Stress and anxiety have become a normal part of our lives, with most people feeling stressed multiple times throughout each day. It can be triggered by a wide range of things, and some moments might be more stressful than others, but it always leads to a loss of quality life — whether that be temporary or long-term.
According to The American Institute of Stress, nearly three of every four Americans will have their physical health, mental health, or both negatively affected by stress. It’s the most common mental health concern in students, and 80% of adults feel stressed while at work.
While stress and anxiety have direct effects on our health, they also welcome a variety of other health concerns. Not only can it affect our ability to be happy, but it takes away from our ability to focus, it deteriorates our immune system, and it can negatively affect the health of our skin, hair, and nails.
Since stress is so common today, most people are constantly on the search for a daily boost. Many have tried to change their eating habits, sleeping habits, and much more — but to no avail. If this sounds like you, Adaptogen Shots by Four Sigmatic could be the daily boost you need. Let’s learn more about these shots and if they’re really worth the cost in this Four Sigmatic Adaptogen Shots review.
What Are Four Sigmatic Adaptogen Shots?
Adaptogen Sampler is a combination of three unique supplements by Four Sigmatic — Adaptogen Focus, Adaptogen Beauty, and Adaptogen Immune. It doesn’t come in a powder or a capsule, but rather a delicious liquid shot like 5-hour ENERGY.
Each shot is only 2.5-fluid ounces, but they’re packed with goodness and provide a wide range of benefits. As you can likely imagine, the Adaptogen Focus improves your cognitive function, Adaptogen Beauty improves the health of your skin and hair, and Adaptogen Immune supports a healthy immune system.
The main ingredients in each shot are functional mushrooms, but they’re combined with other effective ingredients that help the body function. Overall, these adaptogenic shots supply targeted benefits to help you manage everyday stress and anxiety — as well as everything that comes with it.
Can You Trust Four Sigmatic?
Four Sigmatic is a company that loves mushrooms more than the next guy. The company was originally founded in 2012 by Tero Isokaupilla, a native to Finland. His love for mushrooms started on his family farm growing up where he would forage Chaga mushrooms in their backyard.
The company started to grow fast, but Tero Isokaupilla started to dedicate his company’s mission to doing more than providing quality mushroom supplements. He wanted to make sure these supplements became as popular in the Western world as they were in his home country.
Since moving his headquarters to Los Angeles, Four Sigmatic has been doing just that. They have a Mushroom Academy where you can learn all about functional mushrooms, all completely free. They also have a bus named Maur that travels the country and hands out free “mushies.”
Four Sigmatic is one of the leading companies in the mushroom supplement space and is known for being creative, unique, and fun. Their products are top-of-the-line, safe, and highly effective. Their many products include Four Sigmatic Ground Mushroom Coffee, Four Sigmatic Mushroom Cacao Mix, Four Sigmatic 10 Mushroom Blend, and more. If you’re looking to add mushrooms to your daily diet but hate the taste or texture of them, Four Sigmatic can certainly help.
What Does ‘Adaptogen’ Mean?
Adaptogens are known as herbal remedies that help reduce stress and anxiety. More specifically, they help the body adapt to stress and reverse the symptoms we generally feel when stressed or anxious.
They were originally used in traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine, but the term “adaptogen” wasn’t coined until the 1940s when the Soviet military was looking for ways to help their pilots fly better and longer during World War II.
Nowadays, adaptogens are becoming man’s best friend as we are placed in stressful situations each and every day. They can be found in nature, cooking, and in a variety of different supplements available today.
What Are Functional Mushrooms?
Functional mushrooms refer to a specialized class of mushrooms. While there are thousands of species of mushrooms found throughout the world, functional mushrooms only contain about 15 different species.
Most mushrooms you eat are going to be highly nutritious, but functional mushrooms take it a step further. What makes a functional mushroom ‘functional’ are the benefits it provides outside of their nutritional background. This can include cognitive benefits, mood benefits, skin support, immunity, and much more.
Some of the most common types of functional mushrooms include: Reishi, Chaga, Lion’s Mane, Maitake, Shiitake, Enokitake, Tremella, Cordyceps, and Turkey Tail. In regards to the Adaptogen Sampler, Adaptogen Focus makes use of Lion’s Mane, Adaptogen Immune makes use of Chaga, and Adaptogen Beauty makes use of Tremella.
What Do Four Sigmatic Adaptogen Shots Claim To Do?
Four Sigmatic is extremely cautious when making claims or guarantees with their supplements. They listen to the science, read the research, and only guarantee the things they know about their product — not just what they want you to believe about the product.
With that being said, Adaptogen Sampler has three main benefits behind it, and it’s what’s at the center of each shot — supporting the immune system, improving focus and concentration, and enhancing the health of your skin, hair, and nails.
These shots are designed to make you look your best, feel your best, and act your best throughout the day. The formulas hold heavy adaptogenic properties, so they can help reduce the amount of stress in your life and help you manage the stress when it comes.
