Telluride Mushroom Festival: Alex Dorr Returns to Talk Functional (aka Medicinal) Mushrooms & More!

08 Aug Telluride Mushroom Festival: Alex Dorr Returns to Talk Functional (aka Medicinal) Mushrooms & More!

The Telluride Mushroom Festival (TMF) returns for the 44th year in a row. And when that happens–this year August 14 – August 18 –the Town of Telluride will be taken over by amanita hat-wearing, mold- and spore-worshipping mycelium fanatics.

Go here for more on the history of the Telluride Mushroom Festival. (Scroll back to 2009.)

And please scroll down to check out TIO’s podcast with Alex Dorr.

Online sources trumpet the fact there are between two and four million known species of fungi on Earth – with thousands more discovered every year. In addition to their ability to address plastic pollution, climate-warming greenhouse gases, and environmental toxins – mushrooms  are playing an increasingly important role in human health.

Mushrooms are high in vitamins and minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, niacin, potassium, riboflavin, selenium, and zinc, and are good sources of protein and fiber. They also have numerous other benefits for brain, heart, and gut health, and are even showing anti-cancer properties in emerging research. The cancer claims are attributable to ergothioneine, an antioxidant/amino acid that works to slow down cell damage.

At the top of the list for health benies are shiitake, chana, reishi lion’s mane, and turkey tail. But there are other so-called functional (or medicinal) mushroom that support human health.

For more, ask Alex Dorr, one of the featured speakers returning to the 44th annual Telluride Mushroom Festival.

Alex Dorr is founder and CEO of the functional mushroom company, the Austin-based Mushroom Revival that aims to revive people’s health with functional mushrooms. He also hosts the #1 mushroom podcast in the world, The Mushroom Revival Podcast, with millions of listeners from over 100 countries.

After earning his degree in mycology, Alex authored the book “Mycoremediation Handbook: A Grassroots Guide to Growing Mushrooms and Cleaning up Toxic Waste with Fungi” (2017). More recently (2023) he wrote “The Little Book of Mushrooms: An Illustrated Guide to the Extraordinary Power of Mushrooms.”

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In between traveling the world researching and teaching about fungi, Alex built the largest and first certified USDA organic Cordyceps militaris mushroom farm in the Americas, and launched the world’s first USDA organic mushroom capsules and gummies.

In Telluride, on Thursday and Friday, August 15 and August 16, Alex is leading a discussion about “Functional Mushrooms for Health and Wellness,” which is all about exploring the main classes of functional compounds and the basics about how they work in the body – mycelium versus fruiting bodies – busting common myths and misconceptions and backing that intel up with scientific literature. The talk will include details about which compounds in mushrooms are the good actors. (And yes, based on traditional, scientific research.)

On Saturday, August 17, Alex talks about “The Rise of Zombie Fungus,” which is all about entomopathogenic fungi or fungi that attack arthropods or insects. Zombie fungi are best known as “cordyceps.” Discussion points include the evolution of entomopathogenic fungi; how the fungi infects the insect; insect control; functional application for health and wellness, etc.

To learn more check out TIO’s podcast with Alex Dorr: