Please help us welcome tinctures to the Drink Symbi herbal supplements lineup! If you are not familiar with the health benefits of tinctures or medicinal mushrooms we would be honored to be the first to introduce you to these powerful additions to your herbal arsenal.
Lets Talk about Tinctures
Tinctures use alcohol to absorb all of the beneficial compounds of the plants and herbs that the alcohol is saturated in. Tinctures are a liquid powerhouse that allow the beneficial unique compounds of the plant to be absorbed quickly by the the body.
Today we will be focusing on our organic lion's mane tincture which we have termed our mushroom brain blend. The focal point of this tincture is the lion's mane mushroom.
What Is Lion's Mane Mushroom?
The lion's mane mushroom is also known as hericium erinaceus or Yamabushitake, and has been widely used in many Asian countries for centuries for its medicinal and culinary benefits, however it is been vastly understudied and underutilized in western medicine.
Potential benefits of regularly consuming a lion's mane mushroom supplement include immune system health improvement, cognitive health improvement, nervous system support, increased heart health, and promotion of mental clarity.
Anatomy of the Lion's Mane Mushroom
Lets begin with taking some time to break down the different parts of a lion's mane mushroom, and some vocabulary that is associated with it. The fruiting bodies are comprised of the stalk and the cap of the lion's mane mushroom. The fruiting body is the portion of the lion's mane mushroom that you would see above the ground.
On the other hand mycelium is the part of the lion's mane mushroom that is not seen. Although mycelium is out of sight is should not be out of mind. Mycelium is the fine and threadlike part of the lion's mane mushroom and acts as the mushroom's roots. The mycelium provides water and nutrients to the fruiting body.
Specifically with the lion's mane mushroom research suggests that hericium is found in the fruiting body of the lion's mane mushroom, while erinaceus is found in the mycelium of the the lions mane mushroom. Therefore, both parts of the mushroom work together to form the hericium erinaceus components of the lion's mane mushroom. (DOI: 10.1080/21501201003735556).
Benefits of Lion's Mane Extract -Why is Lion's Mane such a Powerful Mushroom Supplement
Ability to Penetrate The Blood Brain Barrier
The blood brain barrier regulates what is allowed to enter the central nervous system. One of the unique and powerful aspects of lion's mane mushroom is that it has a low molecular weight. Its low molecular weight allows the powerful compounds of the lions mane mushroom to cross the blood brain barrier (PMC2697631).
Antioxidant Activity and Gastrointestinal Health Support
Did you know that the health of your immune system closely linked to your gut health! The lion's mane mushroom is full of immune health benefits, as it is high in antioxidants and is found to possess neuroprotective effects. Specifically in a study published in 2017 researchers focused on the HEP3 protein that has been found in the Lion's mane mushroom. Researchers monitored mice and found that the HEP3 protein helped regulate the mice's metabolism, possessed anti-inflammatory properties, and improved gut health in mice, specifically improving their irritable bowl disease.
The study concluded that:
"a single-band protein (HEP3) isolated from HEP exhibited immunomodulatory activities and could be used as a drug or functional food ingredient for immunotherapy in gastrointestinal diseases. Moreover, HEP3 could improve the immune system via regulating the composition and metabolism of gut microbiota to activate the proliferation and differentiation of T cells, stimulate the intestinal antigen-presenting cells, and hence play a prebiotic role."(PMC5492111).
Promotes Brain Injury Recovery
In 2008 a study was published that used Yamabushitake (hereinafter lion's mane) to treat Japanese men and woman between the ages of fifty and eighty years old who possessed a mild cognitive impairment. Thirty individuals participated in the study, fifteen of which received 250 mg tablets containing 96% lion's mane, the other fifteen received a placebo. Each group of fifteen were picked randomly after a two week observation period.
The lion's mane given to the participants was a dry powder that was administered three times a day for sixteen weeks. The subjects were then observed for an additional four weeks. At week eight of the trial researchers began to see a significant increase in cognitive examinations compared to the placebo group. Researchers used a cognitive function scale based on the Revised Hasegawa Dementia Scale (HDS-R) to measure these results.
Researchers continued to monitor participants after the sixteen week Lion's mane administration and found at week four after the termination of the sixteen week intake there was a significant decrease in their HDS-R scores (PMID: 18844328).
Potential Alternative Treatment for Depression and Anxiety
Various studies on how lion's mane mushrooms can improve depression and anxiety have been conducted on mice however further research needs to be conducted on how lion's mane mushrooms can improve depressive behaviors and anxiety in humans.
One of these studies that were preformed on mice found that supplementation of lion's mane mushroom increased neuron function in healthy mice. To read this study in full you can find it here.
