Synaptic Snaps, Crackles & Pops

Shrooming your way to health [Journalistic Intentions, Rd 6]

2nd Prompt: Lion's Mane (mushroom)


The article raises some interesting points on how various applications of lion's mane may be beneficial to humans. [Spoiler alert! If you watched Legally Blonde 2 and were cheering for "Bruiser's Bill" to become law, please note: there's nothing graphic, but there are plenty of references to testing on animals.] I like mushrooms, especially when they're scattered over a pizza pie, or swimming in brown sauce on a breaded pork schnitzel; there's nothing wrong with a couple of stuffed portobello mushrooms, either. Having read this, though, I think most of the benefits I've derived from consuming the various sorts over the years were generally of a gustatory nature.

I wouldn't mind taking a supplement, in whatever form, that would actually help improve my cognitive and physical health. It looks like more definitive proof of their efficacy is still a little ways down the road, though. The article does say you can prepare them yourself and eat them, but I'll probably avoid that route. The recipes I saw used technical terms like "sauté" and "grill", whereas my skills are more along the lines of "Keep hand out of boiling water - check."

After reading this, I did a little research of my own. My multivitamin supplement doesn't appear to contain lion's mane, although it does have, among other things, silica and polyethelene glycol. Too much silica's bad for you, so I'll still refrain from eating those ubiquitous gel packs; sucking on the occasional piece of quartz might not hurt, though. I'm also assured that polyethelene glycol's not the stuff found in antifreeze. I'll take their word for it.