Lion's Mane Mushrooms for Optimal Memory and Focus
Meet Tom:
Tom Dadant is an herbal storyteller and national educator at Host Defense Mushrooms. He’s been in this industry for around 50 years and has a tremendous amount of knowledge that he generously shares with others. From organic farming in Hawaii, owning juice bars, to being an educator for some of the biggest names in natural products, Tom is an incredible asset to our industry.
Some Topics We Discussed:
What is Lion’s Mane and what is it utilized for? (6:16)
What is the recommended dosage of Lion’s Mane? (9:20)
Is there a difference between liquid and capsules? (12:59)
Are there health benefits if you cook Lion’s Mane? (15:07)
Is Lion’s Mane beneficial to the immune system? (25:03)
Key Takeaways From This Episode:
Lion’s Mane can help rebuild brain cells and stimulate new nerve growth. (7:20)
Lion’s Mane is a food. It’s very safe and it’s also medicinal. (11:02)
Liquid is great for fast acting results whereas capsules are ideal for longer term results. (13:43)
We have more in common with mushrooms than we do with plants, which is why the compounds in the mushrooms work so good for humans. (32:13)
Products + Resources:
Thanks to this episode’s sponsor Host Defense.
Get Social With Tom:
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL SHOW TRANSCRIPT
Brian Strickland 00:00 This episode is brought to you by Host Defense Mushrooms. Host Defense makes some of the finest mushroom supplements available and believes that mushrooms, including the root like system, called mycelium can be used to augment the body's immune system, support mental clarity and focus, and support a multitude of body systems for optimal health. They use only the highest quality organic, non GMO mushrooms that are grown right there on their farm. And they maintain complete control over all growing and harvesting processes. Basically, they're quite literally some of the best mushroom supplements that you can find. To learn more, you can visit hostdefense.com. Hello, listeners, welcome back to The hHolistic Navigator Podcast where we believe in the body's ability to heal itself if it's given the proper nutrients and care it deserves. My name is Brian Strickland. I'm the producer of the show. And here with me in the studio, as always is your host Ed Jones. On today's episode, we're speaking with Tom Dadant, who is just a really awesome guy, honestly. He's got nearly 50 years in the industry. And his experience ranges from organic farming to being a national educator for some of the biggest names in natural health, including his current post with Host Defense. We're chatting with Tom about a mushroom called Lion's Mane today, and from form to function, Lion's Mane is one mushroom that is completely fascinating. And it's really unbelievable how nature can produce such a unique nutrient. We're going to go ahead and get right into this episode because we have a lot of ground to cover. So allow me to introduce your host, Mr. Ed Jones.
Ed Jones 02:08 Thank you, Brian, for another exciting Holistic Navigator on the horizon. Today, I have a gentleman that I'm so excited about. Tom Danant, which I probably screwed it up. But I am so excited about this gentleman. And the reason is because if you've heard me over the past 90 plus podcasts, some of these not all, I speak very, very passionately about my belief in number one nutrition and how it can affect so much of our life and longevity. But specifically about mushrooms, medicinal mushrooms, not psychedelic, not the ones on the salad bars, but the ones all the other ones included in this. And we've been fortunate to have two other podcasts on The Holistic Navigator that educated people greatly on this with Jerry Angelini from Host Defense. But today, we have the gentlemen Tom which I've been speaking to a little bit before, and he's in California. So he got up early this morning. And Tom is not you know, he's not a youngster like myself. I'm not a youngster. He's been doing basically this kind of information and learning for 52 years. He was early on an organic farmer in Hawaii. He's done his own juice companies. He's lived the life. He's been an educator for two major companies for the last 25 years. And I love the fact that he said he's an herbal story teller. So welcome, Tom to The Holistic Navigator.
Tom Dadant 03:45 And thank you very much. It's really great to be here. I appreciate you having me on. It's always great.
