The short version
- Two capsules supply 1 g of Lion's Mane mycelium together with the brown rice it was grown on. The label gives one combined figure and does not say how the gram divides between the two.
- Human studies of Lion's Mane are few, small and short, and most used fruiting-body preparations, not mycelium grown on grain. We found no published trial of this product.
- The maker's organic certificate checks out. Independent lab results for this product were not shown, and the Amazon listing says it cannot be returned unless damaged or defective.
The four checks
Actives
PartialSpecies, amount (1 g per serving) and the capsule shell are listed. Mycelium and rice share one figure, and no marker compounds or beta-glucan amount is given.
Claims
PartialSmall trials of Lion's Mane exist and are mixed. None tested this product, and the nerve growth factor wording rests on lab work, not human results.
Guarantees
PartialThe brand offers a 90-day satisfaction guarantee on its own sites and via authorized sellers, but the Amazon listing says non-returnable. We saw $25.46 on Amazon.
Testing
PartialThe maker's organic certificate is verified. Independent contents testing is asserted but the lab is unnamed, and we found no NSF listing. What seals mean.
Key: ✓ disclosed or verified · ◐ partial · ✕ missing or not shown. Statuses reflect what we could confirm from the label, the seller's own pages and public sources on the review date.
What is inside
This is the Supplement Facts panel on the brand's own product page for the 60-capsule bottle (30 servings), read on September 25, 2026 [1]. Our guide to these panels explains the terms.
| Ingredient | Amount per serving | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Lion's Mane (Hericium erinaceus) mycelium / fermented brown rice biomass | 1 g (2 capsules) | One combined figure, marked "Certified Organic". No Daily Value exists. The mycelium-to-rice split is not stated. |
| Calories and total carbohydrate | 5 kcal; under 1 g | No breakdown into starch, fiber or beta-glucan. |
| Other ingredients: pullulan (capsule) | Not stated | A plant-based capsule shell. "Gluten free & vegan" is printed on the bottle. |
Mycelium on rice versus fruiting body
The mushroom you would cook is the fruiting body; mycelium is the thread-like network it grows from. Host Defense grows mycelium on organic brown rice, dries it, and puts the whole mixture in capsules. The rice stays in on purpose: the brand says the mycelium ferments it and the cultured rice belongs in the product [2]. The label says so, listing "mycelium/fermented brown rice biomass" as one ingredient.
Buyers care for two reasons. One is quantity: grain is mostly starch, and the brand does not say how much of the gram is fungal. A 2025 analysis of Chaga supplements found fermented-grain products starch-rich, while fungi are typically high in beta-glucans and free of starch [5]. Most of its authors work for a mushroom-extract company with a stake in the question, and it did not test Lion's Mane or this product, so read it as background. The other is which compounds are present: lab work focuses on hericenones (reported in fruiting bodies) and erinacines (reported in mycelium) [12][8]. This label reports neither.
Host Defense prints no beta-glucan percentage because it considers the tests unreliable [3]. Its FAQ says the capsules are more than 55% polysaccharides [2], a broad group that includes starch, so that figure does not settle the question. A published method separates beta-glucan from starch in mushroom and mycelial products [4]. We cannot referee the dispute, but the label does not let you compare this capsule with a fruiting-body product gram for gram, which is not the same as calling it a poor product.
Seals and testing
The bottle shows a round "Non GMO" seal with a mushroom-and-roots graphic and a Washington State Department of Agriculture "Certified Organic" seal. What we could confirm:
- Organic. The USDA Organic Integrity Database shows a certificate, issued September 22, 2026, from the Washington State Department of Agriculture certifying Fungi Perfecti LLC to the USDA organic regulations for crops and handling [17]. It does not itemise products, and it covers how ingredients are grown, not a lab test of a capsule.
- Non-GMO. The seal is not the Non-GMO Project's butterfly mark, and that directory would not load for us, so a Project verification is unconfirmed.
- Contents testing. The brand says independent labs verify identity, purity, composition and strength [20], but it names no lab and posts no results. NSF's public dietary-supplement listing had no Fungi Perfecti or Host Defense entry on September 25, 2026 [18], and we saw no USP mark.
- Good manufacturing practice. A March 2024 brand post says its facilities are certified by NSF to cGMP standards [19]. We did not find the company in NSF's GMP-registration list [18], so we could not confirm it. GMP compliance is a legal requirement, not a product test.
