Let’s talk about a fungus among us called lion’s mane. Now you might’ve been in a grocery store or a farmer’s market and seen this mushroom that looks unlike any other mushroom you’ve ever seen. It’s this big white fuzzy mushroom. Now of course I’m talking about lion’s mane mushrooms. They are being used in coffee blends and even snack bars. If you’ve been browsing YouTube or looking at social media, you probably heard people raving about as many benefits. Now this unique mushroom has been used for centuries in traditional eastern cultures to help digestion, to help cognition and overall vitality. So let’s take a closer look at this really interesting super mushroom that everybody is talking about. So before we jump in, if you like what we’re doing here at the Dr. Gundry Podcast, please don’t forget to subscribe and most importantly, share this with your friends and loved ones.
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Okay, so why is Lion’s Maine different than other mushrooms? And quite frankly, how is it similar to other mushrooms? So Lion’s, Maine mushroom scientific name is Sacious. Now heres in Latin literally means hedgehog. So you can see how this mushroom got its moniker. It has many other names of things that it resembles, but we can see which ones stuck. Now this is not your typical cap and stem mushroom. They actually have these teeth like projections instead of the gills that you see in most mushrooms. Most mushrooms are amazing nutritional powerhouses, but lion’s mane stands out because of two unique compounds, Herone and RAs, lion’s mane. Mushrooms are the only food that we know of that contains these two compounds. So these compounds can actually cross the blood brain barrier and we think that many of these compounds also have ability like lion’s mane, but they haven’t been as identified as these.
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So researchers have been interested in lyse not only for improving everyday focus, but also for protecting against cognitive decline and actually helping repair damaged nerves. So how’s it doing? These compounds in Lion’s mane actually stimulate the production of two very similar compounds that have actually fairly similar names. One is brain derived neurotropic factor BDNF, and also nerve growth factor NGF. Now as the names imply, these compounds actually stimulate nerve growth. They stimulate nerve repair and they stimulate nerves making connections with other nerves. And if you think about nerves, making connections with other nerves is really fundamental to the memory process. And so there’s been a lot of interest in lion’s mane and and really other compounds that stimulate the production of of BDNF and NGF. How do they do in that respect? Well, the study in Japan in 2009 was a double-blind placebo controlled trial.
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They took 30 adults age 50 to 80 with mild cognitive impairment. That’s kind of the first step in the beginning of Alzheimer’s. So they took lion’s main tablets, 750 milligrams three times a day. So basically three grams a day for 16 weeks. So that’s essentially four months. So of interest is the group that got the actual drug, their cognitive function actually improves significantly over the placebo group. Now here’s the bad news. It’s important to note that four weeks after the trial their scores had dropped significantly showing that the effect was unfortunately not long lasting. But Lion’s, Maine isn’t just for cognitive improvements or treating dementia. Now there’s other studies that show taking lion’s Maine could actually relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety, and it’s probably because Lion’s Maine also has an anti-inflammatory effect, which could also help the gut microbiome. Now I want to pause for a second on that point, one of the things we have to realize about mushrooms in general is that mushrooms are one of the better sources for polysaccharides.
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What the heck is a polysaccharide? Well, a saccharide is a sugar and polysaccharides are multiple sugar molecules bound together with chemical bonds. The cool thing about these sugar molecules and their chemical bonds is we don’t digest these chemical bonds very well, but our gut bacteria that just these chemical bonds and think that these polysaccharides and mushrooms are some of the best stuff they ever ate. So what? Well, when gut bacteria are happy, they make us happy through all the compounds they produce as postbiotics. Also, when they’re happy, they actually tell our immune system that they’ve got things under control in the gut and that our immune system has better things to than get all excited. In fact, that’s why mushroom consumption has shown to boost immunity and boost natural killer cells, one of our immune system, uh, white blood cells. So just because we’re talking about lion’s mane in this video doesn’t mean that we should forget that Lion’s mane shares many other beneficial properties with other mushroom family including these sources of polysaccharides.
