Lion's mane for memory, reishi for immunity, cordyceps for endurance, chaga for everything: so-called functional mushrooms arrive with a promise per species, and millennia of Asian tradition behind them. What tradition says is known. What human trials have measured is far less so, and it varies greatly from one mushroom to another.
This guide reports, for the five mushrooms in our range, what clinical research has actually found: three trials on lion's mane, two Cochrane reviews on reishi, three contradictory trials on cordyceps, one university trial on shiitake, and for chaga, the absence of human trials, which we prefer to state clearly. Including the doses, durations, and limitations of each study.
Lion's mane. Three randomized trials: higher cognitive scores at weeks 8, 12, and 16 in 30 people with mild cognitive impairment, which decreased after stopping; improved Mini Mental State at 12 weeks; faster Stroop test one hour after 1.8 g in 41 healthy young adults. Small trials, consistent results. Reishi. Two Cochrane reviews: lymphocytes and quality of life as supportive care in cancer, no effect on blood sugar, cholesterol, or blood pressure. Cordyceps. No effect in trained cyclists, metabolic threshold increased by 10.5% in 50 to 75-year-olds, VO2 max increased in young adults after three weeks.
Shiitake. One university trial: gamma-delta lymphocyte proliferation increased by 60%, NK-T cells doubled, C-reactive protein decreased, after four weeks at 5 to 10 g per day. Chaga. Composition and laboratory analysis, no human trials. For Everyone : weeks, not days, and medical advice when taking other treatments.
- What's in a functional mushroom
- Lion's mane: three trials on cognitive function
- Reishi: what two Cochrane reviews say
- Cordyceps: three contradictory trials
- Shiitake: one university trial on immunity
- Chaga: tradition and laboratory, awaiting trials
- Doses, durations, precautions
- Frequently Asked Questions
What's in a functional mushroom
A review published in Molecules in 2023 reviews the compounds that interest research: beta-glucans 1,3 and 1,6, classified as dietary fibers, triterpenes, phenolic compounds and sterols. These compounds show immunomodulatory and antioxidant effects in the laboratory, and it is on them that interest in these mushrooms is based. The same review also states plainly that the mechanisms of their effects in humans still require long-term clinical studies to confirm the effects, safety and doses.
This is the framework of this article: not what the compounds do in the laboratory, but what trials in humans have measured, mushroom by mushroom. And what is immediately apparent is that the five are not at the same stage.
Lion's mane: three trials on cognitive function
A double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled trial was conducted in Japanese men and women aged 50 to 80 diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment to examine the efficacy of oral administration of Yamabushitake, Hericium erinaceus, using a cognitive function scale derived from the revised Hasegawa dementia scale. Thirty subjects were randomized into two groups of fifteen. The Yamabushitake group took four 250 mg tablets containing 96% dried powder, three times daily, for 16 weeks, then was observed for four weeks after cessation. At weeks 8, 12 and 16, the Yamabushitake group showed significantly higher scores than the placebo group. Scores increased with duration of intake, but at the fourth week after stopping the 16-week course, they had significantly decreased. Biological analyses showed no adverse effects.
Mori K, Inatomi S, Ouchi K, Azumi Y, Tuchida T. Phytother Res 2009;23(3):367-372. DOI: 10.1002/ptr.2634
Thirty people, 3 g of powder per day, and an effect that increases over time then decreases after stopping, which is one of the best signs that an effect is real rather than due to chance. Two caveats to note alongside this: the trial is small, and its first author worked for a mushroom producer. A second Japanese trial, randomized and multicentric, published in 2019 in Biomedical Research, gave Hericium fruiting body supplement for 12 weeks to adults and found an improvement on the Mini Mental State, with no effect on two other tests.
This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group design studied the acute effects, 60 minutes after intake, and chronic effects, after 28 days, of 1.8 g of Hericium erinaceus in 41 healthy adults aged 18 to 45. After a single dose, participants completed the Stroop test more quickly 60 minutes after intake. A trend toward reduction in subjective stress was observed after 28 days of supplementation. The results suggest cautiously that lion's mane could improve execution speed and reduce subjective stress in young healthy adults. Null results and some limited negative results were also observed. Given the small sample size, these results should be interpreted with caution.
Docherty S, Doughty FL, Smith EF. Nutrients 2023;15(22):4842. DOI : 10.3390/nu15224842
This trial from Northumbria University is the first in young and healthy adults, and that's what makes it interesting: until now, data came from people already experiencing cognitive difficulties. Its authors are cautious, and we are with them: a sample of 41 people, an effect on one test, a trend on stress. But the direction is the same as in the two Japanese trials, and that's what places lion's mane ahead of the four other mushrooms in the range in terms of human data.
