Image courtesy of Sharp.
Chronic illness is a difficult thing to deal with each day, but it can feel like a relief to have a natural remedy. Multiple sclerosis is a central nervous system disease that can really lower a person’s quality of life, and lion’s mane is a delicious mushroom that comes with a load of unexpected benefits that is purported to help with the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Trying natural remedies to treat multiple sclerosis can be a leap, but we have the information you need to go into it prepared.
Taking lion’s mane for MS can involve taking it in cooked, powdered, or capsule form. How you take it depends on your needs and preferences, but it won’t at all be harmful to combine forms. MS is a chronic illness that will need constant care, and if you can manage to treat it with lion’s mane mushrooms, you can benefit profoundly. This is one of the only purported MS remedies that comes with very minimal if any side effects. Lion’s mane is all natural, and it is worth it to find out if it is the right remedy for your MS.
What Is Multiple Sclerosis?
Multiple Sclerosis, otherwise known as MS, is a chronic condition of the nervous system that can range from mild to debilitating. It is a somewhat mysterious illness that isn’t completely predictable, and causes sufferers to face a varying range of side effects. MS is thought to be an autoimmune disorder, but scientists are still working to understand it. Symptoms express themselves differently for everyone, and different remedies affect everyone differently as well.
MS causes symptoms because the body ends up attacking itself by mistake. There is a fatty tissue called myelin in everyone’s system that helps protect the body’s nerve fibers. But when it comes to people with MS, this tissue is damaged, and so can’t perform its proper function. The damaged myelin turns into scar tissue and forms legions. This causes the body’s immune system to attack its own organs and renders the nerves unable to form electrical impulses and send messages to and from the brain.
What Causes Multiple Sclerosis?
MS can be caused by a number of factors. Some of those factors are autoimmune disorders, viruses, and then environmental and genetic factors. MS can be caused by one of these things alone or by several things combined. But the cause is still largely unknown. Some people can appear to get MS out of nowhere without a hint of underlying causes. This is something that medical professionals are still working to learn.
Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms
The symptoms of MS can be unpredictable and vary wildly from person to person. One person’s symptoms can be totally mild while another’s symptoms can take over their entire life. MS symptoms can include blurred vision, double vision, trouble walking, and even loss of vision. Other symptoms can include trouble with coordination, muscle weakness, loss of sensation, tremors, dizziness, bladder problems, depression, and more. And about half of the people suffering with MS suffer from cognitive issues like poor concentration, memory, and judgment. If lion’s mane mushrooms can make a dent in any of these symptoms, they will be well worth the try.
What Are Lion’s Mane Mushrooms?
Lion’s mane mushrooms are a type of mushroom named for their resemblance to a lion’s mane. They are wide, pale, fuzzy, and provide many nutritional benefits. Lion’s mane is one of the most nutritious mushrooms you can eat, and for that reason, it has long been used for medicinal purposes. The medicinal properties come from the bioactive substances found in these mushrooms. These substances benefit various parts of the body, including the brain, the gut, and the heart. Lion’s mane also happens to have the fourth highest antioxidant activity of any mushroom.
Lion’s mane mushrooms tend to grow very large. They can grow up to 10 pounds, and are also known as pom pom mushrooms, and also tend to grow very large. These mushrooms grow on dead and injured trees and loose logs. The trees feed them the nutrients they need to grow and survive, which in turn gives us our nutrients, and you can find them growing anytime from summer to winter. When you want to get some in the U.S., your best bet is an Asian market, but sometimes you can find them in a common grocery store.
Lion’s mane mushrooms can be enjoyed in various ways. These mushrooms are tender, spongy, and slightly sweet, and they work great sauteed or in a sauce. And aside from being used in the traditional way, lion’s mane mushrooms are sometimes used as a substitute for shellfish. So if you’re either vegan or allergic to shellfish, this mushroom might be one of the best replacements you can find. As long as you prepare these mushrooms the right way, you will have a delicious and nutritious meal.
Lion’s Mane Benefits
Lion’s mane mushrooms significantly impact the brain, which is one reason it can help treat MS. These mushrooms contain special compounds that stimulate brain cell growth, and proper cell growth is something that is lacking in patients with MS. The special compounds in lion’s mane are called hericenones and erinacines. These compounds help to prevent brain diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Hericenones promote nerve growth, and erinacines enhance nerve growth. They work together to help regenerate parts of the brain that lose some of their function, which is what happens with MS patients. Enhancing the cell growth in the brain, the thing most affected by MS, can help reverse some of the effects. Lion’s mane mushrooms also happen to have anti-inflammatory properties. They reduce inflammation and levels of oxidative stress in the body. Inflammation and oxidative stress happen to be the causes of various illnesses, and a possible cause of MS.
