Lion’s mane mushrooms have been used for centuries in Chinese Medicine. Lab and animal studies suggest this traditional medicine may help with many conditions. Hericium erinaceus is the one that’s most widely used and available medicinal mushrooms. Lion’s mane mushrooms usually look like white pom-poms or underwater cauliflower and are used as both food and medicine. These are amazing to have as part of any ravers diet, and have enormous cognitive benefits.
Fighting Free Radicals
The healing power of these mushrooms has been shown to help with many health conditions, including heart disease, arthritis, and cancer, involve chronic inflammation and the effects of unstable molecules in our bodies called free radicals. Lion’s mane mushrooms contain potentially potent antioxidants, which are substances that limit the damage of free radicals. They also contain anti-inflammatory substances that show promise in animal studies.
Combating Brain Disease Including Dementia
Some studies in animals and small, preliminary studies in people suggest lion’s mane mushrooms might have a role in the prevention or treatment of cognitive decline, including Alzheimer’s disease.
For example, in one study of 30 older adults with mild cognitive impairment, those who took tablets containing Lions Mane powder for 4 months showed a temporary improvement on cognitive tests. The mushrooms have also been shown to slow Alzheimer’s symptoms and brain changes linked to the disease in mice. In another small human study, younger adults who took capsules of lion’s mane mushroom powder showed improved mental performance speed.
Lab studies show the mushrooms are a good source of hericenones and erinacines, two chemicals that accelerate the growth of brain cells.
Combating Anxiety And Depression And Menapausal Syndrome
Post festival blues are a very real thing. Sometimes we need some plant based help to aid our every day living. Lion’s mane extracts could help treat some mental health conditions. To test this possibility, a study was carried out on Japanese women with many health conditions, including menapausal syndrome and poor sleep. Some were given cookies made with lion’s mane extracts while others were given placebo cookies for 4 weeks.
The women who got the lion’s mane cookies reported lower levels of depressive symptoms and stress compared to the placebo group.
Hericenones and erinacines, two kinds of chemicals in lion’s mane mushrooms, may be responsible for any antidepressant effect, researchers believe. These chemicals affect the release of nerve growth factor (NGF), a substance that regulates the growth and survival of brain cells. Conventional antidepressant drugs may work by changing NGF levels.
Nerve Regeneration
Lion’s mane mushrooms contain chemicals that might promote the growth, survival, and function of both new and mature nerve cells in the brain and elsewhere. Animal studies suggest that these compounds, unlike some experimental treatments, are able to get from the bloodstream into the brain, crossing the so-called blood-brain barrier.
For those reasons, there’s growing interest in trying the mushrooms in a long list of conditions, including:
Stroke
Parkinson’s disease
Huntington’s disease
Multiple sclerosis
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Nerve injuries
Managing Diabetes
Lion’s mane mushrooms have been shown to lower blood sugar and raise insulin levels in lab rats with diabetes. Researchers think antioxidants in the mushrooms may explain these possible effects.
Research in animals also suggests the mushrooms might help with diabetic nerve pain.
Fighting Stomach Ulcers
Mushrooms, including lion’s mane mushrooms, are often used as stomach remedies in traditional medicine. In one rat study, extracts from lion’s mane mushrooms protected the animals from ulcers, partly by thickening mucus in the stomach lining. The researchers found that rats getting the highest doses of the extracts got the most protection.
Lab and animal studies also suggest the mushrooms can slow the growth of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), a type of bacteria linked with many stomach ulcers.
Wrapping Up
With the myriad healing properties of these amazing mushrooms, they are perfect for any ravers medicinal tool kit. Aside from all the health benefits, they taste delicious, and there is many great recipes for including them in your diet. Watch this space for a delicious lion’s mane recipe.
Don’t forget to head on over to our shop for the ultimate selection of rave wear, and rave goodies!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.