Podcast:
By The Roots
S2, Ep3: Unlocking the power of mushrooms: From personal journey to medicinal wisdom w/ Dr. Anna Sitkoff, ND
With:
Dr. Christie Wylde
April 29, 2026
Listen: Spotify
Listen: Apple Podcasts
I joined Dr. Christie Wylde on By The Roots, her podcast for the naturopathic medicine community, for a real ND-to-ND conversation. I told the story of how my dad's 10-mushroom prescription started all of this, how Jeff Chilton became my mentor, and what it took to get Lucidum Medicinals off the ground with Matt and Mikail. Then we got into why so many “mushroom” supplements are mostly grain and when eating lion's mane beats taking a capsule. We ended up in the forest, talking about mushroom eyes.
Conversation starters
[For awkward dinner parties, silent elevator rides, grocery store lines, and your favorite barista]
“The most basic problem that I see is that a lot of mushroom supplements are not actually mushrooms.”
“If it just says powder, then it's probably not been through any kind of extraction process.”
“If we're talking about blood sugar regulation, eating the mushrooms will be more effective than taking a supplement.”
Key Topics
[02:00] 🐸 From frogs and toadstools to my dad's 10-mushroom prescription
[04:00] 🌿 Teaching mushroom classes at Dandelion Botanical, my first blog, and rosy polypore research at Bastyr
[08:33] 🍄 Teaching myself in the forest, and how Jeff Chilton became my mentor
[13:41] 🧴 Starting Lucidum Medicinals with Matt and Mikail in 2020
[19:48] 🌾 The mushroom boom, and why many “mushroom” supplements are mostly grain
[25:29] ♨️ Why mushrooms need heat, and how to spot “powdered extract” on a label
[29:00] 🍪 Lion's mane cookies, cooking vs. supplementing, and constituentism
[31:53] 📚 Where I find mushroom research I trust
[34:13] 👀 My favorite mushroom and putting your mushroom eyes on
[37:30] 🌲 Why being in the forest is the medicine
Spores for Thought
“Supplement is called supplement for a reason, right? It's just supplementing what you're not getting from your diet.”
“If you're eating a bunch of mushrooms one day, then don't also take a mushroom supplement. Wait till tomorrow or the next day.”
“When you have the mushroom eyes on, you're opening yourself up to finding something, to being more connected with the forest that you're walking through.”
Resources
Nammex (wholesale mushroom extracts)
Textbook of Natural Medicine (medicinal mushrooms chapter)
My paper in the Journal of Immunology on Rosy Polypore extracts and leukemia cells
Go Deeper
Shameless Plugs
NEUROADAPT - A five-mushroom formula for focus, memory, and everyday stress resilience, with lion's mane, reishi, cordyceps, golden oyster, and tremella.
IMMUNE - Reishi, turkey tail, and maitake, the three most recognized mushrooms for immune support, to help your immune system stay balanced day in and day out.
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