"Fantastic Fungi documentary" and "Fantastic Fungi" documentary mean quite different things. The correct one here is the latter, or 'Fantastic "Fantastic Fungi" documentary'. Yes, I'm in a pedantic mood, and I'm glad I caught my 'fungy' spelling mistake before I hit 'reply'.
Always a red flag if "potential benefits" cover a broad spectrum of unrelated symptoms: depression, cancer prevention, cognitive ability, heart health, diabetes, digestive health, even wound healing. A dodgy article at best.
"Always a red flag if "potential benefits" cover a broad spectrum of unrelated symptoms:"
Generally agree. One thing to note here is that this isn't a single chemical that we're talking about. It's certainly plausible that there are several different potential benefits in a food containing hundreds of chemicals. It still needs more research in this case.
I’ve given up on supplements lately. Every week I read about some panacea supplement that will improve my health a thousand fold. Yeah the science backs them up but supplements are largely a snake oil industry, and the improvements to health are minuscule.
Most supplements are excreted by the body as waste and if you take a lot, you end up with very expensive pee. Then there’s the issue of certain supplements not working due to the wrong diet (some nutrients are only fat soluble for example).
One thing I do use is fish oil which helps a lot in many areas. A well rounded diet with plenty of whole foods, with mostly plant based ingredients is all you need.
>Most supplements are excreted by the body as waste
Or just as bad, often supplements that might be therapeutic being completely or almost completely destroyed by the digestive system at the servings they are offered at.
Though all things considered, such as purity, side effects, etc of the things we consume, it is probably for the best that so much is broken down to a point that it is mostly harmless substances or just passes through.
One problem with a lot of supplements is that they might sometimes work in the first one or two weeks (either because they actually work briefly, or because of short-lived placebo effect). So then you get raving reviews on forums, except when they stop working the original posters don't pull their positive reviews.
The human body adapts to most anything you can consume, even poisons.
You stop noticing the difference because your body beings you back to a homeostasis, not because whatever it is stopped working.
Many people have experienced this in their lives with drugs and alcohol, but it's the same effect with pretty much everything, including things that are good for you.
The idea should not be to 'chase the high', but to consume resources that are beneficial to your internal systems.
Yes, the problem is that initial honeymoon period of supplements is causing a lot of noise on forums, and therefore supplements are generally less useful than most people think (compared to good nutrition from normal foods).
You sound a lot like the kind of person that would buy "supplements" from GNC or CVS.
And that's a very typical attitude for a person that is willing to give it that much effort.
If you have a problem and want to correct it, sometimes the requirement is that you become informed and use some chemical compounds (i.e. supplements) in the way that your body can utilize them.
Or you can pretend that everything is fixed with a pill and you just take a pill and you're better, only your results seem lacking....
Giving your body certain chemicals, at the right time, in the right ratios can do remarkable things. Or you ignore the larger prescription and take your GNC pill and find it doesn't work like your Adderall.
As a side note, do you find that you have very expensive poop? Because most all that you ingest comes out the other end as well.
Bashing all supplements with one hand (with no data or even anecdata).. and then praising your supplement of choice with the other hand.
Lion's Mane is the only supplement I've ever taken where I've physically felt the difference in my own body and its a shame to see it be dismissed so readily by random opinions opined by someone who has never tried it themselves.
IME when supplementing Lion's Mane I can enjoy rather large amounts, like multiple quad shots of espresso in a day, without getting too jittery and impatient/agro/short-tempered.
It also seems to largely eliminate the withdrawal symptoms of quitting caffeine cold-turkey. So I'll go on it hard for couple weeks, and as it starts becoming less fun/useful thanks to tolerance developing, I just stop. There's one day of lethargy just because I'm off stimulants, but no persistent headache/hangover, nothing. Dry out for a week or two before riding the caffeine train again.
Without Lion's Mane in the loop I get miserable multi-day headaches and hangover-like effects when I quit caffeine cold turkey.
This was all just accidentally discovered, but it's highly repeatable for me and honestly is the one interaction that clearly demonstrates Lion's Mane is not just a placebo.
It feels like caffeine is part poison, and Lion's Mane delivers the antidote for that undesirable part. Back when I first started using the combination this way, searches revealed that I wasn't the only one - there's even mushroom-adulterated coffee beans marketed now.
Any advice on where to procure and what amount? I know this sound hail corporate but trying to get decent quality is such a crap shoot since this kind of thing has no regulation.
L-Theanine has also worked well for me for negating the negative effects of coffee.
It naturally occurs in green tea and is the reason tea makes you less jittery than coffee for the same amount of caffeine consumed. I highly recommend it.
Lion's mane mushrooms are one of the most easily identifiable mushrooms in my area. No dangerous lookalikes around here, YMMV. Unfortunately the only times I've found them are in provincial parks, so no harvesting allowed.
