The FreshCap Guide To Lion’s Mane Mushroom

The health benefits of Lions Mane Mushroom are no joke.

Really, there aren’t too many incredible health claims from natural products that actually stand up to scientific scrutiny.

Everyday there is a new superfood or uber-supplement that is supposed to work miracles, and although a lot of these things are no doubt good for your health, they aren’t usually as miraculous as advertised.

That’s why it is so surprising to see that some of the claims around the health benefits of the Lions Mane mushroom, although quite incredible, are proving to be true.

It might not be surprising to everybody, though.

This mushroom has long been thought to be used to improve mental capacity, mental clarity and focus, improve nerve function and to actually encourage nerve regeneration.

Lion’s Mane has commonly been used as a nootropic, or “smart drug”, ingested by high performance individuals trying to get a mental edge.

It has also been used by people suffering from age related memory loss and reduced mental capacity with anecdotal reports claiming the mushroom can effect a substantial improvement.

So what’s the deal with Lion’s Mane mushroom?

Can it live up to the hype?

What is a Lions Mane Mushroom?

First of all, let me introduce the mushroom.

Lions Mane mushroom (scientific name Hericium eranacious) is a unique looking “toothed” fungus that naturally grows on dead or dying trees in temperate forests throughout the world.

It is commonly found in North America, although it might be in your guidebook under a different name, such as the Bearded Tooth or the Japanese Yamabushitake.

If you are lucky enough to find it in the grocery store, it might also be called a Pom-Pom.

Lion’s doesn’t resemble your typical stem and cap mushroom.

Instead, the fruiting body looks more like a snowball- with long tooth like formations drooping down from the main body. These “teeth” act as the gills of the mushroom, and is what the mushroom uses to distribute its spores.

Lions Mane mushrooms are a common and popular choice for small scale mushroom growers, and they are actively hunted by forest-trekking mushroom pickers.

Yet, they are rarely, if at all, seen in grocery stores.

And it isn’t because they aren’t tasty- in fact, the mushroom is a culinary delight adapting wonderfully to a multitude of dishes. Instead, the reason that they aren’t seen in the produce section is likely due to a relatively short shelf life, and the fact that the fruit can easily bruise and become unsellable if handled too roughly.

When the intended use of the mushroom is strictly for the health benefits, the mushroom is typically consumed as a supplement in the form of a powder or pill, sometimes also blended with other mushrooms or herbs.

Dosage, frequency, and duration of supplementation can vary widely.

Health Benefits of Lions Mane

If you wanted to try and use Lions Mane Mushrooms to improve your overall health, you definitely wouldn’t be the first.

Medicinal mushrooms have been used for hundreds of years- and have a long history of use in traditional Chinese medicine.

The not-so-short list of the reported potential health benefits of Lion’s Mane mushrooms include the following:

The most interesting and promising items on this list are the potential to improve brain function and clarity- which is a pretty bold claim for a humble mushroom.

Research is showing that the secret weapon for the Lions Mane seems to be its ability to induce the production of Nerve Growth Factor (NGF).

NGF, which is naturally produced in the human brain, is involved in the maintenance, protection, and production of neurons- which are essentially the circuits in the computer that is your brain.

You can see why this stuff might be good for your brain, and why a lack of it would be bad.

There are not many things in the natural world that have ever been found to have the ability to stimulate production of NGF, which is what makes Lion’s Mane mushroom so interesting.

By increasing NGF, the brain’s neurons are better protected, reducing naturally occurring cognitive decline due to aging.

Even more impressively, Lions Mane might actually be able to stimulate nerve generation, in which fresh neurons are produced and existing neural networks are made stronger.

This could improve cognitive ability, even for people with healthy and functioning brains.

Evidence and Medical Research on Lion’s Mane

There have been plenty of scientific studies done which conclude that Lions Mane mushrooms may indeed stand up to its health claims. One recent example is a 2009 double-blind placebo controlled study in Japan. (7)

They took two groups of 15 people, giving a placebo to one group, and 250mg of Lions Mane to the other.

The study found that “At weeks 8, 12 and 16 of the trial, the Yamabushitake group [lion’s mane] showed significantly increased scores on the cognitive function scale compared with the placebo group.”

It concluded “The results obtained in this study suggest that Yamabushitake is effective in improving mild cognitive impairment.”

Another more recent study conducted in 2011 tried to test the hypothesis that Lions Mane mushroom could quicken recovery from brain injuries.

The study was done by purposefully damaging the brains of rats followed by administering an aqueous extract of Lions Mane mushroom during the recovery.

The point of the study was to “investigate the possible use of this mushroom in the treatment of injured nerve.”