Reishi: what two Cochrane reviews say
Five randomized trials were included. The methodological quality of the studies was generally unsatisfactory and results were reported inadequately. The meta-analysis shows that patients who received Ganoderma lucidum in addition to their chemotherapy or radiotherapy were more likely to respond positively than those treated with chemotherapy or radiotherapy alone. Ganoderma alone did not show the same regression rate. Immune function indicators suggest it simultaneously increases CD3, CD4, and CD8 percentages by 3.91, 3.05, and 2.02 percent. Four studies showed relatively improved quality of life. No trial recorded long-term survival. One study reported minimal adverse effects, nausea and insomnia; no significant hematological or hepatic toxicity. The authors found insufficient evidence to justify Ganoderma as a first-line treatment, and consider it could be administered as an alternative supplement to conventional treatment.
Jin X, Ruiz Beguerie J, Sze DM, Chan GC. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2016;4:CD007731. DOI : 10.1002/14651858.CD007731.pub3
This review must be read for what it is: an evaluation in cancer patients, by authors who judge the trials to be of insufficient quality, and who conclude with a signal on immunity and quality of life as a complement to treatment, without data on survival. A small 2012 Chinese trial in 48 women on hormone therapy for breast cancer goes in the same direction: less fatigue, less anxiety, better quality of life after four weeks of spore powder. These are data in the context of disease, not in healthy people, and they fall within the purview of the medical team.
Five trials totaling 398 participants were included, comparing Ganoderma lucidum, 1.4 to 3 g per day, to placebo for 12 to 16 weeks, all in patients with type 2 diabetes. Results from two studies show that Ganoderma was not associated with any statistically or clinically significant reduction in glycated hemoglobin, total cholesterol, LDL, or body mass index. No improvement in fasting blood glucose. No significant difference in blood pressure or triglycerides. Evidence from a small number of randomized trials does not support the use of Ganoderma lucidum for treating cardiovascular risk factors in people with type 2 diabetes.
Klupp NL, Chang D, Hawke F, et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2015;2:CD007259. DOI : 10.1002/14651858.CD007259.pub2
The same Australian team subsequently conducted its own trial, published in Scientific Reports in 2016: 84 diabetic patients with metabolic syndrome, 3 g per day of reishi with or without cordyceps for 16 weeks, against placebo. No effect on glycated hemoglobin, blood glucose, or any secondary endpoint. The reishi picture is therefore clear: data onimmunity and quality of life in the context of disease, and none on metabolism. Which tells us, by omission, what it is not useful for.
Cordyceps: three trials that contradict each other
| Trial | Participants | Dose and duration | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parcell 2004, Brigham Young | 22 trained cyclists | Cs-4, 3 g per day, 5 weeks | No effect on peak VO2, ventilatory threshold, or time trial performance |
| Chen 2010, UCLA | 20 healthy adults aged 50 to 75 years | Cs-4, 1 g per day, 12 weeks | Metabolic threshold + 10.5%, ventilatory threshold + 8.5%, max VO2 unchanged |
| Hirsch 2016, North Carolina | 28 young adults | Cordyceps militaris-based blend, 4 g per day, 1 then 3 weeks | Nothing at 1 week; VO2 max + 4.8 ml/kg/min and time to exhaustion extended at 3 weeks |
Three trials, three populations, three results, and one possible interpretation. In trained cyclists, whose peak VO2 approaches 60 ml/kg/min, nothing changes: they are already at the ceiling of what their physiology allows. In older adults and untrained young people, thresholds and exercise tolerance improve, and only with time : nothing at one week, an effect at three, more at twelve. Cordyceps thus seems to work where there is room for improvement, and not before several weeks. This is also what the Hirsch trial reports, concluding that more pronounced benefits could come from regular and prolonged intake.
Two trials used Cs-4, a cultivated strain of Cordyceps sinensis ; the third a blend based on Cordyceps militaris, the most widespread species in supplements because it can be cultivated at large scale. The two species share their main compounds, but the trials are not interchangeable, and none compared the two.
Shiitake: a university trial on immunity
Fifty-two healthy men and women, aged 21 to 41 years, participated in a four-week parallel-group study, consuming 5 or 10 g of whole dried shiitake mushrooms per day. Consuming Lentinula edodes for four weeks resulted in an increase in ex vivo proliferation of gamma-delta T cells, 60 percent more, and NK-T cells, twice as many. Both cell types also showed greater capacity to express their activation receptors. The increase in secretory IgA suggests improved intestinal immunity. The reduction in C-reactive protein suggests lower inflammation. The authors conclude that regular shiitake consumption improved immunity under less inflammatory conditions than those that existed before consumption.
