The Health Benefits of Lion's Mane

Lion’s Mane are mushrooms that look like, well, lion’s mane. They’ve been used in Asian cultures for a long time and science has recently started to study their health benefits.

In this article, we’ll discuss how lion’s mane might help you and how to use it. Let’s get started!

What are the health benefits of Lion’s Mane?

Lion’s mane is known to have a wide range of health benefits. From improving brain function to reducing inflammation and cancer cell growth, lion’s mane seems to have a very comprehensive health benefits profile.

But it’s important to note that the scientific data we have on lion’s mane is fairly limited and a lot of it is based on animal studies, which is why it’s difficult to recommend it for a specific condition. 

With that in mind, let’s see what lion’s mane might do to improve your health.

It reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease.

Animal studies have shown that lion’s mane has several effects on your metabolism that reduce your risk of heart disease.

Reduces triglycerides in the blood.

For starters, lion’s mane can improve your overall fat metabolism and reduce the level of triglycerides in your blood. Triglycerides are a type of fat and increased levels are associated with not only heart disease but also pancreatitis (which can cause severe abdominal pain and is sometimes fatal).

Lion’s mane may also prevent you from gaining weight. And since obesity is an independent risk factor for heart disease, this is another way it saves you from heart disease.

Keeps LDL in check.

Lion’s mane has also been shown to prevent the oxidation of LDL-cholesterol in the bloodstream. LDL-cholesterol is also known as the “bad” cholesterol and the reason it’s so harmful for the body is that it’s very susceptible to oxidation. 

When an LDL molecule gets oxidized, it becomes trapped in your blood vessels. And as it builds up inside arteries and veins, it reduces blood flow to various organs, leading to the development of a condition called atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is what primarily causes heart attacks and strokes, where the blood supply to the heart and brain is cut off, respectively.

By preventing the oxidation of LDL, lion’s mane might reduce your risk of atherosclerosis and all that comes with it (which is much more than just heart attacks and strokes).

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Prevents abnormal clotting.

Lion’s mane is believed to contain anticoagulant properties, which means it reduces the risk of abnormal blood clotting in your body. By reducing your risk of clotting, lion’s mane might protect you from heart complications. 

There are also many conditions where the risk of abnormal clotting is increased. Examples include homocystinuria, factor V Leiden, and protein C or S deficiency. But whether lion’s mane is beneficial for these patients is difficult to say unless we have more studies.

It reduces inflammation in the body. 

Long-term inflammation is thought to be behind a wide range of health conditions, including heart, joint, and brain disease. 

Inflammation leads to the production of free radicals, which are highly reactive molecules that can damage cell membranes and DNA. And antioxidants are molecules that neutralize free radicals, preventing damage in the body. Lion’s mane has been shown to be an excellent source of antioxidants, which means it can protect you from the harmful effects of long-term inflammation.

It has several beneficial effects on the brain. 

Mushroom supplements are quite popular for their brain-boosting effects and we do have substantial evidence and anectodal reports to support this claim. Lion’s mane contains two important chemicals that are good for your brain health. These are erinacines and hericenones, which have been shown to stimulate brain cell growth and can potentially even protect against dementia.

Normally, when people get older, brain cells lose their ability to generate connections between each other. These connections are called synapses and are extremely important for normal brain functioning. As the ability to form new synapses diminishes, so does brain function and this might be one reason why dementia tends to affect older people.

By reversing this loss of synapses, lion’s mane might delay the development of dementia, especially Alzheimer’s. 

But you should note that all studies looking at lion’s mane and dementia have been done on animals, so it’s difficult to say whether the mushroom can be used to treat actual dementia patients. The one study that looked at the mushroom’s effects in humans demonstrated that it improved brain function (but only as long as the study participants kept taking it).

Speeds up recovery from brain injury.

Another way lion’s mane is beneficial for the brain is that it speeds up brain recovery from injury. When someone suffers a brain (or nerve) injury, brain cells grow and repair very slowly, which is why these injuries often take a long time to heal. 

But since lion’s mane stimulates brain cell growth, it might shorten the recovery time after a brain injury or stroke.

It reduces blood sugar. 

Lion’s mane inhibits an enzyme called alpha-glucosidase, which is found in your gut and helps you absorb sugar. By inhibiting this enzyme, lion’s mane controls the amount of sugar that gets absorbed into your blood after a meal, which might be beneficial for people with diabetes.

Interestingly, some diabetes drugs that we currently use also work by inhibiting the same enzyme in the gut.

Again, whether lion’s mane can be used to effectively treat diabetes is yet to be seen.

How to use lion’s mane mushroom?

Although you can cook the mushroom and consume it, supplements are a better way to use lion’s mane because they’re hassle-free and easily available. You’ll find supplements in a variety of forms, including liquid, pills, tablets, and powder.

Due to the lack of scientific literature on the topic, it’s difficult to recommend a dose for lion’s mane. It’s best to stick to the instructions on the product and always consult a healthcare provider before trying out a new supplement.

That’s because a supplement might interact with any of your current medications, leading to harmful side effects. 

Finally, make sure to buy a lion’s mane supplement from a reputable, third-party verified company. Supplements are not as tightly regulated as medical drugs by the FDA, which is why it’s easy for manufacturers to make false claims and provide substandard products. We recommend our Nerve Health.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Any statements or products mentioned in this article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.