Homemade Lion’s Mane Tincture for Brain Fog
Lion’s Mane mushroom is becoming increasingly popular due to its many health benefits. In fact, it has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for centuries. It can be grown, foraged, or purchased raw, powdered, or in the form of supplements.
Here, we are going to make our own Homemade Lion’s Mane Tincture for Brain Fog using an organic powder. We’ll also discuss the many benefits of Lion’s Mane along with a brief overview of growing and foraging this incredible medicinal mushroom.
About Lion’s Mane
Lion’s Mane mushroom is naturally found in hardwood forests growing on old, dead wood or even up in trees. It is native to many parts of Asia, Europe, and North America. It is known by many names including Hedgehog Mushroom, Yamabushitake, or Houtou. Botanically, it is Hericium erinaceus. It is gorgeously cream white and forms a mass of tiny icicle-looking dangling spines.
Brain-Boosting Benefits of Lion’s Mane
Lion’s mane contains compounds that may help stimulate brain cell growth. These are known as hericenones and erinacines. Studies have shown significant neuron development using extracts of H. erinaceus.
Research on Lion’s Mane shows many potential health benefits as well. These include potentially protecting against signs of dementia, reducing anxiety, depression and helping to repair nerve damage.
Other Health Benefits of Lion’s Mane
Beyond brain health, Lion’s Mane has strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant capabilities. It shows benefits for heart and digestive health along with anti-cancer and anti-diabetes potential as well.
How to Grow Lion’s Mane
I’m not a mushroom grower myself, but through research and talking with some local mushroom growers and foragers, Lion’s Mane is a rewarding and beautiful mushroom to grow. For folks getting into mushroom growing, (I may be joining in soon!) beginning with a starter kit for Lion’s Mane is a great road to success.
Where to Find Lion’s Mane
Wanting to start on your mushroom foraging skills? Lion’s Mane is a wonderful safe way to begin. Apparently, there are no poisonous look-alikes. This is important as there are many poisonous mushrooms out there! Lion’s Mane season is in the fall in North America. It notably grows on dead and decaying hardwood logs.
Lion’s Mane is also often available at health food stores. In its season, it may be available fresh from wild sources. Fresh cultivated Lion’s Mane may be available from a gourmet mushroom grower near you. It can also be purchased in powdered form. For tincture making, dried mushrooms are reportedly best, so this is my choice for making this medicinal tincture.
Homemade Lion’s Mane Tincture for Brain Fog
Ingredients
- Lion’s Mane Mushroom Powder
- Clear Grain Alcohol
- Vegetable Glycerin
- High-Quality Water
Process: Double Extraction Method for Mushrooms
Lion’s Mane and many other medicinal mushrooms contain beneficial compounds that are both water-soluble polysaccharides and alcohol-soluble terpenoids. For this reason, our tincture is being made from a double extraction method.
Alcohol Extraction:
Step 1: Place 1 tablespoon of Lion’s Mane Mushroom Powder in a 1-cup glass jar.
Step 2: Cover with high-proof clear grain alcohol. I am using some local white lightning for this process.
Step 3: Add 1 teaspoon food-grade vegetable glycerin. This will help emulsify and stabilize the extraction process.
Step 4: Use a plastic lid or place parchment or wax paper under the metal lid.
Step 5: Shake well.
Step 6: Place in a cool, dark area away from sunlight for 2 to 6 weeks. Shake tincture often, every day or so, to maximize contact between alcohol and mushroom content.
Step 7: At the appropriate time, strain the tincture and put the tincture in a brown tincture bottle.
Lion’s Mane Mushroom Water Decoction
You may choose to use the leftover mushroom powder from the tincture-making process or discard it.
Step 1: Place another fresh tablespoon of Lion’s Mane Mushroom Powder in a 1-cup glass jar.
Step 2: This time, cover with one cup of water. I used preboiled water.
