Mushroom supplements have been exploding in popularity in 2023, and Auri is one of the most popular mushroom gummy brands. The company sells gummy supplements for enhancing focus, promoting relaxation, for daily use and more.
But do mushroom supplements actually support optimal health and mental focus? Does Auri use research-backed ingredients? Does the brand use any unhealthy ingredients? And what was our Product Tester's honest experience after trying Auri Mushroom Gummies for a month?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Auri Mushroom Gummies to give our take on whether or not they’re likely to improve health and focus, and whether or not they're healthy.
We'll also share our Product Tester's experience trying this supplement for a month, and highlight some questionable health claims on the Auri website.
Key takeaways:
- We don't consider any active ingredients to be effectively-dosed
- Contains three inactive ingredients we consider unhealthy
- We do not currently recommend Auri Mushroom Gummies
Ingredient Analysis
The active ingredients in Auri Super Mushroom Focus Gummies are shown below:
Lion’s mane mushroom has been clinically shown to improve cognitive function, as we documented in our review of Genius Mushrooms, however we can’t find any clinical trials suggesting this ingredient is effective at the dose in Auri Focus.
Auri Focus Gummies provide 25 milligrams (mg) of a 10:1 extract of lion’s mane mushroom, which equates to 250 mg of raw powder.
A daily dose of 800 mg was shown to improve cognitive function and protect the brain from deterioration in a 2019 clinical trial.
Alpha GPC and Rhodiola extract are the remaining two active ingredients, and are included in a blend with an average ingredient dose of 60 mg.
Alpha GPC is clinically shown to improve cognitive function, however we can’t find any clinical trials suggesting it does at a 60 mg dose, and this compound was shown to worsen arterial function in a 2021 clinical trial.
Rhodiola was shown to improve memory in a meta-study published in the Frontiers in Pharmacology journal, but most of the studies analyzed used doses vastly higher than that in Auri Focus Gummies.
The inactive ingredients in Auri Focus Gummies are shown below:
Glucose syrup is a refined form of added sugar, and there is 21x more added sugar in this supplement (3,000 mg) than all active ingredients combined.
Citric acid is a preservative and flavor enhancer shown to cause whole-body inflammation in some individuals, as we documented in our NoonBrew review article.
Natural flavor is a broad, categorical descriptor that fails to identify the specific chemical compounds used for the flavoring. Without this information, it’s challenging to assess safety in our opinion.
Overall, we do not consider Auri Focus Gummies likely to support focus or enhance cognitive function, because we don't consider any active ingredients to be effectively-dosed.
We do not currently recommend this supplement for this reason, and also due to the inactive ingredients above which we consider unhealthy.
We Tried Auri Mushroom Gummies Ourselves
One of our product testers named Hannah Westerman tried Auri Super Mushroom Chill Gummies. Here's her experience:
The packaging was great, easy to open and aesthetically pleasing.
These gummies tasted delicious, like the perfect “health candy.” The consistency was much better than your average wellness gummy, it was almost the texture of DOTS, the candy.
I have definitely felt a small increase in relaxation and calm. Slightly less anxiety. I take them before bed and it makes me feel more restful as I wind down.
The effects were relatively mild overall.
I didn't experience any side effects, although I was tempted to eat more than two a day because they're so yummy!
Overall, I'd rate this product a 7 out of 10, and I'm interested in purchasing again from this brand (perhaps trying other types of mushroom gummies).
Do Mushrooms Improve Health?
The types of mushrooms used by Auri would be described as functional mushrooms, intended to serve a specific purpose like enhancing concentration.
But nearly all edible mushrooms have health benefits.
A medical review published in the International Journal of Microbiology concludes the following:
“Mushrooms act as antibacterial, immune system enhancer and cholesterol lowering agents; additionally, they are important sources of bioactive compounds.”
Some types of mushrooms have even been shown to slow or prevent neurodegeneration, as we documented in our Ryze Mushroom Coffee reviews article.
We consider the early research on edible mushrooms to be very promising, and it’s great for the health and wellbeing of American consumers that more functional mushroom products are entering the market.
The FreshCap Mushrooms YouTube channel suggests that five types of mushrooms have more functional benefits than the other three million types, in a video with over 600,000 views:
Questionable Health Claims on Auri Website
There are a number of questionable and uncited health claims on Auri’s website at the time of updating this article.
As shown in the screenshot below, the brand is currently suggesting that their gummies are more effective than mushroom capsule supplements because they have an absorption efficiency of around 90%:
source:tryauri.com
The brand provides zero proof that their formulation has a superior absorption efficiency to encapsulated mushroom supplements, and we’re unsure how the brand can make such a specific health claim if they have not funded any clinical trials.
The same marketing material suggests that Auri has “ingredients that enhance benefits,” which suggests a synergistic effect of the active ingredients in their formulation.
On the product page for Auri Focus Gummies, there is currently no citation or proof that the active ingredients have a synergistic effect, nor have we found any clinical trials suggesting such.
We recommend that consumers be wary of brands that make specific health claims without providing proof to back such claims.
Our Clean Nootropic Picks
Illuminate Labs Ginkgo Biloba Extract is our top herbal nootropic pick.
A medical review published in the Psychopharmacology journal found that ginkgo biloba supplementation improved attention and cognitive performance in healthy, young adults.
Mind Lab Pro by Performance Lab is our top multi-ingredient nootropic pick.
This is the first Illuminate Labs Certified supplement, and has been shown to be effective for short-term cognitive improvements in two clinical trials published in peer-reviewed journals.
Both of the products mentioned in this section are free of ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.
Customers Rate Auri Mushroom Gummies
Amazon is a better resource for honest customer reviews than a brand's website in our opinion.
Daily Gummies is Auri's most-reviewed product on Amazon currently, with over 350 total reviews and an average review rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars.
The top positive review from a verified purchaser comes from a user named "Franki" who gives the product a 5/5 star rating and likes both the taste and the effects:
"The taste is actually good, I do feel like my focused and energy has improved since taking these daily for the last month. I no longer feel like I need a nap halfway through my day"
The top negative review from a verified purchaser is written by a user named "Kathy Burton" who gives the product a 1/5 star rating and claims it was ineffective for brain fog:
"Was hopeful I would notice an improvement with my brain fog. Unfortunately, there was seemingly no effect. The only possible effect was I became more irritable. Not for me, won’t purchase again."
Auri Daily Mushroom Gummies currently has a 3.9 out of 5 star rating on Google.
Where to Get the Best Price
Auri gummies are currently sold on the brand's website and on Amazon. Here's a price breakdown for a one-time purchase of Focus Gummies at the time of publishing this article:
Brand website: $39.99 (plus shipping, link)
Amazon: $44.99 (free shipping, link to official Amazon listing)
Auri Focus Gummies are currently around 4% cheaper on Amazon than the brand's website when factoring in shipping fees. The brand's website charged $6.95 for shipping based on the test address we input.
Auri Mushroom Gummies Pros and Cons
Here are the pros and cons of Auri Focus Gummies in our opinion:
Pros:
- Mushrooms may benefit health
- All three active ingredients have research backing
- May have nootropic effect
Cons:
- Brand website has questionable and uncited health claims
- Doesn't appear to be clinically tested
- Contains Alpha GPC
- Contains refined sugar
- Contains natural flavors
- Contains citric acid
- Questionable doses in our opinion
- Brand website charges for shipping