They found that neurons regenerated better in the Lions Mane group than in the control group and concluded that “Patients who receive H. erinaceus may experience a more expeditious improvement in the quality of life and a more complete functional recovery after injury.” (8)

Scientific papers are usually pretty dry, but this is exciting stuff. It gives hope to potential improvements for people suffering from brain injuries and other cognitive disorders in general.

Lion’s Mane Mushroom Extracts

So how are Lions Mane mushrooms cultivated for extracts and supplements?

There are a couple different ways that Lions Mane mushrooms are cultivated for the purposes of supplementation. One method involves actually growing and harvesting the complete mushroom fruit body, while the other method involves only growing the mycelium on grain.

The difference between these two methods is huge, and has a enormous impact on the quality of the final product.

Whole Fruitbody

This is what comes to mind for most people when they think of growing mushrooms. It involves actually growing the mushroom to completion and harvesting the entire fruitbody.

This fruitbody is then used to produce an extract.

If done this way, the end supplement will contain all the beneficial compounds of the mushroom, which is the reason why people seek out a Lions Mane supplement in the first place.

That being said, it is much more expensive to produce mushroom supplements in this way.

Luckily, you can still find supplements produced from whole mushrooms that are certified organic and of the highest quality. The end result is a product that contains high levels of beta glucans and low levels of starch- far superior to supplements produced from mycelium-on-grain.

The bottom line when looking to buy Lions Mane supplements is to make sure you know what you are getting. You need to ensure that you are getting a full mushroom product that can live up to the claims, and not a bottle of grain starch.

Ways to Supplement With Lions Mane

At this point you might be interested in trying Lions Mane mushrooms out for yourself.

Whatever your reason, it’s good to know that it is perfectly safe to consume, and Lions Mane mushroom side effects are not generally reported, except for the potential of an allergic reaction (which could be said about any food).

Of course, checking with your doctor or health professional is advised before starting any supplementation regime, especially if pregnant, nursing, or if you have any medical conditions.

There are a few different ways that you get the benefits of lions mane mushroom.

Wild Lions Mane Mushroom

Of course, you could always try your hand at foraging for this beautiful mushroom in the wild.

Aside from being lucky, finding this mushroom in the wild will depend on your geographical location and the time of year that you’re hunting.

Check out a good mushroom foraging book to see it even grows in your area. In general, Lions Mane will grow in temperature regions of the northern hemisphere, most often found fruiting on dead or dying hardwood logs late in the fall. Lions mane mushroom identification is relatively easy, although with any mushroom you find in the wild, you want to be 100% sure of what you have before you consider eating it.

You don’t really have to worry about lions mane mushroom look alikes, as the mushroom is the only one with dangling spines protruding from a single “ball” formation.

Although mushroom foraging can be great fun, it’s not really a dependable way to supplement with Lions Mane, especially if you want to try to see the effects of long term supplementation.

Growing Lions Mane

A more surefire way to get a consistent supply of Lions Mane mushroom is to try and grow it yourself!

Lions Mane mushroom is relatively easy to grow, and can be grown at home using the methods and techniques found on this site. Lions Mane is best grown on supplemented sawdust fruiting blocks, and if you get your timing right, you shouldn’t have a problem having a constant supply. You can also dry them and powder them so that you can grow a bunch and save them for later.

A much less involved option is to grow them at home using a mushroom growing kit. These kits are about as easy as it gets for growing mushrooms at home.

Usually, a Lions Mane kit consists of a fruiting block that has already been fully colonized and will arrive at your house ready to fruit. You simply need to slice some holes in the bag and place it in a reasonably humid environment.

Although it could get quite expensive over the long term, getting a kit is still a reasonable way to get fresh lions mane. Plus, it’s a ton of fun!

Lions Mane Mushroom Extracts

Best bet for effectively supplementing with Lion’s Mane mushroom is to use an quality extracted powder made from whole fruiting body.

This is by far the easiest and most cost effective way of supplementing with Lions Mane.

It is also the easiest way to control the dose.

There are a number of different companies offering Lion’s Mane in pill or powdered form. Again, you want to be sure that you are purchasing from a reputable company, preferably selling organically grown whole fruiting body mushrooms that have been properly extracted.

Mushroom powders are easy to add to coffee, tea, or other smoothies. You can find extracted powders in capsule form for mushroom power on the go!

Make sure that the supplement you get actually contains the compounds that you are looking for. Products with myceliated rice are likely to just contain high amounts of starch, and are kind of a waste of money.

Lions Mane Powder Supplement

Want to try Lion’s Mane for yourself?

FreshCap Mushrooms sells 100% pure Lion’s Mane Extract Powder made entirely from whole fruiting bodies.