Now, you might have 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 main 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. Okay. So why is lion’s main different than other mushrooms and quite frankly, how is it similar to other mushrooms?

(01:36)
So lion’s main mushroom scientific name is Heroseum ironacious. Now harroseum 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 lionsmaine stands out because of two unique compounds, irisinones and erasions. Lion’s main 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 main, but they haven’t been as identified as these. So researchers have been interested in lionsmae not only for improving everyday focus, but also for protecting against cognitive decline and actually helping repair damaged nerves.

(02:48)
So how’s it doing? These compounds and lions may 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 Main and, and really other compounds that stimulate the production of, of BDNF and NGF. How do they do in that respect? Well, a study in Japan in 2009 was a double-blind placebo-controlled trial. They took 30 adults aged 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, basically three grams a day for 16 weeks.

(04:19)
So that’s essentially four months. So of interest is the group that got the actual drug. Their cognitive function actually improved 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 c- Lionsmaine isn’t just for cognitive improvements or treating dementia. Now, there’s other studies that show taking Lion’s Main could actually relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety. And it’s probably because Lionsmaine also has an anti-inflammatory effect, which could also help the gut microbiome. Now, I wanna 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. What the heck is a polysaccharide? Well, a saccharide is a sugar and polysaccharides are multiple sugar molecules bound together with chemical bonds.

(05:33)
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 digest 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 do 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 main in this video doesn’t mean that we should forget that wine’s main shares many other beneficial properties with other mushroom families, including these sources of polysaccharides.

(06:49)
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 respect, but it’s unique to mushrooms in general as 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. 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 got a texture very similar to lobster, crab, or scallops. And my wife happens to love lobster crab. It’s gallops. So there’s a good one. Flavor is actually very different than most other mushrooms. It’s kind of a sweet, almost seafood-like flavor. So you can use it where you might consider using seafood.

(07:57)
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 main mushrooms because he found that his really picky diners who were there for a three-star meal would actually ooh and ah 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 shell. 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 farmer’s markets are frequently brimming with lion’s mane because of its newfound popularity. You can slice it into steaks and grill it.

(09:01)
You can cook it on a pan. 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 gona 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.

(10:10)
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’re 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 CoQ10, Coenzyme Q10, you see that advertised on TV almost every night. Her dose to get an adequate level of co-enzyme Q10 in her blood was about 600 milligrams and she was taking two, 300 milligram capsules from a reputable company.

(11:27)
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. She started taking that. And when I saw her a couple of weeks ago, her coenzyme Q10 was virtually undetectable. And I said, “What the heck you stopped taking your coinzone Q10?” 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 CoQ10 in that capsule. “So needless to say, she’s back taking the ones that were. So what I’m saying is just because you see a trendy thing on a capsule, know your supplement, manufacture, know that there’s some guarantees that what they say is in there is actually in there and that goes with Lion’s Main as well.

(12:38)
You can also find it in energy snacks and coffees, chocolates now are incorporating lion’s main, but the quality varies. So read the labels. The other thing you got to realize is that the studies that have been done in human trials were 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.

(13:21)
That’s a wrap on today’s episode. And before you go, I wanna leave you with one task. If anything you heard today made you think made you wanna dig deeper or gave you something you’re going to pass along to someone you care about, please take 15 seconds and leave a five-star rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. I know that sounds small, but those reviews are how Apple and Spotify decide which shows to surface to new listeners and this show only grows when people who’ve never heard of it suddenly find it. That person finding this podcast today could hear something that genuinely improves their life or the life of someone they love, maybe even saves one. Everything I share here comes from my research when writing my next book and my clinics where I’ve been seeing patients six days a week for over 25 years working with nutrition and supplements as the primary treatment.

(14:24)
This is real world medicine. Help me get it to more people and thank you. Truly thank you. I’m Dr. G and I’m always looking out for you.