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It’s also been shown to help fight diabetes, help fight cancer through nitro killer cells. But again, it’s all because there’s nothing unique to Lion’s mane in this re respect, but it’s unique to mushrooms in general is a great source of polysaccharides. Now here’s the fun part. There are a great number of people who really do not like mushrooms that mushrooms are slimy. Uh, my wife happens to be in that group that thinks mushrooms are slimy, but lion’s mane is one of the few mushrooms that doesn’t taste mushroomy or doesn’t really taste slimy when it’s cooked. It’s actually gotta texture very similar to lobster crab or scallops. And my wife happens to love lobster crab. It’s scallops. So there is a good one. Flavor is actually very different than most other mushrooms. It’s kind of the sweet, almost seafood like flavor. So you can use it where you might consider using seafood.
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Now, chefs love lion’s mane. I was first introduced to it at a very famous restaurant in Manhattan in New York City and the chef was just this huge fan of lion’s mane mushrooms because he found that his really picky diners who were there for a three star meal would actually ooh and awe over the look of this thing, which was one thing, but when they put it in their mouth, they actually liked the taste of it. So it was a win-win for a three star show and that was actually where I was first introduced to the culinary benefit of Lion’s Mane. So how do you do it? Well, if you can find it fresh and interestingly enough, we’re finding it more and more available in regular supermarkets. Certainly upscale supermarkets and farmers’ markets are frequently brimming with lion’s mane because of its newfound popularity. You can slice it into steaks and grill it, you can cook it on a pan.
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A lot of people that like to add olive oil or butter with it to even improve its flavor even more. You can season it like you would seafood with garlic and lemon and herbs and really you can make it into a remarkable imitation of a crab cake. They’re easily put in soups and stir fries and it not only adds texture, but it’s got a kind of a visual cool look to it as well. These mushrooms, like all mushrooms, will really absorb the flavor of anything you’re cooking it with, which really enhances its appeal. Now most people are gonna acquire it either dried or in an extract form, and this is available in powders, it’s available in capsules, I’ve seen it in tablets and you can even get it in coffee blends, in tea blends. So however you want to acquire it, look into adding it to your repertoire with the understanding that as far as we know so far, the effect is not going to be long lasting.
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It’s something you’re just going to have to add to your repertoire. And as someone who has a rather large repertoire of supplements, I see nothing wrong with adding another supplement to my repertoire. Please look for standardization. Look for words like good practice seals. Look for third party testing to make sure that what you are getting is actually in that product. The now corporation who I have no affiliation with has recently begun testing products that are sold on Amazon for whether they actually contain what they say they contain and at least by their reporting about 85% of the products sold on Amazon do not contain the amount that they say they contain. 85%. Recently I had a patient who we had found that her proper dose for a supplement called coq 10 co-Enzyme Q 10, you see that advertised on TV almost every night. Her dose to get an adequate level of co-enzyme Q 10 in her blood was about 600 milligrams and she was taking two 300 milligram capsules from a reputable company she found on Amazon a 600 milligram capsule in a single capsule and it also had a lot of really cool stuff and it was almost too good to be true.
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She started taking that and when I saw her a couple of weeks ago, her coen enzyme Q 10 was virtually undetectable and I said, what the heck? You stopped taking your Coen ZQ 10. She said, no I didn’t. I’ve been taking 600 milligrams just like always, you know, I’m going, are you sure? Uh, I said, something’s really different. And I said, it’s the same ones you’ve always taken. Oh, she said, I found the capsule. One capsule was 600 milligrams from a new company on Amazon and I went, there it is perfect confirmation of what now has found that there wasn’t any coq 10 in that capsule. So needs to say she’s back taking the ones that work. So what I’m saying is just because you see a trendy thing on a capsule, know your supplement manufacturer. Know that there’s some guarantees that what they say is in there is actually in there.
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And that goes with Lions mane as well. You can also find it in energy snacks and coffees. Chocolates now are incorporating lions mane, but the quality varies. So read the labels. The other thing you gotta realize is that the studies that have been done in human trials, we’re using a lot of the actual extracts of lion’s mane like three grams a day of the extract to achieve a result. And that’s usually not what you’re getting when you’re buying these blends. So again, just because it works at a high concentration doesn’t mean that a little dab will do you. One of the best things about macadamia nuts is that they are loaded with palmitoleic acid and omega seven fatty acid. Now a study of rats has shown that consumption of omega seven fatty acids can induce the feeling of satiation and enhance the release of satiety hormones.