Step 3: Stir well and place in a makeshift double broiler. The idea is to simmer the water and mushroom powder for 4 to 8 hours. Longer if desired. Up to 24 hours seems to be the norm in most mushroom decoctions that I have found. A crockpot is ideal.
Step 4: After allowing the liquid to cool, run the liquid through a sieve.
Step 5: Transfer the liquid into the tincture bottle and mix well.
Step 6: Keep the tincture in a cool, dark place, especially if it is in a clear bottle. You want to protect the tincture from light for the longevity of the mixture. This will be kept in the fridge and used daily until it’s time to make a new batch. It would last 6 months to a year if it lasted that long!
How to Use
There are many ways to use this tincture. As a new herbal supplement, it is recommended to try it on its own to start. Most of the research I saw showed benefits after daily use of 21 days or more. We will be using it added to morning coffee and smoothies. It has a rich deep earthy flavor.
Dosage
To start, a few drops or up to ¼ teaspoon daily for the first week is recommended. It seems the literature promotes consistent daily use versus increasing the quantity of intake.
Warnings and Cautions
Lion’s Mane Mushroom and its constituents and extracts are suggested to be very safe.
The double extraction method seems to be an excellent way to extract all the incredible attributes from Lion’s Mane and other mushrooms. Using the powder was slightly challenging in that it was so fine making it challenging to sieve out of the tincture and decoction. Using dried mushroom pieces that can be chopped up but not quite so finely may be a wonderful option.
I’ll certainly be looking for Lion’s Mane mushrooms in the wild this fall. It does also seem that beginning to grow Lion’s Mane mushroom is a wonderful way to start a mushroom growing hobby.
You may also like:
The Only 6 Medicinal Mushrooms You Need To Know
I’ve made another variation of this recipe and I noticed some considerable memory changes in just a matter of weeks! Can’t wait to try this one as well! Thank you! <3
I love lions mane’s mushroom! I use it in salads 🙂
Is there any recommendations for a 26 yr old that was born with acid reflux?
Hi Karen,
Swallowing a small amount (about a teaspoon) of unprocessed apple cider vinegar mixed with water may reduce the acidity level in the stomach. Apple cider vinegar is safe to try for acid reflux as long as you use a small amount and the cider vinegar’s diluted.
Herbal teas can also help improve digestion and ease symptoms such as dizziness or nausea. Popular herbal teas include chamomile tea, licorice tea, green tea, fennel tea.
God bless!
Can’t wait to try this
What Are the benefits of making a tincture versus just putting the mushroom powder in a smoothie?
Hi Vannessa,
The tincture-making process would be the same for using fresh or dried mushrooms. Tinctures are for taking something difficult to consume like some roots and bark and extracting the medicinal properties. Tinctures also may extend the shelf life of plant-based medicine and make dosing easier, such as in the case of medicinal herbs and mushrooms. The tincture process may also extract medicinal properties to make them more available and easier to absorb by our digestive system. This is the potential advantage of making a tincture from the mushroom powder.
God bless!
Oh – so interesting and beautiful! I can’t wait to try the recipe. I do use an infuser so will modify a little bit. Thanks so much for sharing such exciting recipes.
Hi Janine,
Thank you for your comment.
We are glad to hear that you find the article interesting.
Please let us know how this recipe worked for you.
God bless!
Is it save to take during pregnancy or while nursing?
Hi Nelli,
To date, there has been no investigation into the use of Lion’s mane mushroom in pregnancy and lactation. It’s advisable that pregnant women should avoid using lion’s mane products as insufficient evidence is available to determine what dosage is safe during pregnancy.
God bless!
Unclear. Are you combining the two extractions into a single tincture bottle?
So extraction with alcohol for one and extraction with water for the other, then combine both extractions into one bottle?
Thanks for any clarification you can give.
Hi Jeff,
Simply, yes, both extractions were put together. The thought process was that some beneficial compounds of Lion’s Mane mushroom are water-soluble while others are alcohol-soluble. So, the recipe had two different extraction methods which were then mixed together.
