“The key to life is balance and we all need a little help now and then to find it.”
Embracing Change
At 45, I started experiencing all those classic symptoms of perimenopause Brain fog, exhaustion, bloating and a level of irritability that could rival a toddler mid-tantrum and my god, the night sweats?! My confidence in social situations took a nosedive thanks to anxiety, simple tasks felt too much, and I just didn’t feel like, me.
I’d always thought I’d been an advocate for natural health so started to look at how I lived, my life was busy. 5 teenage/twenty something kids, running 2 businesses, trying to squeeze in gym sessions and going out most weekends, working all hours and coffee for breakfast, something had to change. I was getting older, and my lifestyle was still that of a 35 year old. It was my Husband who introduced me to functional mushrooms, even though he didn’t have perimenopause as an excuse, he was also suffering with a heightened anxiety and feelings of being overwhelmed, he was burnt out and had started growing the medicinal mushroom, lion’s mane. When I started taking lions mane, it changed everything. I’m not saying it’s a ‘magic pill’ but within a few days I felt like the symptoms I was suffering with became way more manageable.
It was time to practice what I preached and really embrace a life change. I slowed things down, sleep wasn’t for the dead and taking the dogs for a walk in the woods wasn’t a chore it was necessary for my mental health, the connection to the earth felt like the balance I had been missing. I even knocked coffee on the head – I loved it.
MycoPro Story
I developed MycoPro for completely selfish reasons, back in early 2020, I started to make energy balls in my kitchen, infusing them with mushrooms and leaving them in the fridge as a ready made snack when I wanted them. Very time consuming but a great way to work out what flavours work well to mask the flavour... let's be honest, no one would choose an energy ball flavoured with chocolate and mushroom!
After realising, the energy ball route wouldn't work long term (I got bored of making them after 2 weeks) I started to add lions mane and cordyceps powder to my protein shake every morning, being plant based, I loved the quick fix of protein a shake gave me in the mornings. I had never really found a protein powder that sat completely right with my gut so decided to create a blend that worked for me, and also include my favourite functional mushrooms.
Formulating MycoPro
I've been a media buyer and strategist for years, I turned my back on my job and went down a wellness rabbit hole. I learnt that proteolytic enzymes supported digestion, helped with the absorption of protein and aided tissue repair if added in exact measures and was more effective at room temperature. Not all plant based proteins singulary could give you the nutrients that you needed, but if combined correctly, could give you the complete 9 essential amino acid profile that you can only get from food and also give you what whey proteins cannot - fibre.
After 3 years working with bio-chemists and a team of nutrionists, MycoPro was born. The right blend of adaptogens, plant-based proteins, and our own proteolytic enzyme blend had helped me regain my energy, clarity, and balance. I felt stronger—mentally and physically and I am so excited to share it.
What's the future for MycoPro
We want to build out our range of products, not only to incorporate more functional mushrooms but to help our community connect more with the natural resources around us that are there to support our body and mental well being. Together, we navigate the lifestyle shifts that drive real transformation. We share. We learn. And we evolve.
Looking ahead, in a world where we are always ‘doing’, we want to support our community in the need to slow down and take more care of themselves, offer products that make for more balanced life choices and reconnect with the earth, fall back in love with the nutrients that it has to offer for a better way of life.