Ed Jones 03:50 Well, you know, we need to kind of put all these us old timers need to put this information down and you know, in other countries, not here, but in other countries, they kind of call people over 60 elders, because they actually think they might know something. And you and I both are elders of this society, but especially in the field of holistic nutrition and herbal medicine. And you know, I'm an experimenter. There's no doubt. Anyone who listens to the one podcast I did where I was talking about my supplement program, they understand me, you know, I am a self appointed guinea pig. No one needs to take as many things as I do. But I experiment I do this for mainly learning. And I again repeat I don't think is probably going to super extend my life any more than kind of what the clock has dialed in. But it's all about quality of life. It's about being resilient and robust and not being afraid of not being afraid of viruses because we know we have a great immune system that can tackle almost anything that comes our way and that doesn't happen with hope alone. It comes with education, and knowledge and wisdom. And to me wisdom is as important as knowledge. And much of the medical world, you know, has a worship for academia and I do believe heavily in science, but they have no regard for experience for wisdom for respect of herbal medicine. And you know, a big chunk of the world still uses herbal botanical medicines. Why? Because it's safe. It works. It's inexpensive and it is available easily to those people who know what to do with it. So we want to talk about this one specific mushroom today that I have used off and on probably hundreds of times. I use it every time almost that I have a big appearance, say on television or a radio broadcast. I don't always do on the on the podcast here because I'm so used to doing it. If I lack sleep one night and I have to be sharper at writing articles, I will do Lion's Mane. And I looked up the picture of Lion's Mane again, it is a gorgeous mushroom and I just I'm always intrigued by these mushrooms. And so Tom, let's start talking about Lion's Mane can give us a little intro into that?
Tom Dadant 06:23 Well, I'll tell you what. The first intro I'm going to give you is for those folks out there that are that are information geeks, so to speak, kind of like yourself. And there are a couple of websites if you want to go to that you can look up for yourself some amazing research on this mushroom that we're going to talk about lion's mane and any of the other medicinal mushrooms. One of them is called mushroomreferences.com. And the other one is the government site for peer reviewed scientific studies. So that's a little bit geekier. But, and that's called pubmed.gov. And pubmed.gov is literally a peer reviewed scientific research site. So if you like this kind of information, those two can serve you. really well. Now, to talk about what it's talking about. The main thing that Lion's Mane is recognized for is the fact that it can help rebuild brain cells. It can help rebuild connections within the brain and stimulate new nerve growth. So, you know, at 72 years old, I can honestly say I was a child of the 60s. And I can honestly say that, you know, people used to tell me don't do that you're going to rot your brain and you'll never get it back. So when I, when I heard about lion's mane, I can honestly tell you that the studies on it, and the experiences that personal experience with it is profound. Everybody that I've ever recommended it to talks about the enhanced mental clarity that they get the enhanced recall that they get. They've done numerous studies. And you may know, out there that there are three different kinds of studies, scientists do. They do what's called an in vitro that's in glass, that means like in a test tube. Then they do an in vivo and usually in vivo starts out with animals, mice, or rats or some other kind of animal, depending on what they're looking to do. And then they go into human studies. Well, Lion's Mane has had all three. And in the human studies for lion's mane, it's been shown to really improve cognitive functioning in especially in people between the ages of 50 and 80. That's who they were testing it on. All these tests came out of Japan, where they're they're big, big mushroom aficionados. And they, they found that the memory and the recall, and the ability to concentrate were all enhanced by taking Lion's Mane mushroom.
Ed Jones 09:09 Well, let me interject real quick. What I want to do is make things very, very clear and concise as you already have done for the listeners. So let's just again, I want to plug the fact that we have to be very informed consumers because in the field of any area that we talk about, there's good better and best. And we just don't want anything but the best when it comes to supporting our nutritional status. There are things that we could actually be concerned about in companies who are not having the quality control transparency and ethics that like I love Host Defense. To me they are the ultimate of companies that produce the most heavily researched and quality products. So I want to say all right now let's just assume that person is listening. And they're like, you know, they don't have many more minutes left, they want to get lion's mane. And without too many specifics, tell me dosages because you know what, that's one thing that I don't really have a clue. Because not always do we just know that what's on the box the label and I know that we have to be cautious and not go overboard with things and not be unreasonable. But you know, there's there's what I call maintenance dosing of natural medicine is therapeutic dosing. You know, someone who may be is doing very well, and just, you know, doesn't really need a lot of help might do yet less. I'm asking you this question. I'm not making this statement. But for me, I'm a huge fan of doing therapeutic dosing when needed. So it's what are the studies revealing as far as how much a person needs to take?