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It can also improve bowel movements and prevent weight gain. Now Dr. Steven Rosen from the Cleveland Clinic has written papers showing the benefit of omega seven in preventing coronary artery disease from much the same reason, also shown that palmitoleic acid can benefit hair, skin, and nails. So all of my female listeners and male listeners who want great nail hair and skin macadamia nuts are one of the best ways to get it. Now the problem is macadamia nuts contain only about 11 to 27% omega sevens. So to really get the big benefits from omega sevens that were used in these studies, you’d have to eat a lot of nuts. And as I said before, if I want to produce weight gain in my patients, one of my favorite ways of doing that is to have them eat tons. I mean, tons of macadamia nuts, like at least two cups a day.
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Now there’s another way around it. Macadamia nut oil gives you the concentrated amount of omega seven that you need without the bulk, if you will, of the nuts themselves. But any omega seven is better than none at all. Now the good news about macadamia nuts is they’re naturally low in sugar and carbohydrates. So as a nut, they’re very low on sugars that a lot of nuts actually have that are hidden in that nut. There’s also essential nutrients like dietary fiber and antioxidants. Now the problem with macadamian nuts is there are 204 calories in 10 macadamia nuts. Let me show you that just so you’re aware. Okay, there’s 200 calories of macadamia nuts. Folks, that’s not even a useful handful. And that’s why one of the ways if you really wanna gain weight is get yourself a bunch of macadamia nuts. Now, there’s only two grams of protein in those 10 nuts.
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There’s 21 and a half grams of fat, but 80% of the fat is actually monounsaturated fat like in olive oil, oleic acid carbohydrates. Here’s a measly 3.9 grams of carbohydrates that’s less than a teaspoon full of sugar. There are about two and a half, three grams of fiber in those 10 nuts and those are great, but as long as you limit the amount, there’ll have some real health benefits for you, particularly from the Omega seven. So watch yourself. I really recommend no more a half a cup of macadamia nuts a day and preferably spread ’em out throughout the day. Now interestingly, despite everything I’ve just said, there is some evidence that macadamia nuts can actually support a healthy weight. A study among healthy Japanese women found that women who ate macadamia nuts lost some weight after three weeks of eating them compared to those who ate coconut or butter.
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Well, in a way, duh, but it just shows that if you’re looking for certain fats, macadamia nuts may have an advantage. Now don’t know how to incorporate macadamia nuts into your diet. I’ve got tons of recipes with macadamia nuts and macadamia nut oil in all my books from hummus to salad. It’s super simple to get these amazing benefits when you eat macadamia nuts. And for a real fun treat, change over and add some macadamia nut oil to your salad dressing or for an interesting taste treat, drizzle it on your vegetables and see what you think. It’s a great way to get concentrated. Omega seven Tinned fish or canned fish is not just about tuna. Before we jump in, if you like what we’re doing here at the Dr. Gundry podcast, please don’t forget to like and subscribe and most importantly, share this with your friends and loved ones.
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Now, not only is tinned fish or canned fish, convenient, affordable, and shelf stable, but many varieties of canned fish are absolutely packed with protein long chain Omega-3 fats, vitamins and minerals. In fact, some nutrition experts call tin fish one of the most underrated superfoods you can buy, and I certainly agree with that today. I want to share the best tinned fish for your health, how to choose wisely and why this old fashioned pantry staple deserves a place in your modern diet. So why are most of these canned fish and shellfish a health powerhouse? Well, most of these small fishes are loaded with long chain Omega-3 fatty acids like EPA and D, HA. Now both of these reduce inflammation, they absolutely support brain health and they protect your heart. In fact, DHA one of these fats is half of the fat in our brains. And studies show that people who have the highest Omega-3 index, which looks at the amount of EPA and DHA in your diet for two months prior to the test, people who have the highest Omega-3 index have get ready for this.
