Potential Health Benefits of Lion’s Mane Mushroom – Everyday Health

If you want to jump on the mushrooms-as-medicine trend, you may consider talking with your doctor or an integrative registered dietician about lions mane. This large, white, shaggy fungus has been part of medicinal culture in East Asia for centuries, used historically as both food and medicine for a variety of health concerns.

The beneficial compounds can be found in the lions mane fruiting bodies (the part that contains spores) and mycelium (the root-like structure), says Monique Richard, RDN, an integrative dietitian nutritionist in Johnson City, Tennessee, and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

The fruiting bodies and mycelium contain many active ingredients. Namely, polysaccharides, erinacines, hericerins, steroids, alkaloids, and lactones, according to Lindsay Delk, RDN, a registered dietitian-nutritionist in Houston who specializes in the connection between food and mental health. These ingredients may explain the many possible health and wellness benefits of lions mane, which range from heart health to immune support.

However, its important to note: Although there is increased interest in lion's mane for a variety of health conditions, unfortunately there is only very limited research in humans. Here are studies, mostly performed in the lab, that may pique your interest and show some theoretical benefits of the shroom. More studies in humans are needed to substantiate these possible human-health benefits, so keep this in mind.

Lions mane mushrooms contain hericenones and erinacines, two compounds that can stimulate the growth of brain cells in lab studies, per past research. In theory, this may have beneficial effects on people with brain conditions.

Past research studied the effects of lions mane supplementation on brain function in a group of middle-aged and older adults who had been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Mayo Clinic describes MCI as the stage between the normal cognitive decline that comes with aging and the more severe decline of dementia. The study found that adults who took four 250 milligram (mg) tablets of lions mane three times a day for 16 weeks showed a significant boost in cognitive function compared with those who didnt. However, these benefits didnt continue once people stopped supplementation.

A more recent study, published in June 2020 in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, found that taking three 350 mg capsules of lions mane daily for 49 weeks may have helped lead to significant improvements in brain health in people with mild Alzheimers disease.

Still, additional research is needed.

Properties of lion's mane have been shown to support the digestive tract. In particular, lions mane may help prevent ulcers by stopping the growth of Helicobacter pylori, a bacteria that can have negative effects on gut lining, Richard says.

The authors of a study published in 2019 in the International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms gave lions mane extract to a group of mice with H. pylori. Those that were treated with lions mane had lower levels of H. pylori in their stomachs than mice that didnt receive the extract.

A test-tube study published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology also revealed that lions mane inhibited the growth of H. pylori.

While these results may appear promising, human research is needed to substantiate this benefit.

Lions mane may also protect the intestines from inflammation and inflammatory bowel diseases like ulcerative colitis and Crohns disease, Richard says.

A study in patients with ulcerative colitis,published in March 2016 in PLoS One, found that those who took a supplement containing 14 percent lions mane extract reported improved symptoms and quality of life after three weeks.

That said, in research published in July 2016 inPLoS One, the authors repeated this study with Crohns patients, and both the treatment and the placebo group saw similar improvements.

According to Delk, lions mane decreases inflammation, which may help relieve depression and anxiety.

She names one study, published in 2019 in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, in which overweight and obese patients with mood disorders were given lions mane supplements for eight weeks. Not only did these patients experience decreased depression and anxiety symptoms, but they also reported improvements in sleep quality. Blood samples also showed increases in pro-brain-derived neurotrophic factor (proBDNF), a protein that plays an important role in mood and brain health.

In a past study, women with nonspecific health complaints and diseases were given four cookies containing 0.5 grams of powdered lions mane daily for four weeks. Those who received lions mane cookies reported feeling less irritation and anxiety by the end of the study compared with women who received placebo cookies.

One limitation to this study is that it included only 30 women. Larger studies are needed to show how these findings might help with anxiety, and to see how lions mane compares or combines with mainstream therapies for anxiety, like meditation and talk therapy.

Research in animals suggests that lions mane may strengthen the immune system, helping protect against bacteria, viruses, and other harmful substances.

A past study found that daily lions mane supplements extended the lifespan of mice injected with a hefty dose of salmonella bacteria by nearly 4 times more than mice that didnt receive supplements.

A study published in February 2017 in Food & Function found that lions mane mushroom boosted activity in the intestinal immune system in mice. The intestinal immune system works to protect the body from harmful substances that make their way to the gut via the mouth or nose.

As the authors of a study published in June 2017 in Frontiers in Immunology explained, these effects may be partly due to beneficial changes in gut bacteria that activate the immune system.

However, most of the research has been done in animals thus far; human studies will hopefully show how lions mane might help the immune system.

Lions mane has several unique compounds that may help fight cancer.

According to a study published in August 2020 in the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, polysaccharide HEFP-2b, a compound in lions mane, slowed the growth of colon cancer cells in a test tube.

Another test-tube study, published in May 2020 in Food and Function Journal, demonstrated that peptides found in lions mane may help treat lung cancer. Researchers found that these peptides have the ability to capture free radicals (harmful substances linked with cancer) and trigger the death of cancerous lung cells.

But while these findings are promising, the anti-cancer effects of lions mane have only been studied in test tubes and animals. Human studies are needed.

Lions mane may improve blood sugar control and symptoms like nerve pain, making it a potentially helpful tool for diabetes management.

For example, a test-tube study published in November 2020 in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology found that several compounds in lions mane prevented alpha-glucosidase activity. In this way, lions mane may work similarly to alpha-glucosidase inhibitors (AGIs), a group of antidiabetic medications used to manage type 2 diabetes. AGIs limit the absorption of carbohydrates from the small intestine, helping lower the rise in blood sugar following a meal, according to a July 2022 article in StatPearls.

Whats more, a study in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicinerevealed that feeding diabetic rats 40 mg of lions mane per kilogram of body weight significantly increased their pain threshold after six week of treatment. This suggests that lions mane may offer pain relief for diabetic neuropathy, a type of diabetic nerve damage that can cause pain and numbness in the legs and feet.

However, people with diabetes who are taking medication to control their blood sugar levels should approach lions mane with caution. Lions mane may interact with diabetes treatments, Richard says, causing blood sugar levels to drop too low.

In addition, most of the research in diabetes has been done in animals and test tubes so far more studies in humans may show if lions mane can help with diabetes.

Research suggests that lions mane may lower your risk of heart disease, mainly through its effects on cholesterol.

For example, a test-tube study published in BioMed Research International found that lions mane extract may help prevent the oxidation of cholesterol in the bloodstream, which is beneficial for overall heart health.

Meanwhile, previous research evaluated lions manes cholesterol-lowering effects. Researchers fed lions mane to obese rats once a day for two weeks. By the end of the study, these rats showed significantly lower levels of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (also known as bad cholesterol), and triglycerides (a type of fat found in the blood) than rats that werent given lions mane.

Despite these findings, Michelle Routhenstein, RDN, a preventive cardiology dietitian and certified diabetes care and education specialist at Entirely Nourished in New York City, doesnt recommend using lions mane to prevent or treat heart disease. Its not supported by human studies and the safety and side effects havent been studied either, she explains.

There are safer, more effective ways to prevent heart disease through your diet, under the care of your primary physician, Routhenstein adds.

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Potential Health Benefits of Lion's Mane Mushroom - Everyday Health