Tom Dadant 10:51 Well, that's, that's a really interesting question. And we try at Host Defense, because we really want to be compliant with the FDA, and with the Dietary Health and Supplement Education Act, we don't talk about it in the form of dosing because dosing is kind of a term that you would use if you were taking a medicine or a pharmaceutical drug. So because these are food supplements, we Lion's Mane especially is a food, it's a delicious mushroom. By the way, these are servings, and serving sizes can range anywhere from the recommended on the label of two capsules, which is a gram. One gram of you know, once or twice a day, they can range up safely all the way up to six to nine grams a day. And in some of the human clinical trials, they've taken that much. Now for activity, Lion's Mane seems to be extremely effective at people at the serving size that we recommend on the label. Now other people have done exactly what you do. And I'm in that camp, by the way, I'm the if you know, I want to take it until I feel it. That's how I was trained by my herbal teacher that you know, you take it till you feel it and then you back it off a little bit because that's now you know, you've loaded enough that it's having the effect on you. So for lion's mane, it's a very safe mushroom. It's a medicinal mushroom, but it's also a gourmet mushroom. So it's and on the label, it says take two capsules, each one is 500 milligrams, that's the recommended serving size. So anywhere from two to four capsules a day is really other a nice entry level, if you will, to take it.
Ed Jones 12:37 I like that. And you know, even on health line that the kind of pop up that comes with any question you ask now on natural medicine now that Google has changed algorithms three years ago, and kind of has shifted things where it's not easy to find the information at certain points, but because that certainly is censorship to me. However, So real quick, personal question. I know that just intuitively I feel, it seems I feel the effects quicker when I do the liquid version opposed to the capsules. And I'm guessing that maybe a three to five minute headstart, but you tell me is that is it super adventageous to do liquid?
Tom Dadant 13:20 Yeah, that's that's about right. And the fact of the matter is, is that really some of the newer studies on lion's mane, we hear a lot on the news about microbiome right about our probiotics and our microbiome. Well, some of the if I were to ask you, where supposedly we have two brains. We've got a brain on top of our shoulders. Where's our second brain?
Ed Jones 13:40 Yeah, the intestines,
Tom Dadant 13:42 The intestines, right? And so there's been some great studies on Lion's Mane really supporting healthy intestinal function, and healthy intestinal, the microbiome in the intestine. So it's when you're taking it in a capsule form, it takes a while for digestion, it takes a while to start moving through your intestinal tract. And so it has a slower, if you will, reaction time. But it's going to build cumulatively, so for somebody who's working on something long term, and they really want a long term effect. It's it for my personal opinion is this is my personal opinion, my experience. Taking the capsules is great because you're getting it regularly and it's going through your intestinal tract. It's working with that second brain, if you will, as well as working on the on the brain on top of your shoulders. But the liquid is probably five to 10 minutes and you're feeling and so I'm the same way that you are. I love taking Lion's Mane just before I made maybe go on the air or before I sit down to do some research or write a paper. It's a great way to sort of pull everything together and I know that when when I take it I'm actually allowing my brain to open up some of those pathways and regenerate some of the pathways within the brain.
Ed Jones 15:07 I love that. Quick question, if I go to a fancy grocery store and they're selling in Lion's Mane in the section of food, is cooking it gonna destroy some of the potential benefits?
Tom Dadant 15:19 No, not really. The best way to cook it, especially if you like lobster is to slice it about an inch, half an inch to an inch thick. And sautee it in butter or olive oil, and it'll taste it tastes very much like lobster. Got the same texture? Absolutely delicious mushroom. As long as you're not overcooking it, you know, you don't want to. Actually it's a great question though. Because most people don't understand if you don't cook a mushroom, you're not going to get the benefits. The protein that holds that mushroom together gives it structure is indigestible by our digestive tract, so we can't break it down. So think of it like a scaffold. You can't get out some of the things that are in that Lion's Mane without cooking it. So it needs to be heated we do that when we process it and host events we we grow it out on brown rice, because it absolutely loves growing on brown rice. And we're you know, we treat it to break it into usable components.