For something that’s as easy as taking a shot, you can’t go wrong with this supplement.
Four Sigmatic Adaptogen Shots Ingredients
You can take Four Sigmatic’s word for it, you can take our word for it, or you can see it for yourself by looking at the ingredient label behind each shot. The ingredient label will tell you everything you need to know about what to expect from the Adaptogen Sampler.
To ensure you know exactly what you’re putting into your body, we’re going to take a look at each shot individually and see what’s inside.
Let’s get started!
Adaptogen Focus
The first shot we’ll detail is Adaptogen Focus. As the name suggests, this shot is going to target your focus and concentration. In addition to that, it will improve overall cognitive function, including memory, mood, and energy.
The three main ingredients in Adaptogen Focus are Lion’s Mane Mushroom, Rhodiola Rosea, and Guayusa.
The Lion’s Mane is known to improve memory, maintain nerve health, and reduce stress. Rhodiola Rosea is a powerful adaptogenic that reduces stress and improves overall mood. Guayusa is known to improve mood and alertness due to its adaptogenic properties and caffeine content.
Adaptogen Focus also contains rose hips (improves immune system), pineapple and lime juice (improves the immune system and taste), pink Himalayan salt (improves digestion), and stevia leaf extract (taste).
Adaptogen Immune
Our immune systems are extremely important for daily health. Not only does it protect us from various toxins, bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other dangerous chemicals inside the body, but it helps the body regulate the inflammatory response when we suffer an injury or infection.
Adaptogen Immune is designed to help bolster the immune system and promote a much stronger defense system. The four main ingredients found in Adaptogen Immune are Chaga mushroom, beet extract, eleuthero, and oregano extract.
The Chaga mushroom is rich with antioxidants and promotes a healthier immune system by preventing cytokines. Beet extract is known to help regulate inflammation and digestive health. Eleuthero helps increase energy, improves cognitive function, and helps heal wounds. Oregano extract is a natural antibiotic, a powerful antioxidant, and helps improve digestion.
In addition to that, Adaptogen Immune contains elderberry juice concentrate, lemon juice concentrate, ginger powder, cayenne powder, and monk fruit extract to improve the taste and immune-boosting benefits.
Adaptogen Beauty
The final shot we’ll discuss is Adaptogen Beauty, which is designed to improve the health of your skin, hair, and nails. These things will slowly start to age as we grow older, but our daily habits often increase the rate of the aging process — as well as excessive stress or anxiety.
There are four main ingredients found in Adaptogen Beauty: tremella mushroom, zinc citrate, biotin, and acerola cherry powder. The tremella mushroom is one of the best mushrooms for the skin, hair, and nails. It moisturizes, nourishes, improves elasticity, slows aging, brightens complexion, and hydrates the body inside and out.
In addition to that, zinc citrate is known to help reduce inflammatory acne and scarring, as well as protect the skin from more damage. Biotin is a b-complex vitamin that improves skin and hair health, while the acerola cherry is a powerful antioxidant for the immune system.
Adaptogen Beauty also contains pomegranate juice concentrate, blueberry juice concentrate, and pink Himalayan salt to improve the skin and hair benefits.
Four Sigmatic Adaptogen Shots Dosage, Packaging, And Pricing
If you’ve ever seen a pack of 5-hr ENERGY bottles, the Adaptogen Sampler shots are extremely similar to those. Each shot has its own color design with Beauty taking red, Focus taking orange, and Immune taking purple.
The shots are all properly labeled and have a fun design to them. You’ll likely get asked what they are when people see you drinking them because they look like a healthy version of 5-hr ENERGY. You’ll get to tell them they’re even better!
Normally, you would buy these shots separately in boxes of six, but the Adaptogen Sampler contains one box of all three shots — for a total of 18 bottles. That way, you get to enjoy all three throughout the day or use them however you’d like.
Boxes are normally $24 each if bought separately, but you can save some cash by purchasing the Adaptogen Sampler. For the three boxes, you’ll only owe $65 instead of $72. Don’t worry; there’s a money-back guarantee too.
Four Sigmatic Adaptogen Shots Pros vs. Cons
Four Sigmatic always seems to create the most unique and effective mushroom supplements on the market today. The Adaptogen Sampler is no exception with a combination of three powerful formulas — as we discussed above.
If you’re still on the fence about whether or not this is the right supplement for you, we’re going to break down the most significant pros and cons associated with this supplement. Even if you’re just a little flustered with all the information we’ve thrown at you thus far, the pros and cons will help act as a good summary.
