Lion's Mane and Cordyceps: Taking Both

Quick answer

We found no trial of lion's mane and cordyceps on their own as a pair; the one trial that included both used a six-fungus blend at about 4 g a day. Each has early evidence for something different: lion's mane for memory scores after 50, cordyceps for exercise tests. LiverTox rates both unlikely causes of liver injury.^1,2,3,4,5

Key facts

In 24 college-age adults, 10 g of lion's mane a day for 4 weeks changed neither thinking tests nor how the body burned fuel during exercise.⁶
In 22 trained male cyclists, 3 g of cordyceps a day for 5 weeks changed nothing measured.⁷
Each contains a compound that slowed platelet clumping in laboratory tests: cordycepin, and hericenone B from lion's mane.^8,9
Our Lion's Mane and Mushroom Complex give 1,000 mg and 266 mg of lion's mane a day, against about 3 g of fruiting body powder in the trials of adults over 50.^2,10

The one trial that included both

We found no trial that gave people only these two. The closest is an exercise study of a blend that held Cordyceps militaris and lion's mane alongside reishi, king trumpet, shiitake and turkey tail.¹

Its 28 young adults took two capsules three times a day, about 4 g in all, and after a week nothing differed from placebo. Maximal oxygen uptake rose only in the 10 who kept going for 3 weeks. The blend did not give the amount of each fungus, and a supplement company paid for the study, so it cannot show what lion's mane or cordyceps adds.^1,11

Different evidence for different things

Their evidence points in different directions, and both claims below are graded early.

May support memory and thinking test scores in adults over 50 at about 3 g a day of fruiting body powder; not shown in younger adults*^2,6,10,12,13

Early evidence

Two small Japanese trials. In 30 adults aged 50 to 80 whose memory and thinking had been assessed as mildly below normal for their age, about 3 g a day of fruiting body powder for 16 weeks raised scores on a cognitive scale more than placebo at weeks 8, 12 and 16, and the gain faded within 4 weeks of stopping. In 31 adults over 50, 3.2 g a day for 12 weeks gave a slightly higher result than placebo on one screening test and no difference on two others. In younger adults, 10 g a day for 4 weeks changed nothing measured, and single doses of 1 to 3 g gave mixed results.

Amount studied: About 3 to 3.2 g a day of fruiting body powder for 12 to 16 weeks

May support aerobic exercise capacity at 1 to 4 g a day taken for several weeks; results disagree, including in trained athletes*^3,7,11,14,15

Early evidence

In 20 adults aged 50 to 75, a cultured cordyceps mycelium (Cs-4) at 333 mg three times a day for 12 weeks raised two exercise thresholds by 8.5% and 10.5%, with no change in maximal oxygen uptake. In 28 young adults, 4 g a day of a mushroom blend containing Cordyceps militaris made no difference after 1 week; in the 10 who continued for 3 weeks, maximal oxygen uptake rose compared with placebo. In 22 trained male cyclists, 3 g a day for 5 weeks changed nothing measured. A 2025 meta-analysis of two or three small trials found borderline gains, and a 2026 review called the Cordyceps militaris trials inconsistent.

Amount studied: About 1 to 4 g a day for 3 to 12 weeks

Neither crosses over in the trials we read. Lion's mane at 10 g a day did not change how the body burned fuel during exercise, and a cordyceps and reishi supplement did not change thinking tests in young adults.^6,16

Fruiting body or mycelium

Two groups of compounds set lion's mane apart: hericenones, taken from the fruiting body, and erinacines, taken from the cultured mycelium.¹⁷

Most products sold as Cordyceps sinensis are not the wild fungus but a mycelium grown in the laboratory, such as the strain Cs-4. Some of these strains, such as Paecilomyces hepiali, are a related fungus first isolated from wild cordyceps.^5,18

Some mycelium products are grown on grain. The Cordyceps militaris blend in one exercise trial was mycelium grown on organic oats, mixed with five other mushrooms.¹¹

This matters when reading labels. The lion's mane trials with memory results used fruiting body powder, while most cordyceps products, including the cordyceps in our Mushroom Complex, are mycelium. Our Lion's Mane lists both parts without saying how much of each.^2,5

When the trials gave them

In a 28-day trial of 1.8 g a day, people took three 600 mg capsules every morning after breakfast.¹²

Most exercise trials split the day's amount into three doses: 333 mg three times a day, or two capsules three times a day.^3,11

One crossover study gave 14 young adults 1 g of Cordyceps sinensis or placebo before a hard cycling session and took muscle samples over the next 24 hours.¹⁹

No trial tested a schedule for the two together, so none of these timings is known to matter for the pair.

What's in ours

Mushroom Complex already holds both mushrooms, so adding our Lion's Mane doubles up on lion's mane, which is why the check above says to choose one. Even together the two give 1,266 mg of lion's mane a day, under half the roughly 3 g used in the trials of adults over 50.²

Side effects and who should ask first

LiverTox rates both mushrooms unlikely causes of liver injury, and trials of each reported few side effects. Their cautions differ in the details.^4,5

Stomach discomfort, nausea or diarrhea, reported by under 10% of people in longer trials.^4,20

Rare: a severe immune reaction in the lungs. A 63-year-old man in Japan developed acute respiratory distress syndrome that doctors linked to a lion's mane extract he had been taking. Tests showed a strong reaction to the extract, and he recovered with steroid treatment on a ventilator.²¹

Trials of 1 to 4 g a day reported few side effects. In a 3-month study of 1.05 g a day of a related species, liver and kidney blood tests did not change and no one reported side effects.^18,22,23

In a 2025 review of 14 trials of mushroom supplements in athletes, only 3 mentioned adverse events, so mild complaints may have gone unrecorded.¹⁴

Each has a compound that slowed platelet clumping in laboratory tests. Neither has been tested with a blood thinner in people, so taking both doubles a caution that no study has settled.^8,9

Ask your doctor first if you take a blood thinner or antiplatelet medicine, or have surgery planned^9,24
Ask first if you take medicines that suppress the immune system or have an autoimmune condition, because cordyceps raised immune cell activity in trials²³
Ask first if you take insulin or another medicine that lowers blood sugar: a cordyceps polysaccharide lowered blood sugar in mice²⁵
See a doctor, rather than relying on a supplement, if your memory or thinking is getting noticeably worse
Ask first if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, under 18, or allergic to mushrooms or molds

Questions people ask

Do lion's mane and cordyceps work as a pre-workout?

Not on the evidence so far. Cordyceps exercise trials disagree with each other, a single 1 g dose before cycling was studied for muscle recovery markers rather than performance, and lion's mane at 10 g a day did not change how the body burned fuel during exercise.^6,7,19

Can you take lion's mane and cordyceps every day?

Trials gave each one daily: lion's mane at about 3 g for up to 16 weeks, and one mycelium product for 49 weeks in older adults under medical care; cordyceps for up to 12 weeks, and a related species for 3 months. Daily use of the two together has not been studied.^2,3,20,22

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Sources

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

This page is information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about your own situation.