EFR 443: Why Mushrooms Are the Missing Dietary Link for Disease Prevention, Improved Cognition, and Boosting Your Immune System with Jeff Chilton

Jeff Chilton is the founder of Nammex, the leading supplier of organic mushroom extract ingredients to supplement companies. A pioneer and trailblazer in his field, Jeff was a key player in bringing medicinal mushrooms to the US market, and has dedicated over 40 years to unlocking its many health benefits. He studied ethnomycology at the University of Washington in the late 1960s and went to work for Ostrom Mushroom Farms in Olympia, Washington in 1973. Over the next ten years, Jeff worked his way up to Grower and ultimately Production Manager. In 1983, Jeff co-authored the highly-acclaimed book on small-scale mushroom cultivation, The Mushroom Cultivator. Throughout the 1980s, he operated a mushroom spawn business in British Columbia. Finally, Jeff founded Nammex in 1989. Contributing to the reputation of the company as a leader in the mushroom industry were Jeff’s numerous trips to China. During his visits, he built valuable relationships while attending conferences and visiting research facilities and mushroom farms around the country. Aside from his work at Nammex, Jeff, along with his son Skye, offer a product line of high-grade mushroom supplements at Real Mushrooms. To Jeff, mushrooms are a forgotten food, or what he calls “the missing dietary link” for many in the West. He encourages everyone to include mushrooms in their diet, in whole or supplement form, to experience their often-overlooked holistic health benefits.   Follow @chase_chewning   Key Highlights What should we be looking for in mushrooms or mushroom-derived products when looking to supplement our diet? Jeff explains why more species of mushroom in a single product does not make it better than a product with fewer species. Chase and Jeff discuss the benefits of the four mushrooms that Chase consumes on a daily basis   Episode resources: Nammex Real Mushrooms