Aside from the benefits that can contribute to healing MS symptoms, Lion’s mane mushrooms also lower triglycerides, which helps to lower your chances of suffering from a heart attack or a stroke. Lion’s mane even lowers your blood pressure, something else that causes heart attacks and strokes. Lion’s mane also has the potential to kill off cancer cells to die off faster, making it harder for them to multiply.
Lion’s mane mushrooms also boosts the immune system. It increases immune activity in the intestines and protects the body from any bad bacteria that may enter. It helps add to the beneficial bacteria in your gut, which overwhelms the bad bacteria. And one of those bad bacterias is H. pylori, which can cause ulcers, a painful stomach symptom.
Lion’s Mane and Multiple Sclerosis
Lion’s mane has been used as a remedy for multiple illnesses over the years, and it is suspected to have been used for neurological illnesses as well. One reason lion’s mane works as a remedy for MS is because of its active ingredient. Its active ingredient is erinacine A. erinacine A is a natural substance that derives from the body that has neuroprotective qualities. It also has anti-cancer, antioxidant, anti-bacterial, and antihyperglycemic properties among other healing properties.
Erinacine A also contains a nerve growth factor. This nerve growth factor is what regulates the growth, development, and maintenance neurons in the brain. People with MS have a lack of this substance and so it is presumed that building this substance can bring relief to people who suffer from it. By replacing some of the damaged nerves with newer and healthier ones, some of the symptoms that result from a lack of healthy nerve cells will subside.
Current treatments on the market for MS do not repair the damaged nerve cells, or the myelin. They mostly work to reduce the severity of the symptoms that come with MS, and that is why it is helpful to try a remedy that can potentially help repair the damaged nerve cells. And aside from helping with the formation of healthy nerve cells, nerve growth factor also regulates the type of proteins in the body that can cause damage to myelin. Researchers are working on harvesting this substance to come up with better treatments for MS eventually, but in the meantime, you can always add more lion’s mane to your diet to get more of this substance.
How To Add Lion’s Mane To Your Diet?
Lion’s mane mushroom can be eaten fresh, dried, and as a powder. Whatever version suits you best can help you out, and a mix of different methods can also work really well. If you don’t want to eat mushrooms, you can switch to the powder, and you can always move onto taking a capsule when you’re not in the mood for a powder. Here is how to go about consuming mushrooms fresh, dried, and in powder form.
Fresh
Lion’s mane mushrooms are amazing when cooked fresh. They are at their best when seared them on the stovetop. Once seared and somewhat crisp, they will work great in almost any application. They work well as a topping for any food and taste great when covered in sauce. It can work great in just about any mushroom recipe unless they are fried. Lion’s mane mushrooms become somewhat bitter when friend, but can be prepared well pretty much any other way. Fresh lion’s mane mushrooms also work as a great replacement for recipes that involve chicken or shellfish.
Dried
Dried lion’s mane mushrooms can make some delicious soup. When cooking with dried lion’s mane, one of the best things you can make with it is broth. It makes broth that has a strong umami flavor that will taste amazing in various soups and stews. Mushroom soup is a good choice, but you can also switch out recipes that ask for beef or chicken broth with mushroom broth. It could add a twist that you love to an old favorite recipe.
Powder
Another way you can add lion’s mane mushroom to your diet is through powdered mushrooms. Powdered mushrooms will take the work out of cooking, and you can enjoy lion’s mane with little effort. Mushroom powder will add a strong flavor to your meals, and you will need to either disguise the flavor or use it in ways that work with the flavor. You can place lion’s mane powder in pre-made soup, chili, smoothies, and anything else that you can stir it into.
Capsule
It is also possible to get your lion’s mane by using capsules. You can find lion’s mane capsules through several online stores, and you can take it just as you would take any vitamin capsule. As long as you take it per the instructions, you can potentially get enough lion’s mane in your system to counteract some of the effects of multiple sclerosis.
Lion’s mane’s benefits are easy to get through a daily capsule. These lion’s mane capsules from Dr. Emil comes with many benefits:
- Organic. These capsules are made from organically grown mushrooms. They are hand picked to ensure the utmost quality.
- Fast absorption. These capsules are made with bioperine, a substance that helps them absorb into the gut quickly. This will let you experience results sooner than average.
- High dosage. Dr. Emil’s lion’s mane capsule contains the highest dosage of lion’s mane on the market for maximum benefit.
Lion’s mane has been found to have a positive effect on sufferers of nerve damage, and scientists are working on using its properties in the best way to treat MS. In the meantime, you can harness the power of lion’s mane for yourself by consuming it on your own whenever you get the chance.