What the research says
In laboratory experiments, mostly on cells and animals, compounds from Lion's Mane stimulated nerve growth factor, a protein involved in nerve-cell growth and survival [13][12][15]. The seller's page says "studies have shown" this [1]. It is not a human result, and a 2025 review concludes that clinical validation remains limited [14]. The human trials we found, with what each measured:
| Trial | People and length | What was taken | What was reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mori, 2009 [6] | 30 adults aged 50 to 80 with mild memory and thinking difficulties; 16 weeks | About 3 g a day of dried fruiting-body powder | Higher scores on a cognitive scale than placebo at weeks 8, 12 and 16; scores fell again four weeks after stopping |
| Saitsu, 2019 [7] | Adults aged 50 and over; 12 weeks | Fruiting-body powder, about 3.2 g a day per [9] | Of three tests, only one general screening test differed from placebo |
| Li, 2020 [8] | 49 randomized, 41 finished; adults with an early-stage memory-related condition; 49 weeks | Mycelium grown in liquid culture (not on grain), 1.05 g a day, standardized for erinacine A | Higher scores on two cognitive tests and a daily-activities scale; four people (one on placebo) left because of side effects such as stomach upset, nausea or rash; several authors worked for the producer |
| Docherty, 2023 [9] | 41 healthy adults aged 18 to 45; 28 days | 1.8 g a day of a supplier-provided mushroom product | Faster on one computer task after a single dose; a stress-score trend (p = 0.051) at 28 days; authors note null and limited negative findings and a small sample |
| Surendran, 2025 [10]; Grozier, 2022 [11] | 18 healthy adults aged 18 to 35 (single dose); 24 college-age adults (4 weeks) | 3 g of a 10:1 fruiting-body extract; 10 g a day in muffins | No significant effect on overall cognition or mood in the first; no differences on any measure in the second. One hand-dexterity test was better at 90 minutes in the first. |
Together, that is a handful of small, short trials with different preparations, people and tests. Older-adult trials leaned one way on some scales; trials in healthy younger adults were mostly null. As far as the papers say, only one used mycelium, and it was liquid-cultured, not rice-grown. The table is a selection: Memorial Sloan Kettering's summary also cites small trials in overweight adults and in menopausal women that looked at mood [16]. A 2025 systematic review (one database, through June 2024) found five randomized and three pilot trials [12]. None tested Host Defense's capsules, and we could not identify the study behind the page's "clinically studied" note, which mentions a multi-modal program with diet and exercise [1]. The label's 1 g a day is lower than the 1.8 to 3.2 g a day of mushroom material in most of these trials (one used 10 g), though the erinacine-standardized mycelium trial used 1.05 g, and preparations are not comparable gram for gram. The label and the seller's page carry memory- and nerve-related support wording; the page notes such statements have not been evaluated by the FDA [1].
Results for fruiting-body powders, or a liquid-cultured mycelium in older adults, do not automatically carry over to a rice-grown mycelium capsule taken by a healthy adult.
Price and where it is sold
Price seen
On September 25, 2026 the 60-capsule bottle (30 servings) was $25.46 on Amazon, about $0.85 a serving, sold by Pattern Products and shipped by Amazon [24]. On hostdefense.com it was $33.95 (about $1.13 a serving); 30 capsules were $20.95 and 120 capsules $62.95 [1]. Prices change; read these as a dated snapshot.
Who sells it
Host Defense is a brand of Fungi Perfecti, LLC, a Washington-state company that Paul Stamets started in 1980, according to the brand's own pages [20]. The organic certificate gives a PO Box in Olympia and a physical address in Shelton [17]. The brand's Where to Buy page names Pattern Products as an authorized Amazon reseller [22]. In April 2023 the brand said 23 Amazon sellers had sold counterfeit versions of four of its capsules, including the 120-count Lion's Mane, and that some counterfeits tested positive for soy and gluten [23]. That is its own account, but it is a reason to check the seller name on the listing.
Returns
The Amazon listing says the item is "non-returnable due to potential safety risk as an ingestible product", though a damaged or defective bottle can be refunded or replaced with a photo [24]. The brand's 90-Day Satisfaction Guarantee covers purchases from its own sites and authorized sellers (refund or replacement, original buyer, claim within 90 days) but says it is not available for purchases from unauthorized sellers, including unauthorized sellers on marketplaces such as Amazon [21]. We could not confirm how it applies to an authorized reseller's Amazon sale given the non-returnable note, so ask first if it matters to you.
