Before we begin… I want to be clear that we are NOT the only quality mushroom extract provider on the market. Anyone who says they are the only good option is full of it.

Still, there are only a handful of companies producing effective extracts (and you probably haven’t heard their name).

Some of the biggest brands on amazon have been exposed for having little to no mushroom contents in their extracts. And worse, a few of the top names in this industry have failed their bacteria/mold contamination tests.

PURPOSE OF THIS ARTICLE:

My wish is that you read this and use these tips to help you find a quality, SAFE, and effective lion's mane extract that gives you the healing powers of medicinal mushrooms… 

Whether you buy our product or not, I genuinely want you to receive the benefits because they’re nothing short of life changing.

And in case you’re curious, these tips are coming from someone who’s personally grown THOUSANDS of pounds of lion’s mane, reishi, and cordyceps, and shipped over 76,000 orders of our own extract.

If you skim nothing else, look for these two lines on any label: “100% Fruiting Body” and “Twice Extracted.” Below I’ll show you why each one matters, plus one more check almost nobody thinks about.

1. Look For “Twice Extracted” (Alcohol AND Hot Water)

First, you may have seen that there are pills, powders, liquid extracts and wondered...
What’s the best!?

Let’s be crystal clear:

You do NOT want to consume Lion’s Mane Mushrooms raw.

At least not if you’re trying to eliminate brain fog and get the focus boosting benefits everyone is talking about…

Lion’s mane tastes GREAT and I cook it up regularly, but there’s an indigestible fiber in lion’s mane (and in most medicinal mushrooms) called “chitin”, that blocks your stomach from absorbing the beneficial compounds.

The chitin needs to be broken down and removed from your lion’s mane with an Alcohol and water extraction in order to get the most benefits…

Here lies the problem with a lot of lion's mane supplements:

Many powders and capsules contain dried up lion’s mane which have simply been ground up (not extracted)...

So the powders often still contain the benefit-blocking chitin.

On the flipside, ALL liquid extracts have at least gone through some form of extraction. And for this reason…

Liquid extracts are typically the most effective way to consume lion's mane (and virtually all medicinal mushrooms).

However, there’s a problem with a lot of liquid extracts...

Some companies boast about having alcohol-free extracts.

On first glance, this looks like a benefit, but you need alcohol in your extracts to get the most out of the lion’s mane mushroom.

See, Lion’s Mane contains two major groups of active compounds that people take it for:

Without going too deep in the science, you want both in your extract to have a full spectrum extract that’ll give you the focus boosting and memory supporting benefits of lion’s mane...

And here’s the kicker:

Hericenones come out with alcohol.

Beta-glucans come out with hot water.

So the best lion’s mane extracts are twice extracted: alcohol first, then hot water on what’s left, so you get both.

Bridgett K.

I’m amazed by the difference it’s making. I accidentally ran out a few weeks ago, and it was a couple of weeks before I got a new bottle. I felt like I experienced a decline in my cognition, having “foggy brain” for the first time in a couple of months. I won’t let that happen again.

>> Check Out Our 100% Fruiting Body, Twice Extracted Lion's Mane

2. Look For “100% Fruiting Body” (Not Mycelium on Grain)

There is a dirty ploy in the mushroom industry to boost profits and cut costs while intentionally sacrificing quality to the customer (you)...

I call this trickery, “Mycelium Mischief”.

Now in case you’re not familiar with the way that mushrooms grow...

All medicinal mushrooms start as spores.

Next, the spores mate and they become networks of “mycelium” which eat a “substrate”, typically sawdust as their fuel to grow.

When the mycelium is completely full of nutrients, it will start “fruiting” and that’s when the actual mushroom appears...

The picture below shows bags of substrate being consumed by mycelium, before they turn into actual mushrooms.

Why is this important to you?

Well, when people talk about lion's mane, they mean the fruiting body: the actual mushroom you see in the photos on this page, not the mycelium.

Many companies sell mycelium grown on grain (like rice or oats) instead, because it’s faster and cheaper to grow. The mycelium can’t be fully separated from the grain, so a lot of what ends up in the capsule is the grain.

