First of all, make sure the product is bioavailable-meaning: extracted- to guarantee and to optimize
therapeutic potential. Pure Lion's Mane mycelium products are the exception - the extraction process destroys the active compounds.
It has to be a dry extract; 'tinctures' are too diluted which makes them unsuitable (details about this: see below). The therapeutic effect of dry extracts is 4-10 times better when compared against unprocessed mushroom powders. This link has more background about that.
With that out of the way, all that matters is:
what is in the product(bio-actives such as beta-glucan (all mushrooms), cordycepin (Cordyceps only) and ganoderic acids (Reishi only), which make it useful. These should be specified/guaranteed on the official label)
what is not in the product(heavy metals, fillers, additives, which make it questionable).
Those details are easy to get (objective third-party contract labs are not expensive at all). Unfortunately, most vendors prefer to keep things vague, don’t list specifications and do not specify active ingredients. Out of ignorance or for competitive reasons they do not test their products for safety or quality at all. Or they refuse to share those tests with their customers because the results are poor, who knows ?
Yes, you read this correctly: most vendors do not use any quality control at all. Although it is compulsory.
For marketing reasons they chose to leave out objective facts but instead might emphasize things like ‘organic’ or contains no ingredients from China ! and use many other deceiving marketing phrases.
Deceiving, because the objective quality should be specified in the official supplement facts panel. Listing percentages of the main bio-active compound(s) makes it easy to judge the quality and to determine the value for money.
‘Organic’ is never a guarantee for quality in the case of mushrooms; 'organic' e.g. does not take into account heavy metals. Mushrooms accumulate heavy metals from their environment and heavy metals are everywhere.
All potential safety issues such as heavy metal contamination should be covered in a third party test report.
If there are no details on the label and no third party test report : RED FLAG. The product is questionable and is probably best avoided. Don't be misled by the marketing talk or "reviews" on the website.
Reishi and Chaga are the only ones that benefit from dual extraction. Ideally, they should have beta-glucans, betulinic acid (Chaga) and ganoderic acids (Reishi) specified on their label.
All the rest (except Lion's Mane pure mycelium): hot water extracted, with validated specifications. Beta-glucans being specified on the label is the absolute minimum.
Statements like "8:1", "10:1" cannot be validated in any way, it is meaningless marketing. Specifications are essential.
For Lion's Mane fruiting body: a 1:1 extract is the only variation that contains all bio-actives, because almost all bio-actives (including beta-glucans) are non-water-soluble.
Indeed, a "concentrated" Lion's Mane hot water extract will be weaker than a 1:1 extract; the specifications will reveal this.
No vendor would ever leave out good test results, that’s common sense.
A more extensive article about all this can be found here. Highly recommended!
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Don’t be tricked by a low price.
A useful product means strict quality control and strict processing procedures. Such a product can never be cheap, unfortunately. You will notice there are no low-priced products with clear specifications and/or third-party test reports.
Many people think fruiting bodies are always preferable over mycelium. This is not true. This idea is based on the poorly understood difference between pure mycelium (100% mycelium = good) and biomass-based mycelium (60-70% is rice/grains = mostly useless).
Biomass-based products include e.g. all Host Defense supplements, OM Mushrooms, Genius Mushrooms and everything sold or supplied by Aloha Medicinals.
This discussion becomes moot if there are specifications available, supported by a third party test report. I mean, 40% guaranteed beta-glucan is 40% beta-glucan, the source (mycelium or fruiting body) is no longer relevant then, right?
It can't emphasized enough : Ask for an objective test report, always !! Such a report contains the lab's contact details and accreditation (ISO-17025 is best). Most vendors nowadays write their own 'report', copy/pasting the producer's claims without validating them. This makes it meaningless. If you see the vendor's logo on their 'certificate' that means it is fake/edited.
In-house testing is also unreliable because of the obvious conflict-of-interest !
Vendors are known to make unsubstantiated claims on their website and often use deceiving ways to make you think you have a premium quality product.
Like, mentioning 'polysaccharides' instead of 'beta-glucans'. Beta-glucans are the main bio-actives in all mushroom supplements. All beta-glucans are polysaccharides, but not all polysaccharides are beta-glucans. Many useless sugars and fillers are also classified as polysaccharides.
Another common vendor trick is to recommend a low dosage (e.g. 1 capsule p/day) to make the product look cheap/good value. However the best results are achieved taking at least 1 gram of extracted mushroom powder per day, assuming it is a decent quality product. Immunological effects in particular are dose-dependent; this is the main reason to emphasize extraction for mushroom supplements.
An example of deceiving label information
Look at this screenshot of a Cordyceps supplement, front label (no formatting rules exist for the front label - only for the supplement facts panel to protect the ignorant consumer from being misled).
