Woodland Hills man making medicinal mushrooms to help heal people

A local man turned his love of foraging into a mission to bring the healing qualities of mushrooms to the masses.  

It's not an easy thing to do. Most people are put off by the taste of mushrooms like Lions Mane and Turkey Tail. But Woodland Hills’ Shawn Dunn figured out how to make the medicinal mushrooms as palatable as they are healthy.

Dunn grew up exploring the hills behind his family’s home in the San Fernando Valley. He loved looking for unusual plants and fungi. He grew fascinated by what he could find and what he learned about their health benefits.

“There’s a long history of use in Asian countries like Japan and China. They’ve been using mushrooms for thousands of years,” Dunn told me via Zoom.  

There is growing evidence, these types of mushrooms are superfoods and until Dunn founded his company, Shroom Shot in 2018, most mushroom products were powders, pills, teas or tinctures.

“They’re kind of earthy, kind of bitter. I knew that people wouldn’t try them if they tasted like that.” 

Currently, there are two Shroom Shots, the Golden Immunity is made with Turkey Tail. There’s pineapple juice, turmeric and ginger, so the shot is spicy and he says, research shows that mushroom is a good immunity boost, good to ward off a cold or flu.

His other product, Mental Magic is good for the brain.  “My brother Justin is a tournament poker player, he was looking for something to give him an edge, something that would keep him alert, late in the night. And, he wanted something natural. So, we set out to create something like that and Lion’s Mane is our star ingredient."

Dunn made it clear, the company uses organically grown mushrooms. He isn’t foraging to make his shroom shots. And, he also wants it known, that if anyone is inspired to head for the hills to forage for mushrooms, he recommends taking along a mycologist or fungi expert to find the good mushrooms, and leave behind the poisonous ones.  

Shroom Shots are sold in the refrigerated section of health food stores like Lassens and Erewhon. Or you can order them online at https://www.shroomshot.co/