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The biggest brains and the biggest areas of memory in their brains, the hippocampus. People who have the lowest Omega-3 index have the most shrunken brains seriously and the smallest areas of memory. So when mom told you that fish was brain food, she didn’t exactly know why, but now you do canned fish and shellfish has usually a lot of protein, 20 to 25 grams per can in many varieties and it’s a complete highly bioavailable source. In fact, if you’re worried about protein, fish beats any other way to get your protein for two reasons. Number one, it is protein that does not carry that mischievous sugar molecule New 5G GC that’s present in animal proteins like beef, lamb and pork or in milk including whey protein. It’s the same sugar molecule that you have new five ac. So there’s no danger when you eat fish and shellfish.
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Now they also are rich in minerals. When you eat small fish with the bones like sardines, you get a rich source of calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium. Believe it or not, tin fish like sardines and salmon are among the best natural sources of vitamin D, which most people are deficient in. And here’s the best part, canned fish can often be lower in mercury than fresh large fish because most tin options are made from smaller species. So let’s talk about some in specific sardines. Now, this is one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet. They’re loaded with omega threes, vitamin D, calcium and protein. They’re very low in mercury. Since sardines are small and low on the food chain, now they’re really easy to enjoy straight from the tin on crackers, the right kind of course, or mixed into salads. The thing I like about sardines, and I see tin sardines on so many menus in Europe, they literally bring you out of 10 of sardines along with other goodies that there’s a reason for that.
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In my patients, the only patients who have ever been able to get a normal Omega-3 index without taking Omega-3 supplements are people who are daily sardine or herring or macro eaters. I have yet to see people from Vancouver or Seattle who eat huge amounts of salmon all week, achieve an Omega-3 index. It’s the sardine herring and macro eaters that do it all the time. Speaking of which macro, now macro is higher in fat than sardines, but that’s a good thing. It’s rich in these anti-inflammatory omega threes. So it’s especially great for your brain and heart health. Now look for the smaller varieties like Atlantic mackerel rather than king mackerel, which can be higher in mercury. Now mackerel is an interesting choice. It is incredibly popular in Europe, particularly northern Europe and the Norway, uh, Finland countries. Many Americans don’t particularly like the fishy taste of mackerel, but give it a try.
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Speaking of fishy taste, anchovies, these guys are tiny, salty and packed with flavor. In fact, if you like Caesar salad, guess where that flavor came from? It was anchovies. Interestingly enough, one of the longest living people in the world, the acis, a little town that I visited south south of Naples in Italy, eat anchovies for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In fact, it’s their number one food and anchovies are an excellent source of calcium and protein as well. So anchovies are perfect for tossing into salads, sauces, and dressings. Now they practically disappear while boosting nutrition. And every time you say you hate anchovies, just remember that’s the flavor that you’re actually getting in a true Caesar salad. They’ve just been blended in. So you’re getting that salty umami tastes that you actually like salmon. Well, everybody knows that salmon is rich in omega threes and vitamin D, but please look for the wild caught varieties whenever possible.
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Now, can salmon often includes the bones and skin, which is where much of the calcium and collagen comes from, so don’t be afraid of it. Let’s talk about shellfish, clams, oysters and muscles. These are tin shellfish. Now oysters are one of the best sources of zinc, critical for immune system that you can find. Muscles are rich and vitamin B12, iron and manganese. Now the great thing about mussels are that mussel are sustainable. They’re low mercury options that many people overlook. Clams and scallops are often frequently overlooked, but they’re cheap. You can toss ’em into a salad, you can heat them up, you can eat them out of the can. Easy to do tune them. Now this is probably the most popular canned fish worldwide. It’s high in protein, about 20 to 25 grams per can, and it’s a very good source of selenium and B vitamins.