They can falsely claim a higher milligram dosage of lion's mane per bottle with this approach. For this reason, milligram statements in the mushroom industry are not a reliable method for judging potency.

And if that grain is wheat, there can be hidden gluten in there too…

So for starters, my advice to you is to select a liquid extract made from the fruiting bodies of lion’s mane only.

“The fog has lifted, & my memory is improving!”

Marlene H.

“My memory has seemed to intensify and become clearer!”

Sallie C.

“The clarity, focus, and energy boost I get is unlike any other.”

Angie P.

3. Ask Where It’s Grown (and Whether It’s Tested)

You may be familiar with the term 3rd party testing.

Quick refresher: this is when the supplement company sends off their final product to a lab (that is not owned by the company) to verify that the product is free of contamination and safe to use.

You DEFINITELY want your lion’s mane extract provider to be third party tested. But a lab test only checks the sample that got sent in.

Personally, I put just as much weight on where the mushrooms are grown.

Here's why:

A large share of the mushroom powder sold in the US is grown overseas, mostly in China, and shipped on a long voyage across the sea before it’s sold to a factory to be mixed into products.

The issue with this approach is simply the nature of mushrooms.

They’re grown in extremely humid temperatures.

Lion’s mane is over 70% water by volume (like us humans)... And that leaves a small margin of error in the drying process.

They have to be dried COMPLETELY before they’re shipped across the sea.

See, if a TINY bit of moisture is left inside and they were not thoroughly dried before they were shipped - nature’s gift can start growing mold and bacteria.

That’s one reason I’d rather our mushrooms never make that trip at all.

To be crystal clear:

There’s nothing wrong with Chinese lion’s mane.

China makes some of the best mushrooms in the world.

The mushrooms are subject to contamination when they're shipping from China.

You want your products to be grown and extracted in the same location. 

So if you’re in the USA, choose USA grown products. It will at least ensure that your mushrooms have not been through a long voyage across the sea which is the prime environment for bacteria/mold to form.

So the pro tip is this: Avoid companies that ship the lion’s mane from far away and then process it somewhere else. And unfortunately, this is COMMON practice for a lot of pills, powders, and superfood mixes.

>> Try Our USA Grown, Handcrafted Lion's Mane Liquid Extracts

Amazed By The Difference

“I have been taking it for several months now, and I’m amazed by the difference it’s making.”

Bridgett K.

Difference In A Few Days

“I started noticing a difference in my brain fog within a few days. It has also helped my mood.”

Cindy W.

More Productive Work Day

“Two droppers in the am and I feel much more productive and clear headed throughout my work day.”

Daniel H.

How to select the most effective lion's mane supplement:

Now you may have seen some of the links to our product scattered throughout this article, but in case you haven't yet seen what we have to offer...

Here's what makes our lion's mane extracts one of the most effective lion's mane supplements that you can buy:

1. They’re Twice Extracted

First, we soak our lion’s mane in organic cane alcohol for a minimum of 2-4 weeks to break down the tough fibers and pull out the hericenones.

Then we do a low, slow simmer of what’s left in ultrapure water to pull out the beta-glucans. Two extractions, one bottle.

2. Grown and Extracted in the USA

We practice what we preach. Our mushrooms are grown here in the United States and extracted here too. No overseas shipping, only fresh mushroom extracts handcrafted with love.

3. Third Party Tested

We regularly send our product samples to be verified by a third party lab. We do this to ensure safety to you (and my family). We take the products every day. We’re in this business to help and heal and this is an important step to make sure we’re doing good in this world.

4. 100% Fruiting Body

No “mycelium mischief,” no grain, no fillers. There are only 3 ingredients in our extracts: ultra pure water, organic cane alcohol, and lion’s mane FRUITING bodies. That’s it.

5. Handcrafted in Small Batches

To ensure maximum freshness and the highest quality, we produce our extracts in small batches of about 1,000 bottles at a time. 

We use black bottles so light does not degrade our potency like the Amber colored bottles commonly used with liquid extracts. And you can see the difference in color between our liquids and the other competitors.

>> Try Our 100% Fruiting Body, Twice Extracted Lion’s Mane (4 Bottles, 50% Off)