Cordyceps, Lion’s Mane and Reishi: Is Mushroom Wellness Hype-Worthy or Hooey?

Ever wondered why mushrooms are suddenly everywhere, from your morning latte to your favorite skincare? As a woman who threw everything at the wall, alternative and traditional treatment-wise, when my late husband was diagnosed with cancer, including adding drops of reishi mushroom extract to his daily smoothies, I was curious about what Western medicine has to say about mushrooms-as-medicine. I interviewed integrative medical doctor Dr. Jamé Heskett to get the real story. It turns out, this fungi trend is backed by a lot more than just hype.

Dr. Jamé Heskett is a New York City-based physician with over 30 years of experience in holistic and integrative medicine. After earning her medical degree from George Washington University, she trained alongside leading researchers in natural medicine and homeopathy. Known for her unique approach, her expertise has been featured in major publications including Elle, Shape and Good Housekeeping.

It’s not my imagination that mushrooms are popping up like…well, mushrooms, in wellness products. Dr. Heskett confirms that she has seen a major increase in the use of mushrooms as a functional ingredient. She believes it’s a perfect storm of growing consumer interest and major scientific advancements. "I would say in the last five years the number of studies on the benefits of mushrooms for these purposes have increased." She also points to improved technology that helps extract and preserve their potent compounds, making them more bioavailable in foods and cosmetics.

Energy enhancement, brain health, stress relief. These are some of the effects of various mushrooms, depending on dosage and individual biochemistry. Dr. Heskett incorporates mushrooms into her own wellness routine and recommends them to her patients, customizing the regimen for each person, especially focusing on "longevity and enhancement of our natural physiology." She personally takes a blend of mushrooms daily and adds extra cordyceps because she's training for an ultramarathon and uses it "specifically to enhance my VO2 max or to enhance my body's ability to utilize oxygen."

“I love cordyceps tincture right now because I can feel my stamina for physical activity really improving—at 56, this is huge for someone who doesn't want to slow down. (Recently, I was able to backpack 100 miles keeping up with hikers half my age on some difficult terrain.) I use a powder with chaga and reishi in my coffee in the mornings, and my favorite cosmetic product that uses the power of mushrooms is Hydropeptides Firm-a-Fix Neck Cream that uses seven mushroom/fungi extracts in it,” Dr. Heskett says. For newbies, Dr. Heskett highlights the three best-known mushrooms:

• Cordyceps
  Ideal for energy and stamina, this mushroom also supports immune and lung function and acts as an antioxidant. A scientific study showed cordyceps can improve athletic performance and exercise tolerance by increasing ATP production, which is the body's primary energy source. Research has also found it may improve maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max) and delay fatigue. You can take this as a powder, tincture, capsule or tablet.
• Lion’s Mane
  This one is all about brain health, promoting cognition, memory and nerve regeneration. It contains compounds like hericenones and erinacines that stimulate new brain cell growth. A 2020 study found that Lion's Mane supplementation significantly improved cognitive test scores in people with mild Alzheimer’s disease; a 2023 study showed the stuff improved young adults’ mood, cognitive function and reduced their stress. You can find supplementation same as Cordyceps and again powder. “I prefer tincture due to bioavailability,” Dr. Heskett says. “I add this in a blend to my smoothies, and all my clients over the age of 45 are taking this to enhance brain function or prevent decline.”
• Reishi
  Dr. Heskett says this is known as a powerful stress-reliever, supports immune function, acts as an anti-inflammatory and is good for the liver. (Ah, so that’s why I was told to use for my husband’s smoothies, since he had liver cancer. Personally, I can’t know definitively if the reishi-rich smoothies I made aided in his year-long remission, but I’m indebted to the little fungi just the same.) “Reishi may help reduce fatigue, anxiety and depression in people with certain conditions,” Dr. Heskett says. “Some studies suggest that Reishi's adaptogenic properties help the body manage stress and can support better sleep quality over time. This is commonly taken as a tea but can also be found in the same forms as the above mushrooms. I like this at night before bed to stop the mind zoomies that happen in the evening keeping you from falling asleep.”

I couldn’t help but ask Dr. Heskett for a personal recommendation (the added bonus of being a wellness reporter). When I asked her for a prescription for energy for me, a woman who regularly wakes up tired, here’s what she said: “My strategy for this situation would be to find out why you are tired an hour after waking up. This is not normal and there can be many reasons for it that supplementing with mushrooms would not be the optimal choice.” [Welp! Fair enough] “However, if you were looking to replace your morning coffee with a powerful mushroom blend that will give you a boost, I would say that cordyceps and lion’s mane would be my top two because they both work on different aspects of energy and so you would likely get a synergistic effect. Cordyceps for stamina and physical energy and lion's mane for focus and brain function,” she said. With a thoughtful, not over-promised response like that, I’m looking forward to trying mushrooms including some of the products below.