Lion's Mane

Hericium erinaceus

Snapshot

Indications	Contraindications
Cognitive function in older adults^{1, 2} Mild cognitive impairment¹ Mild Alzheimer's disease^{3, 4} Mood and stress⁵ Gut microbiome diversity⁶ Working memory in healthy adults⁷	Pregnancy or breastfeeding⁸ Prior mushroom allergic reaction⁹

Lion's Mane (Hericium erinaceus) is an edible mushroom whose fruiting bodies and mycelia contain hericenones and erinacines, which promote nerve growth factor synthesis in preclinical studies⁵. Supplementation is used for memory and cognition, mood and stress, and gut microbiome diversity⁵. Typical patients are older adults with mild cognitive impairment¹.

Human research is limited to about nine small trials, mostly in mild cognitive impairment, cognition in healthy adults, and mood. Placebo-controlled trials in older adults, including mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer's disease, reported higher cognitive scores^{1, 2, 4}. A four-week trial in healthy adults found no change in cognition⁵. A 2025 systematic review of cell and rodent studies found erinacines improved cognitive and depression-like behaviours, findings drawn from animals rather than human trials¹⁰. Products are mostly capsules and powders made from fruiting body or erinacine-enriched mycelium; see Form comparison^{2, 4}.

Health Canada labels on licensed single-ingredient products ask for a practitioner's advice before use in pregnancy or breastfeeding⁸. LiverTox rates it an unlikely cause of clinically apparent liver injury¹¹, and a case of liver enzyme rise on a mixed mushroom powder was attributed to the other mushroom.

Last updated October 16, 2026. Read how we make monographs.

In the full monograph

45 sources, 31 studies

When to useThe situations practitioners use it for, each with the reason and the study behind it.
SafetyWho should avoid it, who needs extra care, and the side effects reported in studies.
InteractionsThe medicines and supplements it interacts with, the effect of each, and what labeling says to watch.
Protocol notesThe doses used in studies, how and when they were taken, and how the forms on the market compare.
How it worksWhat it is and how it works in the body, in plain terms.
Published studiesThe studies behind each use, popular claims checked against them, and trials still under way.
Word of mouthWhat patients and practitioners report online, kept separate from the clinical evidence.
Clinical perspectiveA closing read of where the evidence is solid, where it is thin, and what has not been studied.

Snapshot

In the full monograph

Sources