Who should look elsewhere
- Anyone with a mushroom allergy or sensitivity. A serious allergic reaction to fresh Lion's Mane is described in a 2024 review [15], and trials and reviews report stomach upset, nausea, headache or rash in some people [8][12][16].
- People who take prescription medicines or have a diagnosed condition. Ask a pharmacist or clinician first. We found no well-characterised interaction data, which is not the same as none existing [16].
- Anyone pregnant, nursing, or buying for a child. The brand itself does not suggest its supplements for these groups [2].
- Shoppers who want a stated part of the mushroom, an extract ratio, a measured marker compound, published lab results or easy Amazon returns. We found none of these here.
Sources
- Host Defense (Fungi Perfecti, LLC). Lion's Mane capsules product page: label, sizes, prices, claims. Viewed September 25, 2026. hostdefense.com
- Host Defense. Frequently asked questions (capsule form, rice substrate, polysaccharide statement, pregnancy). hostdefense.com/pages/faqs
- Fungi Perfecti. Article on why beta-glucan percentages are not printed, February 20, 2017. hostdefense.com blog
- McCleary BV, Draga A. Laboratory method for measuring beta-glucan in mushroom and mycelial products. Journal of AOAC International, 2016. PubMed
- Comparative analysis of Chaga dietary supplements, including fermented-grain products. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2025. PubMed
- Mori K, et al. Placebo-controlled trial of Lion's Mane fruiting-body powder in adults aged 50 to 80 with mild memory and thinking difficulties. Phytotherapy Research, 2009. PubMed
- Saitsu Y, et al. Placebo-controlled trial of a fruiting-body supplement over 12 weeks. Biomedical Research, 2019. PubMed
- Li IC, et al. Pilot placebo-controlled trial of erinacine A-enriched Lion's Mane mycelia over 49 weeks. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 2020. PubMed
- Docherty S, Doughty FL, Smith EF. Pilot trial of 1.8 g a day in healthy young adults, with a summary of earlier trials. Nutrients, 2023. PubMed
- Surendran G, et al. Single-dose crossover trial of a fruiting-body extract in healthy younger adults. Frontiers in Nutrition, 2025. PubMed
- Grozier CD, et al. Four-week trial of 10 g a day on metabolic and cognitive measures. International Journal of Exercise Science, 2022. PubMed
- Menon A, et al. Systematic review of benefits, side effects and uses of Hericium erinaceus. Frontiers in Nutrition, 2025. PubMed
- Szućko-Kociuba I, et al. Review of neurotrophic and neuroprotective effects of Hericium erinaceus, mostly laboratory work. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2023. PubMed
- Contato AG, Conte-Junior CA. Narrative review of Lion's Mane; concludes clinical validation remains limited. Nutrients, 2025. PubMed
- Muhanna M, et al. Evidence review on Lion's Mane (one entry in a review series on alternative remedies), including the reported allergic reaction and the cell and animal findings. Amyotroph Lateral Scler Frontotemporal Degener, 2024. PubMed
- Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK). Lion's Mane mushroom: integrative medicine herb information. mskcc.org
- USDA Organic Integrity Database. Organic certificate for Fungi Perfecti LLC from the Washington State Department of Agriculture, issued September 22, 2026. organic.ams.usda.gov
- NSF International public listings, read September 25, 2026: dietary supplement products and GMP registration.
- Host Defense. Blog post on what goes into its products, March 12, 2024. hostdefense.com blog
- Host Defense. Who we are: company background, founding year and testing statement. hostdefense.com/pages/who-we-are
- Host Defense. 90-Day Satisfaction Guarantee terms. hostdefense.com
- Host Defense. Where to buy, including authorized online resellers. hostdefense.com/pages/where-to-buy
- Fungi Perfecti. Press release on counterfeit products found on Amazon, April 24, 2023. hostdefense.com press
- Amazon.com listing for the 60-capsule bottle (ASIN B002WJ2ALO; model NCHE60, matching the brand's own item code and barcode), viewed September 25, 2026: price, seller, shipper and return note.
This entry is educational and is not medical advice. Ask a qualified clinician before starting any supplement, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or take medication.