Updated
Lion's mane
A white, shaggy tooth fungus that grows on dead and dying hardwood, usually beech and oak. Eaten as food in East Asia, sold in the West as a nootropic.
Repeated trials
Where it stands: 10 registered trials in people, none of which has reported a result; 4 randomised trials published since 2009.
What it is taken for
One tile per use. The line under each is how far the evidence for that use actually got, counted rather than argued.
What it has been tried for, and how far that has got
One row per use. The label is counted rather than argued — it is set by how many randomised trials and posted results exist for that use, and nothing else. How that is worked out.
| Use | How far it has got | Trials | With a result | Randomised, published | Reviews | Commonly taken for it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memory and focus | Repeated trials | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | yes |
| Mood and anxiety | Repeated trials | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | yes |
| Gut and microbiome | Being tested now | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | yes |
| Cancer, supportive and adjuvant | Being tested now | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Nerve repair | Being tested now | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | yes |
| Sleep | Being tested now | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | yes |
| Nutrition | Laboratory work | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — |
The doses the protocols actually specify
Taken verbatim from the intervention description each trial filed. These are not recommendations and they are not comparable to each other: some are a whole-mushroom powder, some a purified fraction.
Every registered study that names it
From ClinicalTrials.gov, filtered to studies that name Hericium erinaceus or a synonym in the title, summary or intervention. Studies that have posted results come first.
| Register | Study | Condition | People | Status | Result posted | Dose in the protocol |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCT07755566 | Effect of Oral Papilozumib on Vaginal and Intestinal Microbiota in Human Papillomavirus (HPV)-Positive Women | Papillomavirus Infections | 21 | Completed | — | — |
| NCT06870136 | Study Evaluating the Quality and Effects of Lion's Mane Product on Cognitive Health | Cognitive Decline | 150 | Recruiting | — | — |
| NCT04939961 | Effects of Hericium Erinaceus on Microbiota and Cognition | Cognitive Decline, Mild | 40 | Completed | — | 6 capsule |
| NCT07405632 | The Impact of Supplementation With Hericium Erinaceus (Lion's Mane) Extract on Cognitive Functioning | Attention, Memory | 85 | Completed | — | 20,000 mg, 1ml per day |
| NCT05443477 | Hericium Erinaceus Mycelium and Probiotic of the Grape King Bio on Symptoms of Premenstrual Syndrome | Premenstrual Syndrome | 105 | Unknown | — | — |
| NCT04821258 | Effect of the Nutraceutical "MICODIGEST 2.0" on the Complications After Surgery for Colorectal Cancer | Colorectal Cancer, Surgery--Complications | 48 | Completed | — | — |
| NCT03632512 | Effect of Hericium Erinaceus on Clinical Patients With Hearing Impairment | Tinnitus | 80 | Unknown | — | 430 mg/kg |
| NCT04428983 | The Effect of Hericium Erinaceus Mycelium in Non-motor Symptoms of Parkinson's Disease | Parkinson Disease | 80 | Unknown | — | — |
| NCT07405957 | Effects of Two Different Lion's Mane Extracts (Lions Mane Fruiting Body & Lions Mane Fruiting Body With Mycell | Healthy Adult Females, Healthy Adult Male | 87 | Completed | — | — |
| NCT07665840 | Effects of L-Theanine and Hericium Erinaceus Gummies on Psychological, Cognitive, and Sleep Quality in Univers | Psychological Stress, Anxiety | 67 | Completed | — | 30 mg, 50 mg |
| NCT07806279 | Lifestyle Changes, Mushroom Supplementation, and Bupropion to Reduce Adiposity and Cardiometabolic Risk one ingredient in a multi-herb preparation | Cardiometabolic Syndrome, Obesity and Cardiovascular Risk | 250 | Not yet recruiting | — | 150 mg, 60 g |
| NCT07755553 | Effect of a Mushroom Extract-Containing Topical Cosmetic Formulation During Breast Radiotherapy one ingredient in a multi-herb preparation | Radiation Dermatitis, Breast Cancer | 50 | Completed | — | — |
| NCT04065061 | Erinacine A-enriched Hericium Erinaceus Mycelia for Improvement of Recognition, Vision, and Functional MRI Alt | Supplement, Cognition Disorders in Old Age | 68 | Completed | — | — |
| NCT07752641 | Effect of HIFAS MENOPAUSE on Quality of Life in Postmenopausal Women one ingredient in a multi-herb preparation | Menopause, Menopausal Symptoms | 20 | Completed | — | 280 mg, 240 mg |
The compounds the research names
Formula and mass from PubChem. Naming a compound is not a claim that it does anything in a person.
C27H31NO4
C25H36O6
C9H15N3O2S
What it looks like in the field
Research-grade observations, each by a different photographer. Every one links to the record it came from.
In the kitchen
Mild and faintly sweet, often compared to crab or scallop — the comparison is about texture as much as flavour.
Torn into thick slabs and dry-fried until the water has gone, then browned in butter. It holds a lot of water and goes rubbery if you hurry it.
Where it has been recorded, and when it fruits
11,211 verified occurrence records with coordinates, from GBIF. This is where people have recorded it, which follows where recorders live as much as where the fungus grows — read the shape, not the ranking.
| United States | 7,563 | |
| Netherlands | 1,599 | |
| United Kingdom | 313 | |
| Denmark | 289 | |
| Sweden | 198 | |
| France | 174 | |
| Spain | 173 | |
| Germany | 121 | |
| Canada | 111 | |
| South Korea | 88 | |
| Mexico | 88 | |
| Russia | 81 |
Most records fall in Oct. Northern-hemisphere recorders dominate the dataset, so a southern population would not show here.
iNaturalist separately holds 11,051 research-grade observations of it.
What has been reported going wrong
46 voluntary reports to the US Food and Drug Administration name a product by this mushroom's name. A report is someone saying something happened after taking something. It is not a finding that the product caused it, the FDA says so itself, and nobody knows how many people took the product without reporting anything.
| Headache | 9 |
| Anxiety | 7 |
| Vomiting | 7 |
| Diarrhoea | 6 |
| Nausea | 5 |
| Dehydration | 3 |
| Malaise | 3 |
| Abdominal Pain Upper | 3 |
| Depression | 3 |
| Palpitations | 3 |
| Fatigue | 2 |
| Inflammation | 2 |
| Other Serious or Important Medical Event | 27 |
| Disability | 13 |
| Hospitalization | 12 |
| Other Serious Outcome | 8 |
| Life Threatening | 7 |
| Visited Emergency Room | 6 |
| Allergic Reaction | 2 |
| Congenital Anomaly | 1 |
| Injury | 1 |
| Death | 1 |
| Visited a Health Care Provider | 1 |
The newest randomised trials and reviews
Indexed in Europe PMC. Titles and journals only — follow the link to read the paper where the publisher allows it.