Say No To Lions Mane

This Article is a companion piece to my youtube video which you can watch below.

There’s an insanely popular supplement that is heavily promoted throughout the mainstream. It increases neurogenesis in the brain by boosting nerve growth factor¹. The caveat? It reduces dopamine and testosterone levels through its mechanism of kor agonism ², which I will explain in detail below. Even worse? Almost nobody is talking about this. It breaks my heart every time I come across someone who is using it and has never heard about these downsides before. And that's exactly why I am writing this article today.

Lions mane lowers dopamine

First of all, lion's mane contains Erinacines E  ³, which is a kappa opioid receptor(KOR) agonist ⁴. For context, there are three main opioid receptors: Mu (MOR), Delta (DOR), and Kappa (KOR) ⁵. MOR and DOR are affected by drugs like morphine, causing euphoria in addition to the analgesic effects. However, with KOR agonism, it's entirely different; you experience the opposite of euphoria, which is dysphoria. This aversion presents itself as potential social defeat, anxiety, lack of motivation and reward ².

KOR agonism, like with lion's mane, is PRO depression, whereas KOR antagonism is ANTI depression ². 

A significant part of KOR's effects originate from an area of the brain called the VTA which handles dopaminergic projections to various brain regions. so KOR agonism disrupts your dopamine ².

Dopamine is necessary for motivation ⁶, drive ⁶ ,  libido ⁷ .

Lions mane Lowers Testosterone

Another aspect of KOR agonism is the enhanced binding of dynorphin, which serves as the endogenous ligand for KOR ⁴. Dynorphin puts the brakes on LH ⁸.

Here's how it works: GnRH is released in the hypothalamus. GnRH stimulates luteinizing hormone, which, in turn, prompts your testes to produce testosterone.

Lion's Mane - KOR Activation - Dynorphin - Reduced LH - Lower Testosterone.

You can even observe the opposite effect of this with opioid antagonists; for example, the less selective one, naloxone, which primarily antagonizes mu and delta but also has affinity for KOR. What you observe with this is a significant increase in testosterone ⁹ and that's solely due to inhibiting dynorphin. By the way, I am not recommending naloxone or naltrexone, although LDN can be useful for treating certain conditions, it's beyond the scope of this article.

Lions Mane Recap

So, to recap, Lion's Mane contains Erinacines E which activates KOR, thereby disrupting dopamine and testosterone levels which can leave you feeling like less of a man than you should be. Things like reduced energy levels, motivation, sex drive, and increased depression and anxiety, are all possible with Lions Mane. If you are looking for neurogenics or nootropics, I get it! But there are better solutions out there for that. Pinealon for instance.

And if you want to maximize your testosterone- https://unyieldingvigor.com/testosterone-vsl 

And dopamine- https://unyieldingvigor.com/dopamine-vsl 

Unleash Your Vigor and Conquer Your Limits!

-Brenden Henry