Potential Treatment for Early Alzheimer's Disease
One of the potential health benefits of the lion's mane mushroom is the improvement of mild Alzheimer's disease. In this study a forty nine week double blind study was preformed. Before the study began participants were monitored for three weeks. In this three week period no lion's mane or placibo was administered. Following the three week observation period a forty nine-week double-blind treatment period began. The participant group was spit into two parallel groups one of which received three 5 mg/g of lion's mane mycelia capsules per day, while the other group received placebo capsules.
The same study used cognitive tests as one of the bench markers to see if the cognitive function of the participants who consumed lion's mane improved. The conclusion of the forty-nine week double blind study was as follows:
"Three 350 mg/g EAHE (H. erinaceus mycelia) capsules intervention for 49 weeks demonstrated higher CASI (Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument) MMSE (Mini-Mental State Examination), and IADL (Instrumental Activities of Daily Living) scores and achieved a better contrast sensitivity in patients with mild AD (Alzheimer's Disease) when compared to the placebo group, suggesting that EAHE (hericium erinaceus mycelia) is safe, well-tolerated, and may be important in achieving neurocognitive benefits."
This research shows that there was a significant difference in cognitive test scores where patients ingested the 350mg/g of lion's mane mycelia capsules compared to the placebo group. Click here to read this study in detail.
ADHD Support
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, is a mental health condition that often manifests itself in various ways. The DSM-5 lays out different impulsive and persistent patters that are associated with ADHD some of which include:
Failure to give close attention to detail
Having trouble holding attention
Has a hard time organizing tasks
Easily distracted
Forgetful.
Lion's mane mushroom promotes mental clarity. Individuals who have taken our mushroom brain blend have reported an improvement in their brain function and have found:
Increased focus and memory
Increased concentration
Increased mental clarity
May Increase Nerve Growth Factor
Lion's mane is shown to improve the nerve growth factor. Nerve Growth Factor is a neurotrophic factor that promotes the growth and maintenance of nerve cells in humans (PMC4812798).
Various studies have shown that lion's mane has the ability to stimulate the nerve growth factor in a laboratory setting.
Lion's Mane is the Medicinal Mushroom That We Choose for Our Brain Blend Tincture
Our brain blend features three powerful ingredients to optimize your brain health:
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Organic lion’s mane mushroom, which includes the Organic mushroom mycelium
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L-Theanine, and
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Green coffee bean.
This trifecta helps support focus and memory, mental clarity, and cognitive support.
FDA Statement
The information presented in this article have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not produced by a medical professional and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Warning
Keep the lion's mane tincture out of reach of children. Consult your healthcare provider prior to ingesting this lion's mane tincture if you are pregnant or nursing, taking any medication or if you have a medical condition.
Reviews
Don't just take our word for it. Below are some reviews we have received regarding our lion's mane tincture from our amazing customers:
Caroline B. "I got this for my husband who has pretty severe issues with focusing. We are on our second bottle now and really love it. Starting to notice a huge shift in focusing levels!"
Jess A. "I have been taking this for a month now and I love it. I feel clearer headed, and believe I am focusing way better now. Thank you!"
Kjersti E. " I love this stuff! I have noticed an increase in focus and energy after I take it. I take half the suggested serving in the morning and another in the afternoon to keep that focus and energy going throughout the day."
How to Incorporate a Lion's Mane Supplement Into Your Routine
The Brain Blend Tincture can be ingested by dropping it into your mouth under your tongue, or by adding it into a few ounces of a liquid of your choice. We suggest pairing the tincture with one of our tea blends to enjoy.
When Should I Take the Lion's Mane Tincture?
We suggest taking this tincture in the morning as the mushroom brain blend promotes mental clarity by reducing brain fog and supporting focus and memory thought the day.
How Much Lion's Mane Tincture Should I Take in a Day?
The serving size is 20 ml of lions mane tincture per day. Our droppers have easy to read measurements. Each dropper full is equivalent to 10 ml of tincture. Two dropper fulls are equivalent to a full serving size for the day.
More From Drink Symbi
We encourage you to look into all of our tinctures. You can find our entire tincture collection here.
If you are interested in looking at our tea collection you can find that here.
If you want to dive deeper into learning about different herbs and our tea blends you can find our other blog posts here.
Our Passion
We have seen the amazing impact that herbal supplements have had in our as well as our customers lives and look forward to creating more avenues to make herbal supplements more accessible to those who truly need it. If you know of someone who is in need of some tea or tinctures please let us know as we truly want to help individuals find healing.
We Can't Wait to Hear From You
We would love to hear about your experience of incorporating our lion's mane tincture into your daily routine.
We hope you love our tinctures as much as we do and welcome you into our growing tincture tribe.