Lion’s Mane Mushroom

Background

Lion’s Mane Mushroom, the Latin name – Hericium Erinaceus, is an edible and and medicinal mushroom belonging to the fungus group. Used for hundreds of years as a general tonic and health treatment, Lion’s mane mushroom is a nootropic food very popular in traditional Chinese medicine and native to China, Japan, North America and Europe. Although it had been historically prescribed as a general restorative, its impact on the brain has always been recognized, and ancient physicians used it for what we might currently describe as neurodegenerative diseases. Lion’s Mane Mushroom is popularly known as brain-boosting mushroom. [1]

Benefits

Lion’s Mane is one amongst the most effective natural nootropic supplements and has been clinically demonstrated to enhance cognition together with improved memory and recall. A study reports “health-promoting properties of the mushroom fruit bodies, mycelia, and bioactive pure compounds include antibiotic, anticarcinogenic, antidiabetic, antifatigue, antihypertensive, antihyperlipodemic, antisenescence, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, nephroprotective, and neuroprotective properties and improvement of anxiety, cognitive function, and depression.” [2]
The most common health benefits of Lion’s Mane Mushroom include:

Improves cognitive function [4]
Enhances nerve regeneration [5]
Helps people who have Alzheimer’s disease [6]
Helps people who have Parkinson’s disease [7]
Reduces anxiety and depression [8]
Helps people who are fighting cancer [9]
Improves heart health [10]
Lowers high blood glucose [11]

Lion’s Mane Mushroom also assists with maintaining focus and attention – something practically every individual can benefit from. By increasing a person’s ability to put concentration on work or study, people can find themselves changing into more efficient within the school or workplace. It’s reported that Buddhist monks have consumed Lion’s mane tea for hundreds of years before meditation so as to boost their powers of concentration. In Asia, it’s said that lion’s mane offers you “nerves of steel and, therefore, the memory of a lion,”
More recently and more relevant to human use, it’s a 2013 review of scientific studies, that declared the medical advantages of the mushroom by saying “This mushroom is wealthy in some physiologically vital elements, particularly β-glucan polysaccharides, that are liable for anti-cancer, immuno-modulating, hypolipidemic, antioxidant and neuro-protective activities of this mushroom. Lion’s Mane Mushroom has also been reported to have anti-microbial, anti-hypertensive, anti-diabetic, wound healing properties among different therapeutic potentials.”[3]

How it works

Lion’s Mane Mushroom’s mechanisms of action are quite completely different from those of other nootropics. Whereas the racetams and different artificial smart drugs by modulating the production of varied neurotransmitters, Lion’s Mane enhances cognition by increasing the quantity of Nerve growth factor or NGF within the brain.
NGF enhances cognition by promoting myelination that also lays the groundwork for the repair and re-growth of severed or damaged axons, providing a track on that re-growth will occur. This activity is a very important process in protecting the brain from the ravages of aging, and will even be helpful within the treatment of neurological diseases like multiple sclerosis as well as psychiatrical disorders including dementia, depression, schizophrenia, autism, and Alzheimer’s illness.

Considerations

A lack of research makes it tough to supply conclusive proof a way or another. However, most people don’t have any negative outcomes with this nootropic mushroom. The users that experience side effects report a sensation of itchy skin which can be explained by a rise in Nerve growth factor. Unless accompanied by different allergy-like symptoms, this can be possibly the cause and will truly be a sign that the Lion’s Mane is increasing your nerve growth factor levels.

Recommendations

There is no official suggested dose for this supplement. One study used a dose of 1,000 mg 3 times per day. The actual supplement was a 96 % purity formulation. Therefore, counting on the actual formulation you find the dose may need to be adjusted one way or the other.

Sources