Lion's Mane
The Focus Mushroom
Lion's Mane (Hericium erinaceus) has been used in traditional Chinese and Japanese practices for centuries, valued for its role in supporting focus and mental clarity. It was often consumed as a tea, including by monks during long periods of meditation.
Today, it is one of the most widely studied functional mushrooms for cognitive support. Modern research focuses on its bioactive polysaccharides, especially β-glucans, the most measurable marker of Lion's Mane extract quality.
How Lion's Mane Works
Lion's Mane is one of the most studied functional mushrooms for cognitive support. Here is what current research suggests.
1.Bioactive polysaccharides, including β-glucans.
Lion's Mane's most well-characterized active compound class is its bioactive polysaccharides, especially β-glucans. β-glucans are studied for their role in supporting cognitive function and immune-related pathways relevant to overall brain health.
2.Antioxidant activity in the fruiting body.
The fruiting body of Lion's Mane contains antioxidant compounds studied for their role in helping the body manage everyday oxidative stress, including in neural tissue.
3.Supports the gut-brain axis.
β-glucans act as prebiotic fiber for beneficial gut bacteria, which produce short-chain fatty acids and influence neurotransmitter activity through the gut-brain axis. The gut-brain connection is increasingly recognized as central to mood and cognitive function.
4.Centuries of traditional use, decades of modern research.
Lion's Mane has been used in traditional practices for centuries and is one of the most studied functional mushrooms in modern cognitive research, with multiple human trials examining its effects on cognitive function and well-being.
Summarized from published research on Hericium erinaceus and cognitive function.
Why We Use It
DayShift is built on two layers: ingredients used for short-term cognitive support, and ingredients used for daily, compounding cognitive support. Lion's Mane is in the second layer.
We use a USDA Organic Lion's Mane fruiting body extract standardized to ≥70% β-glucans, verified by Megazyme enzymatic assay. This is one of the highest β-glucan concentrations available in the Lion's Mane category. Our extract has also been notified to the FDA as GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe), a regulatory designation few mushroom extracts hold.
Key Focus Areas
- Cognitive Function
- Memory and Recall
- Long-Term Brain Health
Why β-Glucans Are The Metric That Matters
Lion's Mane research is built on its bioactive polysaccharides. Within that family, β-glucans are the most measurable, most verifiable, and most consistently cited marker of quality. They are what researchers track when characterizing a Lion's Mane extract, and the active most often quantified in published studies.
How The Math Works
A Lion's Mane supplement's β-glucan content depends on two things: how much extract is in the serving, and what percentage of that extract is actually β-glucans. Both numbers can be measured with a standardized lab method (Megazyme enzymatic assay) and reported on a Certificate of Analysis. Most Lion's Mane supplements never tell you their β-glucan content, usually because they have not measured it.
| Source | β-Glucan Content | Delivered per 1,000 mg |
|---|---|---|
| Whole Lion's Mane powder | ~2 to 5% | 20 to 50 mg |
| Typical Lion's Mane extract | ~10% | 100 mg |
| High-end commercial extract | ~30% | 300 mg |
| DayShift extract | ≥70% | ≥700 mg |
What This Means For DayShift's 325 mg
DayShift uses 325 mg of a Lion's Mane extract standardized to ≥70% β-glucans, USDA Organic, and FDA-notified GRAS. That delivers ≥225 mg of β-glucans per serving, the β-glucan content equivalent of approximately 2,250 mg of typical Lion's Mane extract (assuming ~10% β-glucan content, the low end of the standard industry range).
325 mg of a properly standardized extract delivers more measurable Lion's Mane actives than 2,250 mg of an unstandardized product. Concentration, not gross weight, is the measure that holds up under a lab test.
Why This Is Honest, Not Marketing
β-glucan content is verifiable. You can confirm it with the Certificate of Analysis on the ingredient. "Mg of mushroom" alone tells you nothing about how concentrated the actives are. We chose the metric that can be measured and reported, not the one that just looks big on a label.
How Our Dose Stacks Up.
A clinically researched β-glucan dose, delivered daily.
† DayShift contains 325 mg of a Lion's Mane extract standardized to ≥70% β-glucans, delivering the β-glucan content equivalent of 2,250 mg of typical Lion's Mane extract (assuming ~10% β-glucan content, the low end of the standard industry range).
Want to Learn More?
Selected peer-reviewed research on Lion's Mane (Hericium erinaceus) and cognitive function.
Docherty et al. Pilot trial in healthy young adults. Participants completed Stroop task more quickly after a single dose, and a 28-day intake period showed a trend toward reduced self-reported stress.
Read on PubMed →Mori et al. Sixteen weeks of daily Lion's Mane intake was associated with improved cognitive function scores versus placebo in older adults.
Read on PubMed →Saitsu et al. Twelve weeks of daily Lion's Mane intake was associated with improvements in cognitive function scores in healthy older adults versus placebo.
Read on PubMed →Make The Shift Today.
325 mg of standardized Lion's Mane and clinically studied doses of seven other ingredients in every packet.
Try it risk-free. Complete your first 10 servings and don't feel a difference? We'll refund you completely.
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