Ed Jones 16:32 I like that usable components. So much of what we need, nutritionally has to be broken down either by our own systems or perhaps by something before it actually gets into us. And I remember being in Anaheim, probably three years ago with about five of my employees. And we had one of those like private dinners there got a good number of us with Paul Stamets the, I guess CEO of Host Defense. But you know, the levels that company goes to, to leave nothing uncovered. I mean, I bet there's nothing they haven't touched on by guarantee you from the air that's exposed to the water, to the nutrients to the growth of it, the harvesting, the packaging, the shipping. I mean, it is one of those just that is the kind of example that companies should try to strive for. There's no doubt I just love, love Host Defense. People who have listened to me over the some of the past 90 episodes, I constantly say, I'm convinced that the body will heal itself if we give it what it needs, but also take away what may be harming it. And, you know, that's like the analogy of sleep. I mean, we don't have insomnia, because we you know, we lack the sleeping pill, chemical. We have problems, other ways that we deal with, but and also I know I did a podcast with a physician, and I'm trying to think back, but it was the topic was on how to recover from brain trauma. And he was like a neurologist physician and we talked about so many things that especially in the area of concussion, or stroke or other issues with real brain damage, that there are so many options that that traditional physicians, again have zero clue about not their fault is the broken system. They just don't have the toolbox because they're not given the toolbox. But I know that Lion's Mane may have also some benefits for recovery from maybe some nervous system injuries?
20:05 Well, I tell you, there's, you know, and again, what we have to carry out, we have to make sure that we're clear on is, excuse me, Host Defense, is not a company that makes drugs. We're making nutritional supplements. So we're not making a drug claim, we're not saying this is going to cure this, this is going to cure that this is going to cure this. That's not our business. Our business is to make the finest mushroom supplements that we possibly can. And like you said, we go to extreme lengths to make sure that we do that. But there was a great study done on rats, okay, because that's the in vivo, that's the animals part of the in vivo study, where the rats had paw damage and their claws were damaged. And they were given a lion's mane to see if it would help regenerate the nerve tissue in the paws. And it did. They actually were able to show that the rats who were given the lion's mane there, the nerve regrowth enabled them to use their paws that they weren't able to use before.
Ed Jones 21:09 Wow. And you know, nerve regeneration is not an easy goal to reach in many people, especially as we get to be older. I always speak about, you know, people with Bell's palsy and neuropathies, and shingles, they always say the exact same thing to all of these clients. The nerves heal slower than any other part of the body, we have to be patient, we have to support it, we have to protect it. And but there's really again, limited amount of good advice in that area. Most people it's just grin and bear it and take drugs to cover the discomfort. But you know, people like you and I know that if we can support the body and optimize its ability to heal, then magical things can happen. And that's, you know, I, I love my toolbox that I have accumulated over four plus decades, because not only can I help myself, but my main goal is to be able to share information that doesn't treat people's diseases, it empowers them with information, so then they can make their own decision based on whoever they are consulting with. And that's really the goal of The Holistic Navigator is again, none of this is to be treating medical conditions. And we always make it very clear of that. But it is treating stupidity. And that's where I really come in. And
Tom Dadant 22:35 I like that.
Ed Jones 22:36 So and you know, Brian's tired of me saying the same thing I said, on every single podcast, I separate the world into two classes of people, learners, and non learners. If you're listening to The Holistic Navigator, you are a learner. And I always give two thumbs up to everyone who are learners, thank you very much. Because the thing is, people who learn are not only going to help themselves, they're going to help family members and friends, because they can be a another big influence as a walking encyclopedia. You know, I actually thought that when I saw the Google algorithm change, probably three years ago, I was really uncertain about how is that going to filter down to the public and the level. Because three years ago, if you typed in, you know, how do we increase mental function or decrease dementia? There have been all kinds of articles from Dr. Axe, to Mercola to who knows that, you know, they would have been mixed in with the Web MD, there have been a good mixture, because it was based on numbers. And the amount of interest that certain sites had would be rated higher. Well it's not like that anymore. Now it's being censored based on certain agendas of whoever's making these decisions. So what's become of that is people actually, I thought they would kind of not be as interested because they couldn't find it. They're actually more interested in consulting and learning today than they used to be. Because now you have to search for this information. And you have to find trusted partners. And again, I feel that many people find that The Holistic Navigator is a trusted partner. And with what I do is I have my trusted partners. One of those is great companies like Host Defense, and also educators who can like yourself, Tom, who can come in and you know, really put the lowdown on the like, what was the World Wrestling Federation the SmackDown or something on on the facts of all of this. And, you know, again, I've had Jerry Angelini on twice. The two topics of those two conversations were why you should be taking mushrooms with Jerry Angelini of Host Defense and the other was immune protective mushrooms with Jerry Angelini. And of course the conversation immune system is you know, daily out we're laying by the minute of this past year. So where are we with lion's mane and just a basic good immune support? Is that something that would be considered? Because I'll be honest with you and you know, I think you know this if a person like myself or yourself, I do use a combination of mushrooms for the immune system, not one specific one. But and I don't know this is Lion's Mane part of that comprehensive immune formula?
