What to check before buying lion's mane capsules
Answer
Check the part of the mushroom used, the extract ratio, any standardisation marker, the declared bulking agent, and cost per day. Those five tell you what you are buying.
Key takeaways
- What is the first check?
- Whether the part of the mushroom is named at all. Silence there is common and informative.
- How do I convert the figure?
- Divide the mushroom equivalent by the first number of the ratio. 1500mg at 5 to 1 is about 300mg of extract.
- What does a marker add?
- A polyphenol or beta glucan percentage indicates batch consistency, not effectiveness.
The five checks
The part of the mushroom used, because mycelium grown on grain is often milled with it. The extract ratio, because a mushroom equivalent figure means nothing without it. A standardisation marker such as a polyphenol percentage. Whether a bulking agent is declared, since 300mg of extract does not fill a capsule. And cost per day.
Futuro Labs Lion's Mane answers all five: 1500mg mushroom equivalent, 5 to 1 extract implying about 300mg, 50 percent polyphenols, brown rice flour declared, 13p a day.
What none of it establishes
That the product does anything. Lion's mane carries no authorised health claim in the UK at any specification, so a well specified product is a well specified unproven product.
The checks tell you what you are getting for your money, which makes a decision made on curiosity an informed one. That is worth doing at 13p a day and it is not the same as evidence.
What a capsule count is not
A tub of 120 capsules is not a four month supply until you know the serving size, and mushroom products vary more than most on that.
Some are one capsule a day, some two, some three. Divide the capsule count by the serving size for the number of servings, then divide the pack price by that for cost per day. Futuro Labs Lion's Mane is 120 capsules at one a day, which is 120 days and 13p a day, and a product needing three capsules from the same size tub is 40 days at three times the daily cost.
The full version
- How to check a lion's mane extract ratioThe conversion, and why a bigger equivalent figure is not better.
- Futuro Labs Lion's Mane: the full labelA label run through every check.
The product
Futuro Labs Lion's Mane
Futuro Labs Lion's Mane is the 1500mg mushroom equivalent one at 13p a day, from a 5 to 1 extract in a vegan capsule, UK made and GMP certified. It carries no authorised health claim.
- 1500mg mushroom equivalent, 5:1 extract
- 50% polyphenols, bulking agent declared
- Vegan capsule, UK made to GMP
- No authorised health claim exists
Sharper Rugby is published by Futuro Labs. If you buy through this link Futuro Labs earns from the sale. Prices are set by Amazon.
Questions players ask
What should I check first?
Whether the part of the mushroom used is named at all.
How do I convert the figure?
Divide the mushroom equivalent by the first number of the extract ratio.
Does a good label mean it works?
No. No authorised claim exists at any specification.
Is a 120 capsule tub four months?
Only at one capsule a day. Divide by the serving size before comparing tubs.