Why Gen Z Is Moving Away From Alcohol—and Choosing Mushrooms

Gen Z is well known for their abstinence from drugs and alcohol, and their focus on health and wellness. But that doesn't mean they don't want to miss out entirely, and with Coachella kicking off festival season this weekend, it begs the question, what does Gen Z like to do at these kinds of events?

Enter: the mighty mushroom.

The Context

There's a clear generational shift in the attitude toward drugs and alcohol. In December 2024, researchers from the University of Michigan found that the percentage of students who abstained from drugs reached record levels this year, while a July 2024 study found that 64 percent of legal-drinking-age Gen Zers in the United States said they had not consumed alcohol in the six months leading up to May.

What To Know

As Gen Z shuts the door on alcohol and drugs, a window opened for wellness alternatives, which is where functional mushrooms come into play. Not to be confused with psychedelic mushrooms, the functional mushroom market was valued at $15.3 billion in 2022 and is expected to exceed $23.3 billion by 2030, according to Zion Market Research.

Popular varieties of functional mushrooms include:

• Lion's Mane: Associated with improved focus and memory.
• Reishi: Known for its calming effects.
• Chaga: Valued for immune support.
• Cordyceps: Linked to increased energy and endurance.

And young people are loving them. In April 2024, the New Hope Network's Nutrition Business Journal surveyed 8,000 people about functional mushrooms and found that 37 percent said they consumed food and beverages boosted with mushrooms, and 27 percent consumed mushroom supplements.

Younger people were more likely to consume mushrooms, with Gen Z over-indexing by 10 or more percentage points, according to the study.

Popular ways to consume functional mushrooms include in beverages, such as tea and coffee, gummies and edibles, and also through capsules and powder blends that people can add to various beverages.

Newsweek spoke to Diana Eberlein, chair of the Coalition for Adult Beverage Alternatives, about the rise. "Today's consumers are more conscious than ever about what they put into their bodies. Even before THC beverages gained mainstream traction, health and wellness trends were steadily on the rise," she said.

"We're in the midst of a broader health and wellness movement, but for younger consumers, functional beverages are not a trend—they're a norm," Eberlein said.

"We are at the forefront of a new wave in functional beverages," Eberlein said. She cited the popularity of cannabis beverages, another booming market in the wellness and alcohol alternative space—according to Fortune Business Insights, the global cannabis beverage market was $2.4 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow to $117.05 billion by 2032.

Eberlein said that these new beverages will incorporate "a range of cannabinoids designed for intentional, targeted use cases."

"As THC and other cannabinoids are still being introduced to mainstream consumers, this marks only the beginning of the cannabis beverage category's evolution."

What People Are Saying

Diana Eberlein, chair of the Coalition for Adult Beverage Alternatives told Newsweek over email: "This generation has grown up with an array of functional options readily available. The functional beverage aisle in grocery and convenience stores continues to expand, introducing consumers to new adaptogens and active ingredients designed to support a variety of lifestyle and wellness goals."

What's Next

Eberlein told Newsweek that as beverages evolve, "Consumer safety must remain the top priority. Establishing robust quality, formulation, and testing standards is essential to building trust and supporting responsible growth."