousands of years in Chinese medicine, these particular mushrooms are more suited to herbal/medicinal use, not culinary creations. But of course, many of the end products are amazing ingredients in recipes. Check out some examples in last year’s OG Holiday Cookbook, and be sure to enter the 2014 OGlicious Recipe Contest.
4. WHICH OG PRODUCTS DO NOT CONTAIN GANODERMA
Ganoderma lucidum is the quiet achiever — it may not always take center stage, but it is incorporated in every Organo Gold product. Yes —even the hot chocolate. Yes —even the toothpaste! And of course the coffee, tea and nutraceutical products.
5. CAN I TAKE THE OG GANODERMA SPORE POWDER OUT OF THE CAPSULES?
Primarily, the OG Spore Powder product is intended for use as a nutraceutical product, which means you just swallow the capsule whole, as you would any other vitamin or supplement capsule. That said, some of the entrants in the aforementioned 2013 OGlicious recipe contest did include the spore powder in their Mocha Power Pancakes and other treats.