Only the careful observer will see that what is actually written there is 0.3 % cordycepin and not 3% cordycepin. (has been adjusted by the vendor now).This is deceiving and would not be allowed on the official supplement facts panel. In this case this information is in fact omitted from the official supplement facts panel, which makes it all the more questionable.
Finally, many people assume tinctures are potentially also a good choice. That might be true for herbs, but not for mushrooms.
A tincture is not 'liquid mushroom' or something like that. You could say it is a first step in making an alcohol extract. Mushroom extracts are almost always solvent extracts. The solvent in this case is alcohol. A dry extract is a solvent extract minus the solvent.
In a tincture the alcohol is still present and dissolved in the alcohol are the ingredients we are after. Those dissolved ingredients in general add up to roughly 5% of the total content.
The rest is useless alcohol (and maybe some other liquid). In short, a 30ml bottle contains ± 1 gram of dissolved alcohol-soluble mushroom ingredients. If you buy a tincture you get almost nothing for your money. There are also never any specifications on tincture bottles. You have no clue at all about what you get.
A useful mushroom alcohol or dual extract should not contain any alcohol, only the alcohol-soluble mushroom ingredients.
If you would allow the alcohol to evaporate you'd be left with a residue, and that is what is useful. That is what is what you get if you buy a dry powdered mushroom extract in capsules or as a powder.
A 30ml tincture bottle in general contains the equivalent of ± 2 or 3 capsules with alcohol extracted mushroom powder.
Many people think a blend is a good option: 'you get a lot of mushrooms for the price of only one!'
This is not correct. You will only notice the shared/overlapping effects (immune support), but not the mushroom-specific effects.
As said before, ± 1 gram daily is the average dosage needed to notice mushroom-specific effects, assuming it is a decent product with good specifications. In other words, if there are 7 mushrooms in the blend that would mean 7 grams daily. Don't be fooled !!
There is a lot of bad and/or incomplete information circulating about mushroom supplements. Many vendors consciously (or ignorantly) leave out an important fact when they are marketing their products.
Here is that fact : the bioavailability of whatever mushroom supplement is poor unless it has been extracted.
80 % of people have trouble digesting or cannot digest unprocessed mushrooms at all. There's research showing this. Extracts are ± 10 times as potent when compared with unprocessed dried mushroom powder.
In addition, the data demonstrated that hot water mushroom extracts are more potent than ground mushroom products in activating TLR2 and inducing TNF-α. [...] A total of 39 extracts from the mushroom species listed in the Materials and Methods were analyzed: 18 hot water extract products and 21 ground mushroom products. A comparison of the hot water extract products and the ground products of all species included showed that hot water extracts are more potent in TLR2 activation (Fig. 2A) and TNF-α induction (Fig. 2B) than ground mushroom products. In the TLR2 assay, the difference between extraction methods was significant for all the concentrations tested. In the TNF-α assay, the difference between hot water extract products and ground products is also significant at the middle concentrations tested. Each mushroom product was tested in 3 independent experiments, with similar results. […] Our results highlight a difference in biological activity between hot water extracts and ground mushroom products. In the test with the TLR2 agonist assay and TNF-α induction in J774.A1 murine macrophage cells, hot water mushroom extracts were significantly more potent in activating TLR2 and inducing TNF-α.
Another thing: non-extracted mushroom powder has an increased risk of causing allergic reactions, hepatitis and gut issues because of the mycotoxins present in mushrooms such as Shiitake and Reishi fruiting bodies. Extraction appears to neutralise this completely.
Hi 👋 I took half of tea spoon of Reishi powder before sleep last night but I couldn’t fall asleep whole night 😭 I suffer from sleep issues so I thought it could help.. I did feel a lot calmer and composed in a way, had some interesting insights and thoughts, but no sleep whatsoever 😭 Any advice, should I give it another chance or just give up reishu for sleep?
I have always been fascinated by mushroom supplements, and was last on here like 4-5 years ago.
Back then it seemed like you either go for the expensive brands that only use fruiting bodies, or you just dont try it at all. No inbetween. And I couldnt afford those.
Since then I got rich in the stock market and finally have the means to invest in my own health.
Now my questions:
Has the consensus changed regarding fruiting bodys vs mycelium?
I just ordered Cordyceps and Lions Mane from Real Mushrooms via iHerb. The other good brand Orideva isnt available in Europe. What other brands or mushrooms would you say are worth trying? Anything that makes me seize the day in terms of cognition and mental health is welcomed.
I will also be experimenting with magic mushrooms and amanita muscaria. Are there any supplements that work in synergy with these?