God bless!
I love the “Lost Herbs”
Cannot wait to get this made and I, too, will be out in the woods this fall.
Thanks for all you do.
Hi Leslie,
Thank you for your comment.
We are glad to hear you love “The Lost Herbs”.
God bless!
I have a question. I am wondering what are the different benefits of making the tincture vs just consuming the powder straight without all the fuss? They sell it in protein shakes and coffees in the powdered form. Thank you
Hi Noreen,
Just consuming the powder straight may give you many of the benefits. The idea behind making the tincture is the ability to use fresh or dried or powdered mushrooms. In this way we might potentially release some benefits that are not otherwise easily absorbed by our systems. Either way, it is a wonderful, beneficial mushroom.
God bless!
Mushrooms require cooking in order to utilize the beneficial properties of the mushroom….I believe the exception are the double extractions. Consuming uncooked mushrooms will NOT be beneficial due to the
chitin.
“Other Problem with Raw Mushrooms Besides Agaritine
World renowned mycologist Paul Stamets unambiguously recommends that mushrooms should never be eaten raw. In addition to the problem of agaritine, he cites another problem. He writes:
“Raw mushrooms are largely indigestible because of their tough cell walls, mainly composed of chitin. Dr. Andrew Weil advises, in agreement with other experts, that mushrooms must be cooked! “Mushrooms have very tough cell walls and are essentially indigestible if you don’t cook them. “
Hi! Last year I made a tincture using fresh Lion’s Mane using a high grain alcohol. I didn’t use the double extraction method, mainly because I didn’t really know how. So thank you for that- but do you think it still is beneficial? Either way a dropper full with seltzer water is delicious!
Great tutorial Many thx. My LM is ready to harvest and I am going to use your recipe. Question about the crockpot. Would that setting be on High Low or Medium? Many thx!
I cannot provide citation but I have heard that a recent study showed that the medicinal compounds may decay at high heat for extended periods of time. I am no expert but I would recommend low heat for 16-24 hours. Also, it is not necessary to use veg glycerin, although it may help the final product quality.
One last question. Do you have to use vegetable glycerin? I live way up in the mountains and it would be a challenge for me to get as I am ready to start my tincture now
Where would I order the paperback book of the lost herbal remedies from I live in the uk Devon.
The Lions Mane Mushroom powder you are using is already an extraction; the product “New Earth Organics Lions Mane Mushroom” you photographed states on their website (https://newearthorganics.com/product/lions-mane/) that it is an “extracted mycelium and fruiting body” though it does not mention how it is extracted. Most extracted Lions Mane Mushroom powders on the market are of a hot water extraction. So to go ahead and make an alcohol-extraction from an already water-extracted powder seems silly.
We know that “Lion’s Mane mushrooms contain beneficial compounds that are both water-soluble polysaccharides and alcohol-soluble terpenoids,” so I dont understand sourcing an extract powder for use of producing an alcohol tincture, as the properties most sought have already been eliminated.
Please reply or contact if I am incorrect.
Thank you 🙂
I agree. It is perhaps pointless. I would use either fresh or plain dried mushrooms, which have been cooked, not powder for this Why anyone would use powder to extract is baffling as well: it is difficult anyway as you can’t keep from getting some of the powder in the finished product.
Silly question but simmering for such a long time would evaporate the water?
I made a double tincture, alcohol and water. My water portion turned gelatinous. Did I ruin this portion? Can I combine it with the alcohol portion and still use it?
Where does the glycerin come into the equation?
It’s unclear to me about the double extraction for lions mane. Are both extractions combined after appropriate processing?
Just to be clear, this has to be stored in the fridge?
I use Rosemary in my Lion’s Mane tincture. Add one branch tip, about one inch per batch. Remove after steeping then filter.
Can you use 98% ethanol alcohol?