Four Sigmatic is one of the original mushroom coffee brands. The company claims that their coffee can support mental focus and energy, and they also sell supplements and creamers.
But is mushroom coffee better for focus and health than regular coffee? Does Four Sigmatic use any unhealthy ingredients? What was our experience testing it for a month? And is Four Sigmatic better or worse than popular mushroom coffees?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Four Sigmatic Coffee to give our take on whether or not it’s likely to be healthy and effective.
We’ll compare Four Sigmatic to other popular mushroom coffee brands to pick our winners, and share our experience purchasing and testing this drink for a month.
Key takeaways:
- Contains functional mushrooms as active ingredients
- May support enhanced cognition more than coffee alone
- We currently recommend Four Sigmatic
Ingredient Analysis
Four Sigmatic’s best-selling coffee called "Think" has a refreshingly simple formulation, shown below:
There are only three ingredients: organic coffee, organic lion’s mane extract and organic chaga extract
Organic coffee can help protect against neurodegenerative disease and protect the cardiovascular system according to a 2018 medical review.
Lion’s mane is clinically shown to improve cognitive function, as we documented in our Genius Mushrooms reviews article.
Chaga mushroom was shown in a medical review published in the Phytotherapy Research journal to have anti-cancer, anti-diabetic and anti-viral effects.
Chaga was also shown in a 2011 clinical trial to improve cognitive function in mice with induced amnesia.
Overall, we consider Four Sigmatic’s coffee healthy and likely to support cognitive function. There are no questionable additives and we would recommend this product from an ingredient perspective.
Even the creamers sold by Four Sigmatic are healthy. The ingredients in Four Sigmatic’s Vanilla Creamer are shown below:
Organic vanilla powder and organic monk fruit extract are used as natural sweeteners rather than refined sugar and flavoring additives like commercial creamer.
Monk fruit extract is clinically shown to have antidiabetic and anti-inflammatory effects, which is the opposite of processed, refined sugar.
We recommend both of Four Sigmatic’s creamers from an ingredient perspective.
Overall, we consider Four Sigmatic to be the healthiest mushroom coffee brand we’ve reviewed on Illuminate Health to date.
We Tested Four Sigmatic Coffee
As the author of this article, I wanted to try Four Sigmatic myself to share my experience about its taste and effects.
I've been drinking the Think blend every morning for a few weeks, and I definitely feel like it has nootropic effects beyond regular coffee.
I feel more focused, more concentrated and even more energized than when I drink regular coffee.
Perhaps this is a placebo effect somewhat because I'm already so well-read on the nootropic effects of mushrooms, but either way I plan to continue to drink this coffee regularly.
I don't like the taste as much as my standard dark roast coffee, but I think that has more to do with the fact that it's a dark roast than the brand itself. I prefer light roasts. The taste is a bit bland with an earthy aftertaste that isn't terrible but isn't amazing.
Overall, I would rate this product 7.5 out of 10 primarily due to its effects.
Four Sigmatic vs. Popular Mushroom Coffees
A number of different mushroom coffee brands have proliferated recently. Some actually contain coffee and others are mushroom and tea based.
Ryze Mushroom Coffee is one of the most popular coffee-containing mushroom coffee products, and we just reviewed this brand at the above link.
The formulation is quite similar between Ryze and Four Sigmatic: organic coffee with mushrooms. We like Ryze slightly better overall because it uses whole mushroom ingredients rather than extracts, but we consider Four Sigmatic more likely to have a nootropic effect given that it uses extracts (which are more potent).
Both products are priced very similarly (around $1 per serving).
MUD\WTR is one of the most popular mushroom coffee alternatives that’s caffeine-free and formulated with tea instead.
We like this product slightly more than Four Sigmatic for daily use because it uses whole mushroom ingredients rather than extracts, but consider both products to be healthy and free of questionable additives.
We consider Four Sigmatic much more likely to provide a nootropic effect than MUD\WTR given that it contains coffee.
Four Sigmatic is better-priced than MUD\WTR, costing around 25% less per-serving.
Why Was Four Sigmatic Sued?
Four Sigmatic has been sued multiple times, but the only health-related lawsuit we could find is a 2018 suit by a non-profit called Environmental Working Group.
The lawsuit alleged that some Four Sigmatic products contained levels of lead that exceeded California's Proposition 65 limits.
We cannot identify the alleged lead levels anywhere in the public filing.
While lower doses of lead are always healthier, unfortunately, many food products are contaminated with lead due to environmental contamination, and we consider Europe's limits to be based on better science than California's (even though our own supplements pass both).
We do not consider this to be a cause of worry for consumers without the actual lead levels published.
Four Sigmatic Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Healthy formulation
- Should improve focus
- May have adaptogenic effect
- Zero unhealthy additives
- Positive online customer reviews
- Affordable per-serving
Cons:
- Mushroom extract doses are hard to find
- Doesn’t appear clinically tested
- Brand website charges for shipping
