Lion's mane mushroom

Tier 3 — weak evidence · Cognition · Neuroprotection

Lion’s mane is an edible mushroom that has been part of East Asian cooking and traditional medicine for centuries. Its appeal as a brain supplement comes from two unusual compounds — hericenones in the fruiting body and erinacines in the mycelium — that boost nerve growth factor (NGF) in lab studies, which could in theory help neurons grow and survive. Real human evidence is small but not zero. In older adults with mild cognitive impairment, the original Mori 2009 RCT (30 Japanese adults, 16 weeks at ~3 g/day powder) showed measurable improvements on a standard dementia screening test —…

Dose: Most positive trials used 1–3 g/day of fruiting-body powder, or about 1 g/day of an erinacine A-enriched mycelium extract for cognition; allow 8–16 weeks. Benefits in the Mori 2009 MCI trial faded within 4 weeks of stopping. Hot-water extracts are preferred over raw powder because the active…