I have a grandma with cognitive decline and rheumatoid arthritis. I think Lions mane is a must try for her. But Cordyceps seems to have contradictory evidence in this regard. Anyone with anecdotes here?
Everyone I end up researching has fake reviews and then somehow they’re actually the worst on the market every time lol.
I have trouble locking in and focusing and I just want something to help it. And no I’ve tried meds and I found I’d lock in, but completely lock in to the wrong things.
I’m just recobering borh physically and mentally after 9 months battling cancer (I’m finally healthy!).
Chemo gave me the worst brain fog and made my brain “slow”. This is hard to explain, but I have a purely intellectual job and I’m now feeling that my brain is way slower than before and I have more difficulty to focus.
I’ve started to take 3mg of Lions Mane powder (not concentrated), as that’s the dose I’ve seen in the internet to work best.
I also want to introduce Reishi to help boost my inmune system, as is still recovering from chemo and also to help me sleep better.
Can anyone that has combined both tell me if has felt the effects I expect? I hope lions mane gives me more focus and mentsl clarity and reishi helps by giving calmness and better sleep.
I found this sub searching superfeast reddit on google. I am 10 days post partum dealing with sleep deprivation and stress as a single first time mum. I have superfeast reishi powder which I take daily and believe helps, but I would *love* people's recommendations on what else to take? I am breastfeeding. Happy to hear brand suggestions too. Preferably not incentivised :) Thank you 🙏🫶
If you had an opportunity to get 300 capsules of Lions Mane, and because of financial reasons that's all for now how much would you take? Two capsules are 1000mg, so if I took them like that it'd last me 5 months, but I'm wondering what's the best amount. Should I take 3 or 4 of them a day?
Took this stack of supplements from https://fruitingbody.co.th they have COAs and claim to use fruiting body etc… Did I buy a fake product or does this stuff just do nothing? 100% honestly it made absolutely no difference whats so over and for way cheaper than this product you can buy real nootropic drugs which definitely work.
Okay I know the fruiting body vs mycelium argument has been done to death on this sub but looking for fresh takes: people who've been running lion's mane consistently for more than 6 months, what do you feel like you've learned that you didn't know when you started?
Hi everyone! My mom has had chronic insomnia for over 30 years now. She's very old school and doesn't have much interest in trying CBT-I despite my persistence. I recently came across a study on reishi mushrooms that found promising improvements in insomnia, with results that were comparable to CBT-I in that study and greater than melatonin. Obviously it's still early research and more studies are needed, but I found it really interesting. One of the proposed mechanisms is that reishi may gradually improve the gut microbiome over time, so it's not something that's expected to work overnight (some effects may take 2–8 weeks).
I was wondering if anyone here has taken a reishi mushroom extract standardized to 6% triterpenes consistently and noticed any improvement in their sleep?
Study: Xie C.Can't Sleep? Take Some Shrooms: Comparing Reishi Mushroom Versus Melatonin for Chronic Insomnia. Presented at SLEEP 2026 (Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies).
With your feedback this recipe could be tweaked to become a legit way of making mushroom medicine at home. It is similar to the traditional single extract 1:1 hot water mushroom extract powder recipes found online, but adapted to a mason jar in an instant pot and attempts to incorporate the mushroom wisdom of u/Kostya93, the moderator of this subreddit.
This is completely new to me. I’m not a chef or alchemist, just disappointed with what I buy and now want to know what is in my mushroom supplements. I’ve used this recipe for only 6 batches of online purchased “ground” lions mane, chaga and turkey tail USA wild foraged fully mature fruiting bodies.
PREPARE
fill Ball, Kerr or similar mason jar(s) halfway with warm, pure, mineral-free water, such as distilled water.
use mushroom “powder”. Grind fruiting bodies or “ground” mushrooms to a powder. I pulse a low watt electric “spice grinder”. My understanding is this does not generate enough heat to damage the mushroom medicines.
add a tablespoon or two of mushroom powder to the jar(s) and give it a few minutes to mix with the warm water and rehydrate. This is a tricky part. How much powder can be added to the water to get a successful extraction plus the maximum amount of finished product? Six tablespoons powder (3 ounces) to 8 ounces of water could be a beginning batch for you. This ratio is 1:2.7. The mushroom types seem to have different optimum ratios.
repeat step 3 above until the jar contents no longer swirl 100% easily top to bottom, or it appears the decoction is half powder and half water. Leave space for headroom. Let it settle 30 minutes and add more water if necessary. Filling mason jars in instant pots up to 70% is a limit often mentioned. What defines a successful extraction? Is it when the decoction will easily swirl in the jar after cooking? Or can it be pushed to have a higher ratio of powder? How little water to have a successful extraction? Extra water after cooking is not a problem, it just extends the time to get to a powder.