Tom Dadant 25:28 Absolutely. Okay. We have a we have a format, it's like a daily formula called Stamets 7. This is the we call it standard seven because these are the seven mushrooms that Paul himself takes. And Lion's Mane is included in that combination. Some of the things that people might not know about Lion's Mane or medicinal mushrooms in general fact even gourmet mushrooms. They contain a compound called ergi theanine. And ergo theanine is one of those compounds, it's really getting a lot of research now on anti aging. And when you think about what aging does to the body, some of the things that it does is it works on the immune system to make it less agile, less effective. It works on your brain, your brain doesn't remember things. You forget where you stored things you forget where you set your keys, you know, you can't find the right word. And it also works on your immune response. So Lion's Mane has been studied now. And they found that every mushroom that we use it host events, all 17 of them when we put it in the formula that we call My Community. That's our strongest Immune Support formula. Every one of those mushrooms has immune functionality, immune support, so even lion's mane, because it's working in our intestines, and that's our primary immune system. That's where our probiotics live. That's going to help our immune response because that's our primary immune system is our probiotic population.
Ed Jones 26:56 Well, question, I know that Jerry covered this quite well. And I certainly talk about it when I'm talking to clients or customers. The thing about mushrooms and its ability to be therapeutic for the immune system is it's it modulates the immune system, and you correct me if I'm wrong, Tom, if we have an immune system that is overly active, that's not healthy either. And we want to bring things back into balance. We want a weak immune system to become stronger, we want an overactive one that is sometimes confused to come back into the harmony that was meant for us to be more healthy. So someone with an overactive immune system, I guess I would say they're okay with doing mushrooms?
Tom Dadant 27:40 Oh, yeah, absolutely. What they what, what they've shown and we've, here's the interesting thing, and we we test our own products. Many companies don't test their products in a scientific test. We actually have scientific studies that have been done not at our request, but on the request of the people doing the study. They wanted to use Host Defense mushroom products. So we know they're safe. We know that they one of the studies that was done because we're a little different. We use what's called the mycelium. That's the routing structure of the mushroom. Most people just use the fruit body that what you see coming out of the tree or out of the ground. But we use the mycelium and there's a 25% more genetic expression in that mycelium. So there's so many more compounds there that can can influence the body in many ways. And what we found is that it the word is great modulate, it balances the immune system, so that it doesn't overreact all the time. Sometimes we just get to a point where the immune system is so exhausted, because it's fighting so much, that it's just okay, drop the bomb on everything. You know, that's what happens to people with allergic reactions during the springtime there. They're so their immune system is so overwhelmed, their body just goes into hyper reaction. And that's not what we want. What we want is a balanced immune response. And that's every mushroom that Host Defense works with can do that.
Ed Jones 29:09 Let me ask you, because we're gonna be closing down on time here. If I'm going to advise people and I think I know the answer to this, you know, an individual who he or she's into, you know, healthy eating exercise, and moderately two fairly high doses of supplementation. And the reason that many people are in like you referenced earlier, the number one and I say this constantly, number one risk factor for all of us, is not the virus, it's really not automobiles, it's not pollution, it's father time, Father time is what is going to damage us and take us out of this world more than any other thing. And I really believe that we have an extreme ability to influence and slow down the damages of the mitochondrial part of the cell based on nutritional supplementation, of course, and lifestyle. Oh, and so if a person is okay, I'm putting together my plan my nutrition plan, and we do something here, or we talk about a lot of called the Core 4 is after me looking at so much blood work and dealing with people for decades, I've really come to realize there's four basic supplements everyone has to have as a platform. I mean, that's the multivitamin, the green drink, the omega three, the magnesium and vitamin D. I mean, those things are essential. But when we expand in the second core of this kind of product selection, person really is pretty healthy, they don't have any significant issues, I just want to stay healthy would Stamens 7 is that the one that most people would use on an ongoing basis for the long haul?
Tom Dadant 30:44 Absolutely Stamets 7 has great research on the seven mushrooms in the formula. They there's actually a study that was done showing that they have a synergistic effect. So you know, like that saying the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. That's exactly what it does. And for from an immune point of view, it was enhancing immune function by several 1,000%.
