Lion's Mane vs Reishi: Key Differences

Quick answer

Lion's mane was tested for memory and thinking scores, reishi for immune cell counts. In adults over 50, lion's mane scores differed from placebo from week 8 of a 16-week trial at about 3 g a day. Reishi's finding is for a purified extract at 200 mg a day. Both are graded early.^1,2

Key facts

In the 16-week trial of about 3 g a day in adults over 50, lion's mane scores differed from placebo from week 8 and fell within 4 weeks of stopping.¹
In a 10-day trial of 4 g a day of reishi extract, natural killer cell counts drifted up and were back at their starting level 10 days after stopping. The rise was not statistically significant.³
A 2025 review pooled 17 randomized trials of reishi in 971 people and rated every finding very low certainty. Lion's mane has roughly ten small studies.^4,5
LiverTox rates lion's mane an unlikely cause of liver injury and reishi a possible rare one.^6,7

What each was tested for

Lion's mane and reishi: what the trials tested^1,2,3,4,5,8
	Lion's mane	Reishi
Outcome measured	Scores on memory and thinking tests	Counts of T cells and natural killer cells
Preparation behind the finding	Fruiting body powder	A purified beta-glucan from reishi
Daily amount	About 3 to 3.2 g	200 mg
Length	12 to 16 weeks	12 weeks
Who took part	Adults over 50, in trials of 30 and 31 people	Healthy adults aged 18 to 55, with 157 enrolled and 135 finishing
After stopping	Scores fell significantly within 4 weeks	No check after stopping is recorded for the purified fraction; counts were back at their starting level 10 days after a whole extract was stopped
Size of the research file	Roughly ten small studies	17 randomized trials pooled in 2025, certainty very low

What each has shown in people

Each mushroom has a single graded finding, both at the lowest grade, and each is limited to one preparation and one group of people.

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*^1,8,9,10,11

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

A purified reishi beta-glucan may raise counts of some immune cells in healthy adults*^2,3,12,13

Early evidence

In a randomized, placebo-controlled trial in healthy adults aged 18 to 55 (157 enrolled, 135 finished), 200 mg a day of a purified reishi beta-glucan for 12 weeks raised counts of several kinds of T cells and natural killer cells more than placebo. It did not measure whether people fell ill less often, and a company paid for it. A trial in young children who ate a yogurt with reishi beta-glucans found a similar rise. Whole reishi did not show this: 1.44 g a day for 4 weeks, and 4 g a day of an extract for 10 days, left immune measures unchanged in small trials.

Amount studied: 200 mg a day of purified reishi beta-glucan, for 12 weeks

Lion's mane was also tried in younger adults, where results were mixed or null. Reishi was also tried as the whole mushroom, where immune markers stayed largely unchanged. In both cases the finding does not travel beyond the preparation and the group that produced it.^9,13

What happens over time

In the 16-week trial, scores differed from placebo at week 8 and again at weeks 12 and 16, rising the longer people took it.¹

Four weeks after that 16-week trial ended, the lion's mane group's scores had fallen significantly.¹

In a 10-day trial of 4 g a day, natural killer cell counts drifted up during use and were back at their starting level 10 days after stopping. The rise was not statistically significant.³

The lion's mane trial shows a result that built over weeks and faded after stopping, which is the pattern of something that has to be kept up. For reishi there are two kinds of reading: a rise after 12 weeks with the purified extract, and a drift over 10 days with a whole extract that did not reach statistical significance and was gone 10 days after stopping.^1,2,3

Counting trials is not the same as certainty

Reishi has the larger research file by number, with 17 randomized trials pooled in 2025, but the review rated its certainty very low for every outcome. Lion's mane has fewer and smaller studies. In both cases NIH's LiverTox flags the gap, as the two notes below show.^4,5

LiverTox notes that none of reishi's claimed benefits has been demonstrated in adequately sized, properly controlled human trials.⁷

NIH's LiverTox notes that the brain effects seen in cell and animal studies have not been shown to any great extent in humans.⁶

What the word extract means

Extracts concentrate the mushroom with water or alcohol. One trial used 3 g of a 10:1 fruiting body extract made with water and ethanol and dried onto maltodextrin.¹¹

Reishi is sold as an extract on its own or in blends with other herbs, and as powders, dried slices and spore powder.⁷

The word extract covers a lot of ground. The lion's mane extract trial used 3 g of a 10:1 fruiting body extract on maltodextrin. The reishi extract trials used 3 g of a water extract once, or 2 g of extract twice a day for 10 days. None of these is the 200 mg purified beta-glucan, and none is the 3 g of plain fruiting body powder.^2,3,11,14

What's in ours

Our Lion's Mane gives 1,000 mg of a fruiting body and mycelium powder, and our Mushroom Complex gives 266 mg each of lion's mane and reishi extract. The lion's mane trials used about three times the first figure, and the reishi range LiverTox gives starts at 500 mg, nearly twice the second. We make no claim for either mushroom in a product.^1,7

Liver, skin and who should ask first

Rare cases of liver injury have been reported, usually 1 to 2 months after starting reishi, with tiredness, nausea, stomach pain, poor appetite, dark urine or yellowing of the skin and eyes. Most people recovered within 1 to 3 months of stopping, but one woman died.⁷

In trials of 1.4 to 3 g a day for 12 to 16 weeks in adults with type 2 diabetes, side effects were reported somewhat more often with reishi than with placebo, a difference that may be due to chance. None was serious.¹⁵

Skin rash. In a 49-week trial, 3 people taking lion's mane stopped because of stomach discomfort, nausea or a rash, against 1 on placebo who stopped because of nausea.¹⁶

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.¹⁷

Ask your doctor first if you have liver disease, and stop reishi and call a doctor if you notice dark urine, yellowing of the skin or eyes, or unusual tiredness⁷
Ask first if you take a blood thinner or antiplatelet medicine, or have surgery planned^18,19
Ask first about reishi if you take medicines that suppress the immune system, or medicine for blood sugar or blood pressure^2,7
Do not take either if you have had an allergic reaction to mushrooms or molds^5,17
Ask first if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, being treated for cancer, or under 18

Questions people ask

Which has stronger evidence, lion's mane or reishi?

Neither is strong. Each has one finding graded early, for a different outcome, from a single preparation and group. Reishi has more trials by count, but their certainty was rated very low.^1,2,4

How long were lion's mane and reishi taken in the trials?

The lion's mane trials with a difference ran 12 to 16 weeks, and a mycelium product was given for 49 weeks to older adults under medical care. The reishi trials ran from 10 days to 24 weeks, with the purified extract given for 12 weeks.^1,2,4,8,16

What do we know about lion's mane, reishi and the liver?

LiverTox rates lion's mane an unlikely cause of liver injury and reishi a possible rare one. The reishi cases usually began 1 to 2 months after starting. Ask your doctor first if you have liver disease.^6,7

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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.