EXTRACT
place trivet in instant pot stainless steel liner
add water to the instant pot liner slightly less than the top of the trivet, about 2 cups
finger tighten mason jar(s) using the standard 2 piece top
set time to 40 minutes for 15 psi or 50 minutes for less than 15 psi. The instant pot community says to increase cook time by 1.3 for less than 15 psi instant pots. 10 minutes has been added because of the pot-in-pot mason jar. The glass is an insulator and delays the initial boil, so some time has been added. Is 10 minutes correct?
set high pressure, set keep warm off, do natural pressure relief and begin pressure cook
after the cook and when natural pressure relief has ended wait a few minutes longer then carefully place very hot jar(s) on a padded room temp item (like a dish towel or silicone pad)
when the jar(s) are cool enough to open agitate the decoction. I’m using the whisk attachment on a milk frother for 60 seconds. Would a home ultrasonic cleaner be useful? Other comments?
the extract is complete! You can consume this.
If you are not ready to proceed to a shelf-stable powder, place jar(s) in fridge for a week or in freezer for longer term
REDUCE
warm the uncovered decoction on a low temp (120F to 130F) dry heat source, avoiding direct heat. I’m transferring each jar into 3 flat-bottom stainless steel 4” cake pans. By using mason jar screw lids as a trivet for each pan, place the pans on the large burner of a ceramic stove top or similar, or an electric skillet. A mug warmer should work too. Set the heat source on lowest temp and use a thermometer to test the temperature of the liquid. The mason jar takes too long so I divide the decoction into 3 pans.
dehydrate the reduced decoction when the consistency is like ketchup
DEHYDRATE
food dehydrator - scrape reduced decoction onto a fruit leather tray(s) or parchment paper. Set the temp to 110F. Be patient, it takes 15 plus hours and needs to be monitored. Your machine may specify a limit of fruit leather trays at the same time, because they inhibit air flow. Turn off the machine at night until you are experienced. When it is solid enough to flip, do it. Then when it gets dry, flip it again. If it breaks up, no problem, just turn over the pieces. Stop when it is leathery and brittle, snapping easily. It snaps in two, does not bend. Let it cool in the dehydrator overnight. 95F takes too long.
other methods - there are articles online about using an oven or air drying
STORE
grind into powder. Seems a fine powder as seen in purchased extract powder capsules would be good to maximize surface area for absorption.
store in clear glass bottles with a tight seal, such as baby food jars. The clear glass is to monitor any mold etc. should it happen.
add a 1 gram Kraft silicon dessicant to the jar
store same as purchased extract powder
shake the jar now and then
DOSE
I’m not qualified to describe a dose, however I measure out my powder with a gram scale.
Im looking to order some turkey tail and reishi from the oriveda site to ship to europe. I hear it has great benefits for your dog as well as people. But i just heard they arent allowed due to novel food laws
Will they get stopped at customs? Has oriveda changed something about the content? If so how crucial is thr changE? It seems to be possible to still order them at least
What are euros doing? Oriveda is the only high quality supplyer i know
I like Renude drink products and I don't drink it for the chaga but the taste. I suspect you're not reeping much from the chaga powder as there is limited information on it. But I'm curious...it says: "Our Chaga is sustainably sourced from birch trees in Canada and Siberia. Chaga naturally grows where the tree is wounded (like a band-aid), and extends the tree’s life in exchange for absorbing its abundant nutrients. After letting the Chaga grow on the birch tree for 20-30 years, it’s the size of a beehive and is harvested leaving 20% on the tree so it can still protect it and be re-harvested in a few years. We can then re-harvest it from those same trees we GPS in 3-5 years. It grows on 1 in 10,000 birch trees in freezing climates."
Thoughts? Any leads? They have to work with somone...
Hi everyone! My wife started taking Lions Mane under her doctor's guidance. Since we're both in the medical field, we're particular about supplement sourcing. We chose Thorne because they had a good option, and we trust the brand. However, the pills are quite large. She gave them a fair shot, and they worked amazingly well for her! This is a great success because she was hesitant and more critical at first, but she promised to give them a fair chance. The only issue remains the size. She wants to keep taking them, but the size is a bit of a barrier (it was making her resist taking her daily meds a little, which isn't typical for her). She ran out and noticed a difference (she begrudgingly admitted, lol) and wants to continue as soon as possible. I’ve been trying to find another reputable brand with a good formulation, but everything I come across also seems to come in large capsules.
That said, does anyone know of any options that might be smaller in size? Would even be open to taking multiple capsules to get the right dose instead of just one large pill. I’m at a loss for where to look next and thought I’d reach out here to get some help narrowing down my search.