Ed Jones 31:09 And along with everything else that is possible to do, and I know that I'm not gonna get into specific words, but I love going to the YouTube video when you type in Paul Stamets' mother, and hear her story of taking Stamets 7, and many people I have seen. I've seen many turnarounds of health, I guess I will say that, that when they really embrace mushroom science. Now, I don't know but teeny bit compared to you on mushrooms. Have mushrooms been on the earth probably longer than anything else?
Tom Dadant 31:49 They are probably some of the most ancient life forms on the planet. Excuse me, they it's funny that people actually share more genetic traits and genes with mushrooms than they do with plants. And now I'm an herbalist. And so when I learned that I was at first I was like, that can't be right. And then my study, and it's true. It's true, we have more in common with mushrooms than we do with plants, which is why the compounds in the mushrooms work so good for humans.
Ed Jones 32:22 That makes such good sense. And you know, again, I think there's so much to be valued in intuition and wisdom that doesn't come from textbooks always wood, things like this. That story is, you know, it resonates with with a lot of people that think along the same lines as we do. And I'm going to honor that greatly. Now, tell me if I've been telling a fib to a lot of people over the years because I've made many statements about these therapeutic mushrooms. And I'd kind of make this the story of mushrooms are one of the most resilient living organisms in the world. In fact, they rarely can get sick. They rarely are they're impervious to most diseases, am I am I correct in that?
Tom Dadant 33:07 Yes, you are. The thing is that mushrooms are they have what are called quorum sensing compounds in their mycelium. So the mycelium that's the routing structure, it's going out into the environment. And it reactions directly with its environment. So it needs and essentially all the way out to the ends of the mycelium. So it needs to be able to react if it's suddenly challenged by a yeast or another fungus or you know, a mold or whatever it needs to be able to react to protect itself. So mushrooms have very vibrant and very active immune systems in and of themselves. And that's why they work so well as an adjunct to any kind of immuno therapy that we're trying to use.
Ed Jones 33:51 I love that. And the thing is, you know, I've been in this industry, again, 42 years, and I know there are other companies that are very connected to good ethics and quality. So I'm not just saying, you know, there's only one Host Defense, but I just have never been more consistently confident of a company in regard to a category is I have Host Defense. So I'm just thrilled to death that the trustworthiness is there. And the fact that mushrooms really hold a in a class all of its own as far as everything you're talking about how it reacts how it responds the protectiveness. And tell me the last thing I want to ask I think I heard this or had read it somewhere around the Paul Stamets story that you can grow mushrooms on wasteland that has been had oil dumped on it and the mushrooms can actually take those, those toxic compounds and detoxify them. Is that correct?
Tom Dadant 34:47 That's absolutely correct. And they're very common mushroom services. one form of mushrooms called an oyster mushroom. They're also delicious. Of course I wouldn't eat them if i was growing them on a toxic oil dump but they lterally will take those compounds and they'll break them down into their simplest components as part of their processing. And end up you know, the actually give you an even more applicable example. We were subsidizing a student at Evergreen College in Olympia, Washington who was doing his PhD thesis on detoxifying freeway runoff water, coming from the freeways outside of Seattle, running it through bales of hay that had been inoculated with oyster mushrooms and they would take that bale of hay and handle all the runoff water from the freeway. So you got gasoline and oil and rubber particles and you name it. And then they would take that bale of hay, they would measure that pollution, set it out and let us fruit let the mushrooms grow and fruit. And after three routings, they couldn't find any traces any of that stuff.
Ed Jones 35:54 Really? Man that is powerful, powerful. Last question just and again is kind of going back to my world. I so wish the one of the few things left on my bucket list. I don't know if it'll ever happen. You know, I always love being in the forest in the woods and hiking. I work constantly so I never get enough time to do that. But when I stumble upon mushrooms, I'm so intrigued constantly by just their look, the whole structure, function on you know, the beauty of them on the trees. But I'm scared to death. I would never consume them one because of the poisonous mushroom that can destroy the liver very quickly.
Tom Dadant 36:36 Oh, yeah.
Ed Jones 36:36 But now. I mean, if I really got to know the look of lion's mane, that's kind of an unusual mushroom, isn't it? Look wise?
