Taking mushrooms is called “shrooming”. This is the second article I am writing on Lion’s mane as a smart drug.

I used this mushroom to try to increase cognative function after a brain lesion. The results were an improvement but I am not sure if it was as a result of shrooming, that is taking these magic mushrooms.

In vitro this mushroom does appear to help stimulate NGF, per a few studies. But do these mushrooms really work. However, what I might do is try this again with ceteris paribus, that is no other smart drugs or supplements and measure it objectively, with a battery of cognitive tests. I am just one person and this will be my personal experience but I am curious if other people have tried this? Right now all the studies I have seen are more hype than science but based on my initial experience I would try this again. There is no question mushrooms do have chemicals that can affect brain chemistry. The question is can Lion’s name effect NGF or just ‘jazz up’ your thinking temporarily.

Hericium Erinaceus in Latin, is a mushroom that grows on wood. I grew these a while back as I read Lion’s mane mushrooms should have a positive affect on your brain, and I had a brain lesion. Also I am always looking for ways to increase cognitive function as it is good for language learning. What shiitake mushrooms are suppose to do for your immune system Lion’s mane mushrooms are suppose to do for your brain. They actually are suppose to stimulate nerve growth factor. What is proven is they have D-threitol, D-arabinitol, and palmitic acid which are antioxidants, this does not impress me, everything now days is an antioxidant. What I really wanted to know is if they help my cognitive function.

You can buy these for a pretty penny in a whole food store, but since I am in Poland now and make a pittance compared to my American income, I grew them on my own. I grew them because in Poland where I live you can not pick them, although Poland is the land of mushrooms, you can not pick lion’s mane mushrooms in the wild. So I grew them in my Kraków flat. They grew pretty fast and over the course of three months I used them in cooking.

Does Lion’s mane mushrooms work for brain repair

My conclusion was maybe, but no super evidence. I did felt more lucid after using them for about three months, but this was combined with with other vitamins and essential fatty acids (brain oil). It also could have been a huge placebo effect. So the bottom line is it is inconclusive if Lion’s mane mushrooms helped my brain. I might try them again, but I would be interested if anyone else has had any experiences with Lion’s mane mushrooms, and please try to be objective as objectivity is the essences of intelligence.

I grew up in the New England countryside, which was settled in the 1600s. If you are a colonial history buff you know that the colonial departed were buried with rosemary.  Rosemary was used not as a preservative, which it is because of the antioxidants in rosemary, but rather for remembrance.  Even in Puritan New England in the 1600s, which was wary of anything that even hinted of pseudo science or witchery, they knew the herb rosemary was connected to memory.

Even the scent of rosemary stimulates memory; it stimulates the limbic area of your brain. 

Onions have sulphur compunds that can improve memory

Various anti-oxidants have chelating effects on toxins in the body, hence removing them. I beleive the amino acid L-cysteine is the main protien building block that does this. L-cysteine is a sulfur amino acid which is in the sulfhydryl group.

Well, researchers at Hokkaido Tokai University in Japan confirmed that onions which are rich in sulphur could help prevent memory loss and actually stimulate your hippocampus.

Over cooking can destroys the nasty smell but many of the beneficial compounds. So choose your poison so to speak. Stinky smell or toxics in your brain.

Two supplements have been shown to improve memory.

The newest study was just published in FASEB Journal, produced by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. Researchers also were from the University of Toronto, University of California at Berkeley, Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute, and Juvenon Inc.

Supplements of two antioxidant compounds, acetyl-lcaritine and alpha lipoic acid, significantly increased the ability of “geriatric” beagle dogs to learn a new task.

The study builds on similar findings made several years ago, done with mice.

“The prospects for cognitive improvement from use of these supplements is both fascinating and exciting,” said Tory Hagen, an associate professor in the Pauling Institute, and an expert on aging.

Improved memory

I have known about these supplements for a while. I still maintain that generally antioxidants, especially more natural ones are the best out of any supplement, for memory improvement and can even help language learning. What I mean by natural is something like bilberry or blueberry, or pomegranate or even grapeseed extract.

I have written about this before and I have to say forget coffee, for better brain function try pomegranate.  I can see a marked improvement in my brain function and memory.  I test this out with my chess ranking for objectivity.  For me it works and I believe it has long term effects as well as short term.  The problem is I live in Poland now and its more a seasonal fruit as its in season in the fall.  Whereas in the USA I can get it all year around.

At this point in Europe you can for sure get Pomegranate juice at least most of the year. Europe has secured different sources. First the Spanish fruit comes, the then Turkish, then the Middle Eastern.

I also substitute blueberries when I can. Frozen blueberries work better than bottle juice or tea in my experience.

Anyone at any age can learn a language. This is a fact. I teach languages and my students are all ages and all learn. The old sometimes better than the young, in fact many times. To learn a language it takes patience and interest. It has to be fun. Here is a trick, you have start small and easy. Are you going to feed a baby roast duck with read wine and shrimp? No, no, the same is with languages, not matter what age you are you have to have baby food, like basic words and simple phrases. Nothing complex nothing crazy. You have to be raised on a diet of simple words maybe a few verbs and master these and stay in this phase for a while. Only after you have mastered this can you get into more complex things like grammar. So think next time you start a language think of this metaphor, and remember no one’s first meal in life is anchovies on pesto bread, no matter how tempting it is, it will make you sick. Learn a language with a diet of small sweet simple bits of information. Language ability

What if you could take a pill to make your brain grow and you would be a super genius language learner? Would it work? If and only if you practiced. The whole thing about the brain is not the number of neurons, but the rate at which the neurons can make meaningful connections and keep them functional. So better than neuro genesis is what will increase brain plasticity, that is, the rate, at which you can make meaningful connections. Right now there is no workable drug to do this, other than some nerve growth factor stimulants or NGF inhibitor suppressants; science promises a lot but there have been no breakthroughs. Even natural things like DHA and Phosphatidylcholine, are only moderately effective, nothing right now is a quick fix. If anyone knows anything they thing would help let me know,.

Therefore, what is solution if you want to learn a language fast? Try things that are fun and meaningful. Learning must be meaningful for the brain to make connections fast. If you can find a technique that fits your style than this is the closest thing to a pill to make your brain grow.

Clinical trial boosts omega-3′s ADHD benefit claims by Stephen Daniells – Omega-3 supplementation of children with learning and behavioural problems led to significant improvements, adding important data to this high profile subject. A number of studies have reported similar results and this led to calls by some for omega-3 supplementation of school children. Indeed, the UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) last year reviewed the science in this field but ultimately decided against such measures, stating the evidence was insufficient. In many cases these studies were said to lack quality in research methodology and reporting, and failed to account for confounders. But studies like the randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial published in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioural Pediatrics could lead to a rethink in this stance. Lead author of the new study Nathalie Sinn told NutraIngredients.com that while omega-3 fatty acids appear critical for healthy brain development and health, efficacy in enhancing the learning and behaviour of children in the general population had not been investigated in a clinical trial.

The most common sources of omega-3 are fish oil and flaxseed oil. Although they have minor side effects such as thinning the blood, and other things you can read about, Omega-3 is one of the three things I found really helps brain function in the long run. Not just to jazz up your brain function while you take it, but I think over the long term can help you transform your brain and learning ability from the inside out.