Lion's Mane and the Gut-Brain Axis: What We Know So Far

Hands holding a fresh lion's mane mushroom (Hericium erinaceus) fruiting body against dark rock

Lion's mane comes up in research on the gut-brain axis because scientists study it from both ends: its β-glucans and other polysaccharides for how they interact with gut bacteria, and its hericenones and erinacines for whether they affect nerve growth factor (NGF), a protein certain nerve cells need. Most of that work so far is in cells and animals.

What is the gut-brain axis?

The gut-brain axis is the two-way communication between the brain, the gut and the microbes that live in it. A major review in Physiological Reviews describes the routes: the immune system, tryptophan metabolism (how the body processes an amino acid from food), the vagus nerve, and the enteric nervous system, the gut's own network of nerves.

Substances the microbes make, such as short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), carry part of the signal. The same review notes that animal models have mapped much of this, and that studies in people are still under way.

What does lion's mane have to do with gut health?

Lion's mane contains polysaccharides, long sugar chains that include β-glucans. Most of these resist digestion in the upper gut and reach the colon, where bacteria ferment them into SCFAs.

A 2025 systematic review reports that lion's mane polysaccharides raised SCFA production and SCFA-producing bacteria in a 24-hour lab fermentation, and that rats and mice given the polysaccharides, and aged dogs fed a lion's mane diet, showed shifts in their gut bacteria.

What are hericenones and erinacines?

They're small compounds found in lion's mane. Hericenones have been isolated from the fruiting body, and erinacines from mycelium grown in culture, one of several ways fruiting body and mycelium differ. In cell studies, both were reported to stimulate NGF production.

Where our sticks fit

Each Lion's Mane stick holds 1,500 mg of organic lion's mane fruiting body extract, with no mycelium grown on grain, ≥20% β-glucan and no other ingredients. On the box, we put it simply: Focus, Cognition & Digestion.* Stir one into the coffee, tea or water you already drink.

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