Dai X, Stanilka JM, Rowe CA, et al. J Am Coll Nutr 2015;34(6):478-487. DOI: 10.1080/07315724.2014.950391
The University of Florida trial has two rare qualities in this field: participants who are young and healthy, and immune markers measured directly on their cells. It also has a clear limitation: it uses the mushroom whole dried, at 5 or 10 g per day, which is a food quantity, not a capsule. A 10:1 concentrated extract at 1,800 mg theoretically corresponds to 18 g of dried mushroom, but the equivalence between an extract and the whole mushroom has not been tested in this trial. This is the only controlled trial we identified on shiitake in healthy humans; it aligns with the tradition that considers it an immune-supporting food, with the caveats of a single study.
Chaga: tradition and laboratory, awaiting trials
Chaga is a special case in the range, and we present it as it is. What we know about it comes from three sources. Its composition, very rich in polyphenols and melanins, measured in numerous chemistry studies. Its antioxidant and antiviral activity in the laboratory, studied notably by the Vector virology research center in Russia, which describes its extracts as having the broadest antiviral spectrum among mushrooms tested in cell culture. And its tradition : it appears in the former USSR pharmacopeia and its use in Siberia is documented by ethnopharmacologists.
No randomized clinical trial in humans. Not on immunity, not on inflammation, not on anything. The properties measured in the laboratory are real; their translation in humans has not been tested. Chaga is therefore a mushroom of tradition and basic research, whose clinical trials remain to be conducted. We offer it for those who choose it with full knowledge of the facts, and we prefer to write this section rather than skirt around it.
Doses, durations, precautions
| Mushroom | Trial doses | Duration before measured effect | What was measured |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lion's mane | 3 g of powder per day; 1.8 g in a single dose | 8 weeks, and 60 minutes for the acute effect | Cognitive scales, Stroop test, perceived stress |
| Reishi | 1.4 to 3 g per day | 4 to 16 weeks | Lymphocytes, quality of life; no metabolic effect |
| Cordyceps | 1 to 3 g of Cs-4; 4 g of blend | 3 to 12 weeks; no effect at 1 or 5 in trained individuals | Metabolic and ventilatory thresholds, VO2 max, time to exhaustion |
| Shiitake | 5 to 10 g of whole dried mushroom | 4 weeks | Gamma-delta lymphocytes and NK-T, IgA, CRP |
| Chaga | No human trials | Unknown | Composition and laboratory only |
Three key takeaways. The trials use quantities on the order of gram, in powder or extract form; a concentrated extract 4:1 or 10:1 corresponds to four or ten times its weight in dried mushroom, which makes it possible to relate a capsule to these trials. Durations range from four to sixteen weeks, and cordyceps explicitly shows that one week is not sufficient. And reported adverse effects are rare and mild: nausea, insomnia in one reishi study, slightly more minor effects than placebo at four months.
Beta-glucans and triterpenes interact with the immune system and, for some, with coagulation. Under anticoagulant, under immunosuppressant, during chemotherapy, during pregnancy orbreastfeeding, or in case ofmushroom allergy, medical advice is essential before any use. The Cochrane review on reishi in cancer care explicitly states that its use should remain judicious and be decided with your healthcare team. No mushroom treats or prevents disease.
1,500 mg of 4:1 extract of Hericium erinaceus per day, equivalent to 6 g of dried mushroom, in two capsules. Three randomized double-blind trials, including one in healthy adults aged 18 to 45, with effects measured from eight weeks through sixteen. Thirty days per jar; two jars to reach the trial duration.
View Lion's ManeThe entire Mycotherapy range, five mushrooms in concentrated extracts, is here.
Choose what suits you best: the answer displays just below.
It's the mushroom with trial evidence for this question: three randomized trials, higher cognitive scores starting from the eighth week in people with mild cognitive impairment, and a faster Stroop test in healthy young adults. Small trials, consistent direction. Plan on eight to sixteen weeks, as the trials show. And if the question is a memory complaint that develops after age 60, see a doctor first.
Trials show an effect in older adults and untrained young people, on thresholds and exercise tolerance, after three to twelve weeks. They show nothing in trained cyclists. If you're getting back into it or you're not at your ceiling, the signal exists; if you're already highly trained, the trial that matches you is negative. And our creatine guide details the active ingredient that has, itself, hundreds of trials.
Shiitake has a controlled trial in healthy adults: gamma-delta lymphocytes and NK-T cells increased, IgA increased, CRP decreased, after four weeks. Reishi has data on lymphocytes, but in a cancer context and with quality judged insufficient by Cochrane. Both are immune data; neither addresses prevention of infections themselves. Our article on zinc and immunity covers a nutrient that has, itself, meta-analyses on the common cold.
