Lion’s Mane Mushrooms Benefits
What Are Lion’s Mane Mushrooms?
Most of the time, when food ingredients are named, they’re named after their initial appearance. As these lion’s mane mushrooms (otherwise known in the East as yamabushitake) mature, its exterior takes on the appearance of a lion’s mane with somewhat tousled spines. An initial look at the mushroom makes people assume its lion’s mane is an overgrowth of bacteria and, therefore, potentially harmful. However, lion’s mane mushrooms are anything but toxic.
Lion’s mane mushrooms are starting to make their name in the West as more and more people learn the benefits that those in the East have been using for years. That’s because lion’s mane mushrooms are anti-inflammatory, which reduces the risk of:
- Cancer
- Heart disease
- Ulcers
- Diabetes
While the physical benefits are impressive, the surprising benefits of lion’s mane mushrooms for mental health bring attention to the fungi. So let’s take a closer look at the three mental benefits of lion’s mane mushrooms.
The Cognitive Effects Of Lion’s Mane Mushrooms
Cognitive health is just as important as physical health for your overall well-being. Your ability to learn, focus, remember all fall under your brain’s cognitive health. Lion’s mane mushrooms benefits you by boosting your alertness, memory, and decreasing the decline in brain function as you age. This mental decline as you age is caused by various factors from the shrinking of the frontal cortex, the rise in blood pressure, and fewer chemical messengers move through our nervous system. While all of this happens naturally, there’s a way that lion’s mane mushrooms could help slow this decline.
Instead of the brain shrinking due to the death and decline of neurons, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (or BDNF) plays an essential role in keeping these neurons alive and healthy. Lion’s mane mushrooms help to stimulate this process in your brain. So when you take lion’s mane mushrooms, you’re encouraging the survival of existing neurons and potentially activating new neurons to improve cognitive function.
Nerve growth factor, also known as NGF, is another neurotrophic factor alongside BDNF that derives stimulation from lion’s mane mushrooms. Much like BDNF, NGF is also responsive to the survival of neurons in the brain. Thus, both BDNF and NGF, supported by the properties of the lion’s mane mushrooms, help slow the natural ageing process of the brain. Now that we know a little about how science works with lion’s mane mushrooms let’s look at some of the other surprising mental health benefits of this supplement.
Lion’s Mane Mushrooms And Alzheimer’s Disease
Millions of people around the world suffer from the cognitive impairment of Alzheimer’s disease. The cognitive loss of Alzheimer’s causes more than just loss of memory. It causes loss of thinking, reasoning, and will eventually cause the brain to forget how to do essential functions. If you or anyone you know want to avoid the risk of Alzheimer’s or wants to slow the decay caused by the disease, it’s important to make the proper lifestyle changes for neurological health. One of the changes to take is to look into the neuroprotective properties of various ingredients and supplements. One of the ingredients to look into is lion’s mane mushrooms.
Lion’s mane mushroom has been shown to improve cognitive health by counteracting the substances responsible for causing Alzheimer’s disease. While lion’s mane mushroom alone isn’t enough to completely prevent the risk of Alzheimer’s, every precaution should be taken to reduce the risk of this debilitating disease.
Lion’s Mane Mushrooms And Depression
Much like Alzheimer’s disease, depression affects millions of people worldwide and can even cause physical effects such as headaches, digestive problems, heart issues, weight gain, or other physical symptoms. Inflammation, oxidative stress, and other issues are the driving force behind depression; that’s why supplementing lion’s mane mushroom along with other dietary and lifestyle changes might be the answer for improving this mood disorder.
Lion’s mane mushrooms have been shown to reduce irritability in those who suffer from depression. Irritability is one of the major symptoms of depression, and it only serves to make depression worse as people notice how being irritable effects their professional and social lives. Those who suffer from depression find themselves running out of patience, being short with friends or family, or struggling with workplace relationships. While irritability is a major symptom of depression, it’s often the most overlooked one. Many assume depression only causes people to be sad when it really causes a ranger of behavioural issues. Reducing the symptom of irritability with lion’s mane mushroom is the first step in a natural approach to this mood disorder.
Lion’s Mane Mushrooms And Anxiety
Everyone suffers from anxiety to some degree. At some point in everyone’s life, they’ve experienced the symptoms of anxiety. Fear, panic, or worry affect millions of people worldwide and can lead to anxiety disorder. Lion’s mane mushroom could be the perfect addition to a multi-faceted approach to reducing the symptoms of anxiety.
This edible mushroom has been shown to improve neurological nerve function, such as the loss of focus or mental stress. Improving this nerve function for the brain could reduce anxiety, lower blood pressure, and improve overall stress.
When it comes to improving mental health, there is no end-all cure. It’s important to take multiple approaches for alleviating the symptoms of depression, anxiety, neurological issues that affect the brain. Lion’s mane mushroom isn’t a cure; it’s merely a supplemental ingredient you should add to your toolbox when caring for your mental health. Reducing the symptoms of mental health disorders can improve our overall well-being, whether it be emotional, social, or psychological.
While there may not be a cure for some mental health issues, lion’s mane mushroom is an important step in helping manage symptoms. When you improve your mental health, you’ll notice an improvement in your physical health too. Lion’s mane mushroom for medicinal purposes may have originated out East, but there’s a reason why it’s growing in popularity in the West, so see if it works for you, and you may notice an improvement in your overall well-being.
Lion’s Mane Mushrooms can be found in our flagship product Neuro Blend. Check it out Here.
