5 Defenders is a blend of extracts of Reishi, Shiitake, Maitake, Turkey Tail mushrooms and Chaga.

It is an immune-supportive blend that also nourishing various organs of the body. Think of it as a mushroom multi-vitamin.

Our 5 Defenders product contains the following extracts:

• 8:1 Organic Chaga Sclerotium Extract (hot water / alcohol extract)
• 8:1 Organic Maitake Mushroom Extract (hot water extract)
• 15:1 Organic Reishi Mushroom Extract (hot water / alcohol extract)
• 8:1 Organic Shiitake Mushroom Extract (hot water extract)
• 8:1 Organic Turkey Tail Mushroom Extract (hot water extract)

No. All of our products have already been extracted with hot water and/or alcohol. Any further “extraction”, like adding them to hot water, will not affect the powder or

REAL MUSHROOMS extract powders are produced in China at a cGMP ISO22000 organic facility. After going to quality control testing, it is imported into the US and rested again. Once the quality of the mushroom extracts has been confirmed, it is then sent to our encapsulation facility in California, which is a cGMP, NSF certified, solar-powered facility.

The finished extract powders are tested for pesticides, heavy metals, etc, before they leave China and tested again when they arrive in the US.

Of course. All products are screened for heavy metals twice. We follow the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) guidelines for heavy metals.

American Health Products Association Suggested Heavy Metals Limits in Herbal Dietary Supplements

All of our product specifications follow the following industry established limits:

• Lead: <2ppm*
• Arsenic: <2ppm*
• Cadmium: <2ppm*
• Mercury: <0.1ppm*

Based on our recommended dosage (1g), our heavy metal limits are even stricter than the limits set by AHPA.

As we, the Real Mushrooms team, are also consuming our products on a daily basis, we are always concerned about the health and safety of our products.

*ppm = parts per million

We have tested for mycotoxins in the past but they are rarely found with edible mushroom products.

This is a bigger concern for food and animal feed where aflatoxin-producing fungi like Aspergillus grow. These fungi are often found in grains so this might be a greater concern for products that are made from mycelium grown on grains. It is in the mycelial stage that the aflatoxins are produced.

At Real Mushrooms, they use 100% pure mushroom (fruiting bodies) in all of our extracts. There are no added binders, fillers, starch, grain, and/or mycelium.

The majority of medicinal mushrooms are grown on sawdust. This sawdust is a byproduct from local sawmills. Mushrooms are great at recycling waste materials and this is a perfect example. Sawdust that might normally be thrown away or burned, can be used to grow mushrooms on.

One exception to this is reishi, which is grown on individual hardwood logs in the ground. These logs come from locally sourced beech wood the medicinal compounds.

First, you take dried mushrooms and grind them into a fine powder.

Then you will cook them multiple times with water or alcohol depending on the mushroom. Water to release water-soluble compounds. Alcohol to release non-water soluble compounds.

The cooking action breaks down the mushroom’s cell walls, allowing for the extraction of beneficial compounds (beta-glucans, triterpenes, etc.). The mushroom cell walls are made up of chitin, which our bodies do not have the enzymes to break down properly, so if we just eat fresh mushrooms, the active compounds are not as bioavailable to us. Hence, the requirement for extraction.

The resulting liquid from cooking the mushrooms is drained off and concentrated to the desired consistency. If any alcohol is used in the extraction, it is precipitated out (removed).

The liquid is then sent to a spray dryer, which removes all the water, leaving you with the final powder.

So the final liquid is now a powder without any of the water and or alcohol.

The shelf life of our extracts is 2 years from the manufacturing date. You can gladly keep it on the countertop, cupboard, or the fridge. Make sure to store away from intense heat and light.

A holistic vet who uses our extracts recommends 1/8 tsp twice a day for small dogs (under 30 lbs).

Scale the dosage up or down depending on your pet’s size and health/needs goals. If the dog does not like the taste, break the servings into smaller amounts spread throughout the day.
You are welcome to break open the capsules if you prefer.

One capsule of our 5 Defenders is = 500 mg (1/4 tsp)
Two capsules of our 5 Defenders is = 1000 mg (1/2 tsp)
1/8 tsp would be roughly half of one capsule.