This is the clearest finding of this article. The Cochrane review on reishi and cardiovascular risk factors, then the Australian trial of 84 patients, find no effect on blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure, or weight. No other mushroom in the range has been tested on these measures. For blood pressure, our blood pressure guide ; for cholesterol, our LDL guide.
This test provides guidance; it does not replace professional medical advice.
Frequently asked questions
What is mycotherapy?
The use of mushrooms for health purposes, an ancient practice in Asia that today relies on the study of their compounds: 1,3 and 1,6 beta-glucans, classified as dietary fiber, triterpenes, phenolic compounds, and sterols. A review published in Molecules in 2023 recalls that these compounds show immunomodulatory and antioxidant effects in the laboratory, and that mechanisms in humans still require long-term clinical studies to confirm effects, safety, and doses. This is exactly what this guide verifies, mushroom by mushroom.
Does lion's mane work on memory?
Three double-blind randomized trials measured it. The first, published in Phytotherapy Research in 2009, gave 3 g daily of Hericium erinaceus powder or placebo for 16 weeks to 30 people aged 50 to 80 with mild cognitive impairment: Hasegawa scale scores were significantly higher at weeks 8, 12, and 16, and they declined four weeks after stopping. A second Japanese trial of 12 weeks in 2019 found improvement on the Mini Mental State Examination. A third, in 41 healthy young adults in 2023, measured faster Stroop test performance one hour after a 1.8 g dose and a trend toward less perceived stress after 28 days. All three are small; the first is authored by a mushroom producer.
What does research say about reishi?
Two Cochrane reviews. The first, on reishi as an adjunct to cancer, pooled five randomized trials of quality deemed unsatisfactory: patients receiving reishi with their chemotherapy or radiotherapy had better responses, CD3, CD4, and CD8 lymphocytes increased by 2 to 4%, four studies reported better quality of life, and none measured survival. The second, on cardiovascular risk factors in diabetics, pooled five trials and 398 participants: no effect on hemoglobin A1c, cholesterol, blood pressure, or weight. An Australian trial of 84 patients subsequently confirmed this absence of metabolic effect. Reishi has data on immunity and quality of life in disease contexts, not on metabolism.
Does cordyceps improve endurance?
The three trials contradict each other, and the difference lies in the participants. In 22 trained cyclists, five weeks at 3 g daily changed neither peak VO2 nor time trial performance. In 20 healthy adults aged 50 to 75, twelve weeks at 1 g daily raised the metabolic threshold by 10.5% and the ventilatory threshold by 8.5%, without changing maximum VO2. In 28 young adults, three weeks of a mixture based on Cordyceps militaris increased maximum VO2 by 4.8 ml per kilogram per minute and time to exhaustion. The signal is therefore in untrained people and older adults, over time, and absent in athletes already at their ceiling.
Does shiitake strengthen immunity?
A trial from the University of Florida published in 2015 measured it: 52 healthy adults aged 21 to 41 consumed 5 or 10 g daily of whole dried shiitake for four weeks. Proliferation of gamma-delta T lymphocytes increased by 60% and NK-T cells doubled, both types expressing more of their activation receptors; salivary immunoglobulin A increased and C-reactive protein decreased. The authors conclude improved immunity under less inflammatory conditions than before. This is one trial, in healthy young adults, with whole mushroom.
Does chaga have studies in humans?
No, and we prefer to say so. Research on chaga focuses on its composition, very rich in polyphenols and melanins, on its antioxidant activity in the laboratory, on its antiviral effects in cell culture studied by a Russian virology center, and on its traditional use in Siberia, where it appears in the pharmacopoeia. No randomized clinical trial in humans has been identified. Chaga is a mushroom of tradition and laboratory, awaiting trials.
What dose in the studies?
Trials generally use the mushroom in powder or extract form: 3 g per day of lion's mane powder for 16 weeks, 1.8 g in a single dose in young adults; 1.4 to 3 g per day of reishi over 12 to 16 weeks; 1 to 3 g per day of cordyceps, or 4 g of a blend; 5 to 10 g of dried whole shiitake. A 4:1 or 10:1 concentrated extract corresponds to four or ten times its weight in dried mushroom, which makes it possible to compare a capsule to these trials. Durations range from four to sixteen weeks: nothing is judged in just a few days.
Are functional mushrooms safe?