Pros
- Powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties
- Chaga mushroom is healthy for the immune system
- Lion’s Mane mushroom improves cognitive function
- Tremella mushroom is excellent for skin, hair, and nail health
- Easy to take, just one little sip and you’re good
- Beauty shot tastes like pomegranate, Focus like pineapple, and Immune like elderberry
- Sealed bottles make for easy carrying when on-the-go
- Doesn’t need to be refrigerated
- With six bottles per box, each box lasts a week (with one day off)
- Organic, Gluten-Free, Vegan, Low Sugar, and 3rd Party Lab-Tested
- Extremely reputable company you can trust
- Money-back guarantee
- High doses of functional mushrooms
Cons
- Wish they would use ashwagandha or bacopa monnieri in one (or all) of these shots
- No additional flavor options for you to choose from
- Can become expensive if you’re taking them often
Claims vs. Reality
Earlier in this review, we discussed the various claims and guarantees made by Four Sigmatic with these three delicious and nutritious shots. Four Sigmatic keeps it rather simple, noting that the three shots will improve cognitive function, the immune system, and our appearance.
We believe it’s important to take these claims seriously because they play a strong role in the consumer’s decision. There’s nothing worse than purchasing a product that doesn’t live up to the hype — even if that product still produces some benefits.
After breaking down the ingredients in each shot and digging into the science behind their supplements, it’s clear to say they were spot-on with their claims. The high doses of mushrooms are extremely powerful, and they use healthy doses of the other ingredients, which is important.
The adaptogenic benefits are also in each shot, which helps the body relieve and manage stress. Not only will this supplement help prevent stress in your life, but it will also help relieve the symptoms stress presents — like a weaker immune system, poor skin, and a loss of focus or happiness.
Four Sigmatic Adaptogen Shots Alternatives
Four Sigmatic is in a league of their own, but their “nutrition shot” concept isn’t new to the market. There are a variety of companies that have tried their hand at creating an effective formula, and some of them are actually quite good.
We’re going to highlight two of those supplements — TruBrain and Suja — in case you wanted to give those a try to compare. Since we still think Four Sigmatic is better than the rest, we’ll also mention some alternatives Four Sigmatic has to offer if the “nutrition shot” isn’t what you’re looking for.
TruBrain
If you’ve ever seen the Gatorade gel packets that you shoot into your mouth, that’s essentially what TruBrain has created — just with nootropic ingredients. It won’t provide the level of adaptogenic benefits you get from Four Sigmatic, but it does provide a pretty strong cognitive boost like the Adaptogen Focus shot does.
TruBrain contains caffeine and L-theanine, which provides an energy boost without the crash or jitters. It also contains uridine, centrophenoxine, citicoline, tyrosine, ALCAR, and noopept, which all improve cognition.
For taste, they combine mangosteen, monk fruit, nopal cactus, natural cane sugar, and blue agave. You can get a 10-pack trial for just $30, or buy an entire 30-pack for $75. They also offer a 20-pack for $55 and a 60-pack for $145.
Suja Organic
Similar to Four Sigmatic’s Adaptogen Sampler series, Suja Organic has a Focus Shot, Immunity Shot, and an Energized Focus Drink. They’re 2oz shots that you might’ve seen in the grocery store from time to time.
The Focus Shot contains Lion’s Mane mushroom, L-Theanine, and Green Tea extract. It also contains a wide range of juice extracts to help improve taste and nutritional benefits. The Immunity Shot contains ginger, turmeric, echinacea, live probiotics, and black pepper extract to improve the immune system.
Finally, the Energized Focus Drink is a 12oz similar to the Focus Shot but with more juice extracts and herbs. You can find these supplements on Suja Organic’s online store or in stores and will cost around $3 per bottle.
Four Sigmatic
If you check out Four Sigmatic’s online store, you’ll come across countless supplements that come in all forms — powders, shots, coffee, protein, latte, blends, and skincare products — and all use functional mushrooms.
If you were looking for something similar to Adaptogen Focus, I would recommend Lion’s Mane Elixir. It contains Lion’s Mane, Rhodiola, Field Mint, and Rose Hips. For something similar to Adaptogen Beauty, I would recommend their Superfood Skincare Routine that includes a face mask, body butter, and serum.
Anyone looking for an alternative to Adaptogen Immune should consider Chaga Elixir, which contains Chaga mushroom, eleuthero, field mint, and rose hips. As far as something centered towards adaptogenic properties, their Adapten Blend is an excellent powdered source of Chaga, Reishi, Ashwagandha, and Tulsi.
Final Verdict: Four Sigmatic Adaptogen Shots
For anyone that can’t stand the look, taste, or texture of mushrooms, you’re missing out on a wide variety of benefits on a daily basis. Luckily, Four Sigmatic is here to make mushroom consumption much easier and more accessible.
Adaptogen Sampler is an excellent option for those that want an easy-to-take juice shot. They contain powerful ingredients, and you can pick and choose which benefits you want at any given time. Most consumers will eventually find their own routine with the shots that work for their daily schedule.
If you’re interested in finally adding functional mushrooms to your diet, check out Four Sigmatic and go down their line of supplements. Trust us, you’ll find one that fits your needs, and it might even be Adaptogen Sampler!
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