(NaturalHealth365)  Most of us think of mushrooms as a pizza topping or a side dish, not a tool for a calmer mind.  Yet two shaggy, unusual-looking fungi have long been part of traditional Asian medicine.

Herbalists have long prized lion’s mane, a mushroom with cascading white spines, and reishi, a glossy red-brown mushroom, for supporting a steady mood.  Now, a new placebo-controlled trial suggests these two may work best together.

Testing an old remedy with modern methods

For the study, published in October 2026 in Frontiers in Nutrition, researchers at Northumbria University in the United Kingdom recruited 84 young women.  Each participant reported everyday stress or anxiety but had no diagnosed mental health condition.  The researchers then randomly assigned the women to one of three groups for four weeks.

One group took lion’s mane alone, a second group took a blend of lion’s mane and reishi, and a third group took a look-alike placebo.  Importantly, neither the participants nor the researchers knew who received which capsule.

Then the team tracked anxiety and stress levels every week and again two weeks after the capsules ran out.

The blend outperformed lion’s mane alone

By day 28, women taking the mushroom blend had much lower anxiety scores than women taking lion’s mane alone.  On a standard 21-point anxiety scale, the blend group averaged about 4.2, while the lion’s mane group averaged 6.5.  For reference, both groups started the study at roughly 10.5.

At day 28, the blend group also reported less stress than the placebo group.  Interestingly, the blend contained less lion’s mane than the single-mushroom capsules, suggesting reishi added a different kind of benefit.

Why two mushrooms may beat one

Reishi contains compounds called triterpenes, which laboratory research suggests help calm inflammation.  Meanwhile, a growing body of research links low-grade inflammation in the body to feelings of anxiety.

So the researchers proposed that reishi may add a calming, anti-inflammatory effect on top of what lion’s mane provides.

Calming strategies to try this season

Bring culinary mushrooms into your weekly meals.  Shiitake, maitake, and oyster mushrooms add rich flavor to soups, stir-fries, and omelets while supplying fiber and protective plant compounds.  Sauté them in extra virgin olive oil with garlic for an easy side dish.  Lion’s mane also appears at some farmers’ markets and has a mild, seafood-like taste when cooked.

Choose quality if you try a mushroom supplement.  Look for organic products made from the mushroom fruiting body (the part above ground), with clear labels showing how much of each mushroom you get.  Many people also prefer brands that share independent lab testing for purity.  If you take medications for blood pressure, blood sugar, or blood thinning, talk with a trusted healthcare provider before adding reishi.

Give your nervous system a daily reset.  Five minutes of slow breathing, with a longer exhale than inhale, helps shift the body out of fight-or-flight mode.  A short walk in daylight, especially in the morning, also supports a steadier mood and better sleep.  Together, these small habits make a real difference as the days grow shorter.

Feed a calmer body from the inside out.  Magnesium-rich foods like organic pumpkin seeds, spinach, and black beans support a relaxed nervous system.  Omega-3 fats from wild-caught salmon and sardines help keep inflammation in check.  Many people also find that keeping vitamin D levels healthy through the darker months supports a brighter mood.

When stress settles into your body

Anxiety rarely stays in the mind alone.  Over time, constant stress can wear on the glands that manage your energy, sleep, and hormone balance, leaving you feeling both wired and worn out.  So if calm feels harder to find each year, the problem may run deeper than a busy schedule.

Your thyroid and adrenal glands play a central role in how your body handles stress every day.  Jonathan Landsman’s Thyroid and Adrenal Health Docu-Class reveals the many natural ways to support these vital glands and restore balance.

Click here to order the Thyroid and Adrenal Health Docu-Class today.

Sources for this article include:

Frontiersin.org