183: Tero Isokauppila - Four Sigma Foods

**Summary:** In Episode #183 Ari interviews Tero Isokauppila of [Four Sigma Foods](http://www.foursigmafoods.com/), a company dedicated to making medicinal mushrooms more popular in the United States. Listen as Ari and Tero take a deep-dive in the fun and surprisingly healthy world of fungi. **Special Announcements:** ## [Freeing Finland](http://www.biohackersummit.com) Come watch Ari and a collection of other well-renowned biohackers free the people of Finland from their bodily limitations at the 2015 Biohacker Summit being held in Helsinki, Finland from September 23rd through September 24th. Those interested in attending can [buy tickets here](http://biohackersummit.com/#pl_areauf9k2sm). ## [Leave Us a Review!](https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ari-meisel-less-doing/id605938952?mt=2&uo=6) Hey Less Doing Podcast Listeners, we want to hear from YOU! Visit us on iTunes and leave a review or subscribe to the podcast if you’re not already a dedicated follower. **Time Stamped Show Notes:** - 13:42 – Introduction of Tero Isokauppila of [Four Sigma Foods](http://www.foursigmafoods.com/), a company that makes dietary supplements using mushroom extracts - 14:02 – Tero talks about the Nordic history with foraging mushrooms and berries - 15:00 – Why people (at least in the United States) aren’t overly interested in mushrooms - 15:30 – People are scared of fungi just like they’re scared of bacteria because there has been an excessive focus on the negative rather than positive properties - 16:30 – Half of the best selling drugs in the world are based on fungi - 16:45 – The healthiest mushrooms are tree mushrooms which are bitter - 18:07 – There are 6x more variety of fungi on the planet than plants - 18:55 – Almost all poisonous mushrooms are ground mushrooms - 19:25 – Medicinal (tree mushrooms) versus Nutritional/Culinary (ground mushrooms) - 21:21 – The Four Sigma Foods extraction method—mushrooms consist of water soluble compounds and fat soluble compounds - 23:05 – Reishi is the most popular medicinal mushroom—“The Queen of the Mushrooms” - 23:25 – Well known for its ability to improve the microbiome and act as an anti-histamine - 24:19 – Lion’s Mane is also a great mushroom to try—it acts as a nootropic - 24:46 – Mushroom Coffee - 25:57 – Micro-toxins are actually mushrooms themselves - 28:25 – Temperature as related to drinking mushroom based drinks - 31:25 – Mushrooms Four Sigma Foods would like to add to their inventory in the future - 32:30 – Turkey Tail Mushrooms are the easiest to find in the US and are anti-viral and anti-inflammatory - 33:22 – Tero’s _Top 3 Tips to be More Effective_: - 33:33 – Hydration - 34:10 – Breathing - 34:58 – Constantly try one new thing - 35:50 – [www.FourSigmaFoods.com](http://www.FourSigmaFoods.com) **5 Key Points:** 1. Mushrooms have astounding anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, and positive microbial properties. 2. Microtoxins are actually mushrooms. 3. The Turkey Tail Mushroom is the most prevalent mushroom in the United States and has a variety of positive properties. 4. Much like bacteria, fungi have gotten a bad rap—people focus on the negative without considering the positive. 5. When it comes to safety and medicinal relevance, tree mushrooms (as opposed to ground) can’t be beaten. **Resources Mentioned:** - [All the Rooms](http://alltherooms.com/?utm_content=buffer30866&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer) – Searches all the different types of places one can stay—essentially a Kayak for rooms - [World’s Strongest Man](http://www.vocativ.com/news/226436/the-worlds-strongest-man-eats-7360-more-calories-than-you-do/) – An article in Vocativ talking about World’s Strongest Man, Brian Shaw’s, diet - [Gatekeeper](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gatekeeper/nmppodcjnnmchdnllnkddkmmneghcggf?ref=producthunt) – A Chrome Extension for filtering Facebook feeds - [Pipetop](https://pipetop.com/?ref=producthu