Tom Dadant 36:46 Yeah, Lion's Mane lion's mane, it's easy to recognize. It's a beautiful mushroom.It's white. And they sometimes they call it the pom pom mushroom, because it does, it looks like a pom pom coming out of the tree. It's got all these little tentacles almost that are that are cascading down. It's very easy to recognize grows all over the United States, especially as an East Coast. It likes hardwoods. And it's one of the safest mushrooms to find and say, oh, I think I can eat this. But you really want to be careful. And I tell people you know, it's not for nothing that people have this idea about mushrooms and I don't want to eat it because I'm either going to die or I'm going to get high and I don't want to do either one of those. But if you get a good mushroom identification, if you go out there and micological mushroom societies all over the country, you can find one, they'll go out and they go foraging all the time. They can teach you how to find those mushrooms and how to recognize them. And once you do the world is your oyster mushroom.
Ed Jones 37:49 Oh, bad you got you got me a new hobby for down the road. When I have a few minutes, I'm going to find the person who can actually take my hand and show me this is the one to do. And this is the one not to. I want to say what a poisonous mushroom looks like. Because you know, you look in books. It's just not the same as standing in the woods. It just isn't. But you know you've been so informative. Today I'm going to walk away from here with with a renewed excitement about of course mushrooms but especially the lion's mane. And you know, I've been a person who has hit Lion's Mane off and on, what I'm going to do is I'm going to be more consistent with it. Because father time is is having its way with all of us and especially past 50. Well, I want to put together my toolbox and keep it going as long as this oh boy can go like the Toby Keith song says on that from that movie, the mule. Don't let the old man in. And that's what I'm doing. I'm trying to not let the old man in.
Tom Dadant 38:46 There you go. Well, you know, the thing is, is that patience and perseverance pays off. That's what my grandpa used to tell me all the time. I'm 72 Ed. And I don't feel like I'm 72 I feel like I'm a lot younger. Most people think I'm a lot younger when they talk to me. And I've been living like you said earlier I did live in the lifestyle. And I'll tell you I've noticed a profound difference in the five years since I've been working with host events and taking their products every day.
Ed Jones 39:13 That's wonderful. Tom, thank you so much for being on the Holisitic Navigator and for people who may not have caught it the first time around. Tom, you said the two websites are mushroomreferences.com and pubmed.
Tom Dadant 39:28 Mushroom references. Thank you.
Ed Jones 39:30 Thank you. And then the pubmed.gov right.
Tom Dadant 39:35 Yep, yep. When you get when you get to the pubmed.gov you can put in your topic you can put in mushrooms and whatever disease you want to look at. You can put in mushrooms and whatever science you want, and it'll bring you up studies. You'll be amazed.
Ed Jones 39:49 I love PubMed. And the thing is, you know, back in the old days, which wasn't that far ago, you know, we were Voodoo science and people really, in the medical community. smirked at us and laughed at us. You know what they can't laugh anymore. PubMed is what they go to and when you walk into health professionals office and you say you know I really feel better taking lion's mane and they laugh. Just bring up the PubMed studies. Hey who's laughing now because you don't know about it and I do so get joined the call you go join the club alright Tom thank
Tom Dadant 40:21 Knowledge is power. Thank you.
Ed Jones 40:22 Thank you Tom. And we probably in six months or a year we'll have another revisit. I want to talk one other time down the road about cordyceps, which is my other favorite mushroom when I go to the gym.
Tom Dadant 40:33 The energy mushroom.
Ed Jones 40:34 Yes, and I do a lot of deep breathing and do try to hold my breath longer and longer during exercise and I really find when I do four quarter steps I'm like a mini little Superman for the next couple hours. So I'm I want to do one on coryseps. Maybe in the next maybe three to four months. Let's try to plan that.
Tom Dadant 40:52 I'll look forward to it. One of my faves.
Ed Jones 40:56 Yes and herbal story teller, Tom will be back with him again in a few more months. And thank everyone for taking your special time which it is special, because everyone's life is is very important to them. And life is clicking away damn quick. So let's value all of that and be a learner which you are by listening to The Holistic Navigator. Hang on for the next episodes. We're going to be nailing down near 100 soon. Take care, be fearless and we are here to help you when you need. So please email if you have questions or you have suggestions. Thank you again from Ed Jones at The Holistic Navigator.
Brian Strickland 41:37 The information on this podcast and the topics discussed have not been evaluated by the FDA or any one of the medical profession and is not aimed to replace any advice you may receive from your medical practitioner. The holistic navigator assumes no responsibility or liability whatsoever on behalf of any purchaser or listener if these materials. The Holistic Navigator is not a doctor or does he claim to be please consult your physician before beginning any health regimen.