Tero Isokauppila, the founder of Four Sigmatic, is on a mission to make medicinal mushrooms, some of the world’s most researched superfoods, more accessible to everyone.
Born in Finland to an agronomist father and a nursing teacher mother, Tero grew up on a farm his family has owned since 1619. There, he foraged for mushrooms and other wild foods while learning about the natural food space at an early age.
Tero has lived in eight countries on three continents. He has a strong personal interest in health and wellness, including making raw chocolate and practicing yin yoga. He has also recently taken up a unique practice of napping on a nail mat, a modern form of acupressure that helps to energize his busy life. Tero founded Four Sigmatic in 2012, and its products are now sold in over 25 countries. In 2015, the company launched in the U.S. and relocated its headquarters to Los Angeles, California. Four Sigmatic’s functional mushroom coffees, hot cacaos, and elixirs are sold at retailers nationwide, including Whole Foods and other natural grocers, as well as online at FourSigmatic.com and through online health websites like Thrive Market.
Tero is a reputable source on superfoods, an expert on natural health, and has been a featured speaker, for example, at Summit Series, Wanderlust, Further Future, Culinary Nutrition Conference, and WME-IMG.
Tero was also chosen as one of the world’s TOP 50 Food Activists by the Academy of Culinary Nutrition. Tero and Four Sigmatic have been featured in prominent media outlets, including Vogue, Time, Forbes, W Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, BuzzFeed, Bon Appétit, Goop, Well+Good, MindBodyGreen, and many others.
Timecodes: 0:00 –Episode Teaser
0:41 – Where did this obsession with mushrooms come from?
4:38 – What are mushrooms? What do they eat?
6:15 –How many scientific examinations or testing has been done over the years on mushrooms?
8:32 –Are there nutrients inside mushrooms that you can’t find in just your fruits and vegetables?
8:43 – Types of Mushrooms
11:10 – What is Lion’s Mane Mushroom?
13:29 – The benefits of mushrooms for the brain
14:52 – The business side of mushroom growing
19:20 – What makes an Organic Mushroom?
20:48 – What can mushrooms do for your health?
26:41 – What’s the effect of heat on Mushrooms
28:08 – What are the benefits of Reishi Mushroom
30:35 – Starting Four Sigmatic
43:10 – Hustling, sampling, and hustling in the food industry.
49:04 – What are adaptogens?
51:03: – Kinds of adaptogens
58:18 – Book and Website
58:52 – End
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