Lion's Mane · Hericium erinaceus
Fungi
Lion's Mane
Hericium erinaceus
It grows in white cascading spines off the side of a dead tree, and nothing about it says mushroom until you cook it. Then it comes apart in strands and tastes of crab.
Benefits
Scores on memory and thinking climb while it is being taken, and slide back when it stops.
What It Is Known For
A large claim built on cells and animals. What was measured in people was memory and thinking, and nothing else.
Those are enriched for one compound, grown from the root threads rather than the mushroom, and they are a different product from the one on this page.
One trial. Twenty-nine people who finished it. Sixteen weeks, and the gain went when they stopped.
Key Active Compounds
The mushroom itself, dried and powdered.
Compounds found in the mushroom rather than in the root threads.
Traditionally Used
A handful of the fresh mushroom torn into strips and fried, which is how it has always been eaten where it grows.
How to Take It / Use It
Take three grams of the dried powder a day, split across the day, and judge it after two months.
Cautions
Rare and real, and a first small amount is the sensible way in.
The gain faded within a month of stopping, so this is not a course you finish.
Where It Comes From
Hericium erinaceus grows on dead and dying hardwood across the northern hemisphere — oak and beech in Europe, walnut in Asia, maple in North America. It is now farmed on sawdust blocks and is easy to find fresh.
How We Choose It
We check every product so you don't have to. A lion's mane only makes our list if:
- Fruiting body on the label, and it says fruiting body. This is the whole question with mushrooms and it is answered on the front of the pack or not at all.
- Fruiting body, not mycelium on grain. Much of what is sold is mushroom threads grown through rice and packed with the rice still in it. A high polysaccharide number on that label may be measuring the rice.
- A ratio, not a percentage. An eight to one on the label tells you how much mushroom went in. A percentage of one compound tells you what was picked out, which is a different product.
- Whole dried mushroom or its powder. What was measured was dried mushroom ground up, not an extract and not an enriched fraction.
- Dried lion's mane mushroom, or its powder, and nothing else in the jar. Both are the same product at different grinds, and either is what this page is about.
If no product meets these standards, we don't list one. No exceptions for affiliates.
See our picks
Sources1
- Mori K, et al. Improving effects of the mushroom Yamabushitake (Hericium erinaceus) on mild cognitive impairment: a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. Phytotherapy Research, 2009. Randomized double-blind trial, dried fruiting body powder