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Now the drawback, some types like albacore can be relatively high in mercury, but most canned tuna are light tuna or skipjack, which are young tuna, which tend to have much lower mercury levels compared to albacore or big eye. Now here’s a pro tip. Always choose tuna packed in olive oil or water instead of seed oils. Herring. Now I mentioned these earlier, they’re very similar to sardines nutritionally, but they’re usually larger in size. They’re also rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D and selenium. Now they’re traditionally pickled or smoked, but canned herring can be a milder, easy to enjoy option. Like I said, they’re excellent for brain and cardiovascular health. They’re a fantastic underrated alternative to salmon or mackerel. How about crab, canned crab meat. Now this is a lean high quality protein with fewer calories than most fish. It’s an excellent source of zinc, copper, and vitamin B12.
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Now it’s lower in omega threes compared to oily fish like sardines or salmon, but it’s still a great addition for variety. Now it’s often sold in lump or claw meat. And having worked and lived in Baltimore for several years, I can tell you that crab meat works beautifully in crab cakes, salads or stir fries, and it’s readily available. In fact, one of my favorite places to buy it is at Costco. But be sure to check the label for additives or preservatives. Now, should they be organic? Well remember organic means they literally follow these fish or shellfish around to see what they’re eating. No, you can’t do that. If you see organic on the label, that means that these were farmed and they were fed organic corn and soybeans. So organic on the label doesn’t mean you’re getting what you really want. However, in shellfish for instance, mussels and oysters and scallops for the most part are farmed.
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That means they were planted on rocks. But that’s as far as it goes. They ate what they found. So just when you see like farmed mussels don’t be put off, that’s the way we raise them. Now how much should you eat with shellfish and fish in general? Sometimes too much is too much shellfish and fish in general can promote increases in uric acid, which among other things causes gout. And I do have some patients who are very sensitive to uric acid and causing uric acid buildup by going crazy on fish and shellfish. But adding them to your diet several times a week is a great way to add quality protein, clean protein, and lots of omega threes and other important vitamins and minerals like vitamin D and calcium. It’s cheap, it’s easy to find. And if you’re looking for clean beneficial protein, there’s really not a better way to add it to your diet than tinned or canned fish or shellfish.
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Let’s talk about organ meats, but let’s talk about stuff you probably don’t want to hear but you really need to hear. Now, I grew up in a household where we would fight over who got the chicken liver, who got the chicken gizzard and who got the chicken heart. And quite honestly, my mother usually got the heart, I got the liver and my grandfather got the gizzard. Why would we fight over it? Because for centuries, organ meats were actually prized as one of the best things that you could eat from an animal. In fact, in studies of large carnivores like lions and tigers and hyenas, the kill is usually eaten from the abdomen first. All of the guts, all of the intestines, the liver, and often the carcass is left. And studies of hunter gatherers, modern hunter gatherers frequently find that it’s the liver and other parts of the gut that they treasure the most well.
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So fast forward with that sort of information. It’s become the topic of the day that organ meats are the best source of vitamins, minerals, essential amino acids, essential fats, and that the more we acquire these ancient known health benefits through organ meats, the better but not so fast. If you noticed in the Plant paradox, and in my most recent book the Gut Brainin Paradox, I spend a considerable time talking about a odd sugar molecule called New five gc and it’s near identical twin new five ac. So these two sugar molecules actually differ by only one molecule of oxygen. They’re otherwise identical. So what So you and I had a genetic mutation millions of years ago that the sugar molecule that we manufacture on the lining of our gut, on the lining of our blood vessels, on the lining of our joints, on the lining of our blood-brain barrier is called new five ac.
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On the other hand, beef lamb pork milk has new five GC as their sugar molecule. Now before we start crying, chicken, poultry and fish also have new five ac, not new five gc. So they have the same molecule that we have. Well, so what new five gc, because it looks virtually identical to new five AC, is rapidly absorbed through our gut wall and the minute it hits us, our immune system views it as foreign and we make aggressive antibodies to new five GC ’cause it is foreign. But when new five GC in our food is absorbed new five GC can substitute for new five AC in the wall of our gut, in our blood vessels, in our joints, and in our blood brain barrier. And it is attacked in our gut wall, in our joints, in our blood vessels, and in our blood-brain barrier as foreign and it creates inflammation.