I highly recommend finding a local mycology society and seeing if they do any tours. Lots of interesting things to learn from them.
I was suffering from hand tremors that had no obvious root cause. It was getting bad enough I was starting to spill drinks while holding (relatively) heavy glasses.
Saw a doctor and got screened for all the potential causes and nothing came back.
I decided to try lions mane and took it daily for about 6 months. That was 3 years ago and my hands are steady as they've ever been. Ymmv.
Found one of these on a tree in the woods. It was bigger than a softball. I marvelled at it for a while but ultimately didn't take it. Wish I had taken it home and cooked it.
I’ve tried several light nootropics, superfoods, exercise, mediation, and more. The only thing that has really worked for me is a good diet, exercise, and a good lion’s mane mushroom supplement.
I stopped taking the supplement, because the benefit felt dwarfed by the other two, but I definitely felt like I had improved memory - and a couple others commented on this. I look forward to more studies on it to learn more.
Rhonda Patrick’s work is also particularly interesting. I haven’t gone that hardcore yet with diet but maybe it is worth an experiment.
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[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 79.5 ms ] threadGenerally agree. One thing to note here is that this isn't a single chemical that we're talking about. It's certainly plausible that there are several different potential benefits in a food containing hundreds of chemicals. It still needs more research in this case.
Most supplements are excreted by the body as waste and if you take a lot, you end up with very expensive pee. Then there’s the issue of certain supplements not working due to the wrong diet (some nutrients are only fat soluble for example).
One thing I do use is fish oil which helps a lot in many areas. A well rounded diet with plenty of whole foods, with mostly plant based ingredients is all you need.
Or just as bad, often supplements that might be therapeutic being completely or almost completely destroyed by the digestive system at the servings they are offered at.
Though all things considered, such as purity, side effects, etc of the things we consume, it is probably for the best that so much is broken down to a point that it is mostly harmless substances or just passes through.
You stop noticing the difference because your body beings you back to a homeostasis, not because whatever it is stopped working.
Many people have experienced this in their lives with drugs and alcohol, but it's the same effect with pretty much everything, including things that are good for you.
The idea should not be to 'chase the high', but to consume resources that are beneficial to your internal systems.
Most people just aren't familiar with it or know that it's edible.
If you have a problem and want to correct it, sometimes the requirement is that you become informed and use some chemical compounds (i.e. supplements) in the way that your body can utilize them.
Or you can pretend that everything is fixed with a pill and you just take a pill and you're better, only your results seem lacking.... Giving your body certain chemicals, at the right time, in the right ratios can do remarkable things. Or you ignore the larger prescription and take your GNC pill and find it doesn't work like your Adderall.
As a side note, do you find that you have very expensive poop? Because most all that you ingest comes out the other end as well.
Lion's Mane is the only supplement I've ever taken where I've physically felt the difference in my own body and its a shame to see it be dismissed so readily by random opinions opined by someone who has never tried it themselves.
It also seems to largely eliminate the withdrawal symptoms of quitting caffeine cold-turkey. So I'll go on it hard for couple weeks, and as it starts becoming less fun/useful thanks to tolerance developing, I just stop. There's one day of lethargy just because I'm off stimulants, but no persistent headache/hangover, nothing. Dry out for a week or two before riding the caffeine train again.
Without Lion's Mane in the loop I get miserable multi-day headaches and hangover-like effects when I quit caffeine cold turkey.
This was all just accidentally discovered, but it's highly repeatable for me and honestly is the one interaction that clearly demonstrates Lion's Mane is not just a placebo.
It feels like caffeine is part poison, and Lion's Mane delivers the antidote for that undesirable part. Back when I first started using the combination this way, searches revealed that I wasn't the only one - there's even mushroom-adulterated coffee beans marketed now.
How do you consume them?
https://www.amazon.com/Mushroom-Supplement-Vegetarian-Nature...
It naturally occurs in green tea and is the reason tea makes you less jittery than coffee for the same amount of caffeine consumed. I highly recommend it.
I highly recommend finding a local mycology society and seeing if they do any tours. Lots of interesting things to learn from them.
You can just buy entire kits ready to go online if you're just getting started.
I was suffering from hand tremors that had no obvious root cause. It was getting bad enough I was starting to spill drinks while holding (relatively) heavy glasses.
Saw a doctor and got screened for all the potential causes and nothing came back.
I decided to try lions mane and took it daily for about 6 months. That was 3 years ago and my hands are steady as they've ever been. Ymmv.
or more likely...
who on HN staff is now being paid to shill snake oil? Maybe we could all pitch in so can stop posting crap?
I stopped taking the supplement, because the benefit felt dwarfed by the other two, but I definitely felt like I had improved memory - and a couple others commented on this. I look forward to more studies on it to learn more.
Rhonda Patrick’s work is also particularly interesting. I haven’t gone that hardcore yet with diet but maybe it is worth an experiment.