In the cited trials, adverse effects were rare and mild: nausea, insomnia in one reishi study, digestive disorders. The Cochrane review on reishi in oncology found no hematological or hepatic toxicity; the one on cardiovascular factors notes slightly more minor adverse effects than placebo at four months. Limitations are pregnancy and breastfeeding, anticoagulant and immunosuppressant treatments for which medical advice is required, and mushroom allergy. And a mushroom never replaces treatment.
What to remember about mycotherapy?
That the five mushrooms do not have the same level of evidence. Lion's mane has three trials on cognitive functions, small and consistent. Reishi has two Cochrane reviews: data on immunity and quality of life, none on metabolism. Cordyceps has a signal on endurance in untrained and older individuals, not in athletes. Shiitake has a university trial on immunity. Chaga does not yet have a human trial. And all require weeks, not days.
Glossary
- Beta-glucans 1.3 and 1.6
- Polysaccharides from the mushroom cell wall, classified as dietary fibers, studied for their interaction with immune receptors.
- Triterpenes
- Compounds characteristic of reishi, responsible for its bitterness, studied in the laboratory for their effects on inflammation.
- Extract 4:1, 10:1
- Concentrate obtained from four or ten times its weight in dried mushroom; makes it possible to relate a capsule to the doses from trials.
- Fruiting body
- The visible mushroom, as opposed to mycelium; the form used in Japanese trials on lion's mane.
- Cs-4
- Cultivated strain of Cordyceps sinensis used in two of three endurance trials.
- Metabolic threshold and ventilatory threshold
- Exercise intensities beyond which lactate accumulates and ventilation increases; the criteria improved by cordyceps in 50 to 75-year-olds.
- Gamma-delta and NK-T lymphocytes
- First-line immune cells whose proliferation increased in the shiitake trial.
- Cochrane Review
- Systematic review produced by the Cochrane Collaboration, international reference for evaluating health interventions.
Sources
The studies cited below were identified via PubMed.
- Łysakowska P, Sobota A, Wirkijowska A. Medicinal mushrooms: bioactive compounds, nutritional value and application in functional foods, review. Molecules, 2023;28(14):5393. DOI
- Mori K, Inatomi S, Ouchi K, Azumi Y, Tuchida T. Effects of Yamabushitake mushroom (Hericium erinaceus) on mild cognitive impairment: double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. Phytotherapy Research, 2009;23(3):367-372. DOI
- Saitsu Y, Nishide A, Kikushima K, Shimizu K, Ohnuki K. Improvement of cognitive functions by oral intake of Hericium erinaceus. Biomedical Research, 2019;40(4):125-131. DOI
- Docherty S, Doughty FL, Smith EF. Acute and chronic effects of lion's mane supplementation on cognitive function, stress and mood in young adults: a double-blind pilot study. Nutrients, 2023;15(22):4842. DOI
- Jin X, Ruiz Beguerie J, Sze DM, Chan GC. Ganoderma lucidum (reishi) in cancer treatment. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2016;4:CD007731. DOI
- Klupp NL, Chang D, Hawke F, et al. Ganoderma lucidum in the treatment of cardiovascular risk factors. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2015;2:CD007259. DOI
- Klupp NL, Kiat H, Bensoussan A, Steiner GZ, Chang DH. Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial of Ganoderma lucidum on cardiovascular risk factors of metabolic syndrome. Scientific Reports, 2016;6:29540. DOI
- Zhao H, Zhang Q, Zhao L, Huang X, Wang J, Kang X. Ganoderma lucidum spore powder improves cancer-related fatigue in patients undergoing hormone therapy: a pilot trial. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2012;2012:809614. DOI
- Narayanan S, de Mores AR, Cohen L, et al. Medicinal mushroom supplements in oncology: systematic review of clinical studies. Current Oncology Reports, 2023;25(6):569-587. DOI
- Parcell AC, Smith JM, Schulthies SS, Myrer JW, Fellingham G. Supplementation with Cordyceps sinensis (CordyMax Cs-4) does not improve endurance performance. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 2004;14(2):236-242. DOI
- Chen S, Li Z, Krochmal R, Abrazado M, Kim W, Cooper CB. Effect of Cs-4 (Cordyceps sinensis) on exercise performance in healthy elderly subjects: a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2010;16(5):585-590. DOI
- Hirsch KR, Smith-Ryan AE, Roelofs EJ, Trexler ET, Mock MG. Cordyceps militaris improves high-intensity exercise tolerance after acute and chronic supplementation. Journal of Dietary Supplements, 2017;14(1):42-53. DOI
- Dai X, Stanilka JM, Rowe CA, et al. Daily consumption of Lentinula edodes (shiitake) improves human immunity: a randomized dietary intervention in healthy young adults. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 2015;34(6):478-487. DOI