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In fact, interestingly enough, animals who make New five GC will not let it into their brain because it causes neuroinflammation. So what as a boy from Nebraska, the beef state, I can tell you that it makes me cry to tell you that the studies implicating eating red meat, beef, lamb, pork, and the incidents of arthritis, diabetes, dementia, heart disease, and cancer, the association is incredibly strong. Now, association does not mean causation. I’m the first to admit that, but now we know how new 5G causes inflammation. The association is a causal one, not an association. Let’s get back to organ meats. It just so happens that organ meats of beef, lamb, pork have the highest concentration of New five GC of anything you can eat. In fact, liver is number one. Sorry about that. Now on the other hand, chicken poultry does not have new five gc.
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And it is, isn’t it amazing that the Association of Organ eating in foul correlates incredibly well with good health in the Italians and the French? In fact, there’s even the famous flaw diet, and in case you didn’t know, flaw is is fatty duck liver or goose liver. And these organ meats have large amounts of a cool compound called sperm aine, which is a class of poly amines, which absolutely promote health, promote mitochondrial function. So what you’re hearing today is organ meats from poultry are incredibly good for you, whereas organ meats from beef, lamb, or pork are incredibly mischievous for you. Now, are you going to feel it today when you eat these things? No. What we’re talking about is long-term consequences. Here’s the great news starting today and the evidence is in my bestselling books. The more new five AC foods you put in your diet and remove new five GC foods from your diet, the better off you’re going to be because you actually replace the new five GC from the lining of your gut, from the lining of your joints, from the lining of your blood vessels and from your blood brain barrier.
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That’s the great news. One final bit of great news, you can make new five GC foods safe to eat through the process of bacterial fermentation. And one of the fascinating things that I’ve learned looking at ancient cultures who do eat organ meats in the form of sausages or who do eat, remember these were kind of the leftovers and they were ground in, you know, tailed and snout eating, they were ground into sausages and the traditional way of preserving sausages is bacterial fermentation. And the great news is that the bacteria will eat the new five gc. In fact, you may know that my good friend chef Jimmy Schmidt, who’s won three James Beard Awards recently, I challenged him and he’s an amazing protein biochemist to eliminate new five GC in his hot dog that he makes at JR Ranch Foods. And I have no commercial interest in JR Ranch Foods.
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Jimmy Schmidt found that by fermenting the meat in his hot dog from grass fed Angus cows or grass fed pigs, the new five GC was eliminated, pretty much gone. And he compared that to a famous hot dog. And the amount of new five GC in the hot dog was almost a million parts. And in Jimmy’s hot dog there was 150 parts of new five GC is completely eliminated that problem. So the answer is, if you see a traditionally lactic acid culture prepared sausage or hot dog probably won’t have new five gc. If you see a traditionally prepared ham like prosciutto, it does not have new five gc. But long story short, you’re far better off if you want organ meats to go. The old tried and true way. Chicken livers, chicken hearts, chicken gizzards and awa. Wow, what a great way to have organ meats.
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Now it’s time for the question of the week. The question of the week comes from at Lisa Ames over on Instagram about how powerful mushrooms are. She asked, can you take mushroom powder or capsules and get the same effect? Well, yes, you can certainly get some of the active ingredients in both mushroom powders and capsules, but many times extracting the active ingredients, maybe missing, missing the benefit of the multiple other polysaccharides that mushrooms provide that our gut buddies absolutely love. So take my advice. Do both cover your bases? Great question. Now it’s time for the review of the week. The review of the week comes from at life elder over on YouTube about the benefits of cheap proteins. They said amazing Dr. Country. I was very surprised to learn that chicken liver is a super cheap protein. I’ll especially remember the advice to avoid chia seeds due to lectins and replace them with basil seeds instead. The content is incredibly useful and unique. Thank you, doctor.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Dr. Gundry Podcast. If you did, please share this with family and friends. You never know how one of these health tips can completely transform someone’s life when you take the time to share it with them. There’s also the Dr. Gundry Podcast YouTube channel where we have tens of thousands of free health insights that can help you and your loved ones live a long, vital life. Let’s do this together.
