12/11/2025
Health tips from Dr. Jodi
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LION'S MANE A Mushroom that offers so many benefits:👇👇👇
For Centuries, mushrooms like reishi, shiitake, maitake and others have been used medicinally throughout Asia to promote vibrant health, build resistance to disease and preserve youth. In traditional Chinese medicine, they are regarded as the highest of tonics.
In the United States, mushrooms are sometimes viewed with suspicion because of certain poisonous or hallucinogenic types. This reputation, however, is rapidly changing as medicinal mushrooms become popular in holistic medicine and are used as nutritional supplements.
Being neither plant nor animal but members of the fungal family, they are sometimes referred to as the Third Kingdom. Their DNA actually puts them closer to humans than to plants.
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Among the 38 thousand species of mushrooms, there are about 50 that are poisonous and another 50 with scientifically validated medicinal value. And, of course, there are the mind-altering "magic mushrooms" that produce hallucinogenic trips similar to those of L*D.
One way mushrooms differ from plants is that they contain no chlorophyll, and so cannot manufacture food energy from the sun. They emerge at night and obtain their energy from decaying plant matter.
THE BRAIN: Lion's main is one of the edible mushrooms widely distributed in Japan and China. Its name comes from its beautiful white icicle like spines. In traditional lore, regular consumption of lion's man is said to give one "nerves of steel" and "The memory of a lion.".
Scientific studies performed in Asia confirm the value of its traditional use as a cardiovascular, respiratory and nervous system tonic.
One variety of the mushroom is marketed as a remedy for gastric and duodenal ulcers and chronic gastritis. In traditional Chinese medicine, lion's mane is used to promote strength, vigor and good digestion and for prevention of gastrointestinal cancer. Its beta glucan composition is very similar to those of some of the most potent anti-cancer mushrooms, such as Agaricus Blazei.
Also, a hot water extract made from lion's mane is considered a health tonic and sports beverage. Japanese studies show that lion's man is able to regenerate neurons by stimulating production of nerve growth factor.
NERVE GROWTH FACTOR belongs to a family of proteins that play a part in maintenance, survival and regeneration of neurons during adult life.
As we age, NGF declines, resulting in less efficient brain functioning. In mice, its absence leads to a condition resembling Alzheimer's disease.
In 1986, two scientists won the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine for the discovery and isolation of NGF. Since its discovery, researchers have been interested in ways of enhancing the uptake of NGF. Because NGF is unable to cross the blood -brain barrier, it cannot be administered as an oral drug.
Accordingly, scientists directed their attention to finding bio-active compounds with a low molecular weight that could pe*****te the blood-brain barrier and could be taken orally to induce synthesis of NGF within the brain.
HERICENONES AND AMYLOBAN: What are these ? A breakthrough occurred when a Japanese research team discovered a class of compounds called hericenones in lion's mane that stimulate production of NGF, causing neurons to regrow. These compounds offer great potential for repairing neurological damage, improving intelligence and reflexes and, even more significant, preventing and treating Alzheimer's disease.
What's more, hericenones are the first active substances found in plants to induce NGF synthesis. Other compounds in lion's mane are also believed to be bioactive.
A fat-soluble fraction isolated from lion's mane, called Amyloban, was found to protect agains endoplasmic reticulum stress and/or oxidatie stress-dependent neuronal cell death caused by toxic beta amyloid peptide.
Beta amyloid peptide is the main component of plaque that develops in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients, causing destruction of neurons as it progresses. So far, amyloban has been found to contain bioactive dilinoleoly-phosphatidylethanolamine (DLPE) benzoate compounds.
DEMENTIA: A study was conducted usng lion's mane to investigate its effectiveness against dementia in a rehabilitative hospital in Japan.
The study consisted of 50 patients in the experimental group and 50 controls. Seven of the patients in the experimental group suffered from different types of dementia. The patients in this group received 5 grams of dried mushroom per day in their soup for a 6 month period.
All patients were evaluated before and after the treatment period for their Functional Independence Measure (FIM), which is an international evaluation standard of independence in physical capabilities (eating, dressing evacuating, walking, bathing/showering, etc.) and in perceptive capabilities (understanding, expression, communication, problem-solving and memory).
Results showed that after 6 months of taking lion's mane, six out of the seven patients experienced improvements in their overall FIM scores. In particular, three bedridden patients were able to get up to eat meals after administration.
Laboratory tests showed no adverse effects of lion's mane. These studies are very encouraging, and more extensive clinical studies are currently underway at other hospitals.
Presently, there is no cure for Alzheimer's disease, and conventional treatments only address the symptoms of the disease. It has been suggested, however, that NGF or lion's mane compounds may be used to prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia. An effective way to reduce the risk of dementia might be the daily intake of pure, whole foods or dietary supplements that stimulate NGF and inhibit toxicity of beta amyloid peptide.
This is proof that the body can be assisted through that which grows wild. Medicine of the future... just maybe!
In case you think I may have grasped this from thin air.👇👇👇
References:
1. Medicinal Mushrooms, Chrisopher Hobbs, Botanica Press, 1996, p. 194
2. Kawagishi H, et al. "The Inducer of the Synthesis of Nerve Growth Factor from Lion's Mane (Hericum erinaceaus)" Explorer! Vol. 11, No. 4, 2002.
3. Japanese patent 3943399
4. Nagai K, et al. "Dilinoleolyl-phosphatidylethanolamine from Hericium eranceum protects against ER stress-dependent Neuro2a cell death via protein kinase C pathway." J Nutr Biochem 2006, 17:525-530
5. Ueda K. et al. "Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-suppressive compounds from scrap cultivation beds of the mushroom Hericum erinaceum." Biosci Biothechnol Biochem 2009. 73(8): 1908-1910.
6 Ueda K. et al. "An endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-suppressive compound and its analogue from the mushroom Hericium erinaceum." Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry 2008, 16:9467-9470.
7. Kawagishi H. et al. "Anti-dementia effects of a low polarity fraction extracted from Hericium eranceum." Abstracts of the 5th International Medicinal Mushroom Conference, pp 18-9, September 5-8, 2009, Nantong, China.
8. Kawagishi, H & Zhuang, C, "Compounds for dementia from hericium erinaceum," Drugs of the Future 2008, 33(2): 149-155.
9. Mori K. "Improving effects of the mushroom Yamabushiitake (Hericium erinaceus) on milkd cognitive impairment: A double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial," Phyother Res 2009, 23:367-372
