Best Mushrooms for Anxiety and Depression: Ranked by the Evidence (UK Guide)

Best mushrooms for anxiety, ranked by evidence

Here is the honest league table. “Evidence strength” is our plain-English summary of the human trials, not a promise of how you’ll feel. None of these mushrooms has been tested in people with a diagnosed anxiety disorder in a large, well-run trial.

So if you want to try a mushroom for a calmer day, lion’s mane is the one with the most human data and reishi is the traditional evening choice. Keep your expectations modest. For a wider look at all eight common functional mushrooms, see our functional mushrooms UK guide.

Which Evopure product fits your routine?

None of our products treats anxiety or depression or replaces your GP, therapy or medicine; if you’d like one alongside that care, choose by routine (checked October 2026).

Our one mushroom product, the Reishi Mushroom Adaptogenic Complex, is a reishi hot chocolate. To be straight with you, its label doesn’t yet state the reishi per serving, extract ratio or fruiting body versus mycelium (we’ve asked for them), so judge it as a hot chocolate, not a high-strength supplement.

Product	Format	How people use it	What to know
Reishi Cacao	Reishi hot chocolate powder with cacao and maca	1 to 2 teaspoons in warm milk, evenings	A little natural caffeine. Reishi mg not on the label yet
Magnesium Glycinate Sleep Complex	Berry drink powder, 148mg magnesium per serving	One scoop in water, evenings	With L-theanine, glycine and herbal extracts. No caffeine
Flow CBD Oil	Broad spectrum CBD with ashwagandha and maca, 500mg or 1,000mg	Drops under the tongue, daytime	4 drops (500mg) or 2 drops (1,000mg) for 10mg. Contains ashwagandha

Magnesium contributes to normal psychological function and contributes to a reduction of tiredness and fatigue. Reishi, maca and the herbs have no authorised health claims.

Safety first: Flow contains ashwagandha, under safety review in the UK (see our ashwagandha UK safety review), so skip it with a thyroid, liver or autoimmune condition or before surgery. On antidepressants or any regular medication? Ask your GP or pharmacist first. Reishi may raise bleeding risk with blood thinners; check first on blood pressure medicines too. We don’t recommend our products during pregnancy or breastfeeding. Adults (18+) only.

The FSA’s 10mg a day figure is precautionary advice rather than a legal limit, set while longer-term safety research continues. At Evopure we think it is a very cautious figure, and many adults use more. If you go above it, increase slowly, and check with your GP or pharmacist first if you take any medication.

Value: a Reishi Cacao pouch is around 30 servings. Flow’s 1,000mg bottle is cheaper per mg of CBD than the 500mg. Subscribe and Save lowers every order; skip, pause or cancel any time.

What you get with Evopure:

• Our CBD products: every batch third-party tested at ISO 17025 labs; request a batch report on our lab testing page.
• Made in the UK, vegan and alcohol-free.
• Our CBD is broad spectrum and THC free, confirmed on each batch report, and on the FSA public list, linked to validated applications.
• Tracked Royal Mail delivery, dispatched the same day if you order before 3pm Monday to Thursday (delivery details). Unopened, unused items can be returned within 14 days of delivery (returns policy).

These are food supplements, not medicines, and we don’t claim they treat or relieve anxiety or depression. Compare reishi drinks in our mushroom hot chocolate guide, or CBD in best CBD oil for anxiety UK. Ready to choose? Reishi Cacao for an evening mug, the Magnesium Sleep Complex without caffeine, or Flow by day.

1. Lion’s mane

Lion’s mane (Hericium erinaceus) is an edible mushroom that looks a bit like a white pom-pom. It contains compounds called hericenones and erinacines, which stimulate nerve growth factor in lab studies. That’s the reason it gets talked about for the brain, but lab findings don’t tell you what happens when a person eats it.

The human studies are small:

• Japan, 2010. 30 women ate lion’s mane cookies or placebo cookies for 4 weeks. Depression scores fell in the lion’s mane group compared with their own starting point, and feeling “anxious” tended to be lower than on placebo, but that difference wasn’t statistically clear.
• Italy, 2019. 77 adults with overweight or obesity on a low-calorie diet, all with mood or sleep problems, took 3 capsules a day (about 1.5g, mostly mycelium) or just followed the diet for 8 weeks. Depression, anxiety and sleep scores improved in the lion’s mane group. There was no placebo, which the authors list as a limitation.
• UK, 2023. At Northumbria University, 41 healthy adults aged 18 to 45 took 1.8g of lion’s mane or a placebo daily for 28 days. There was a trend towards lower stress that just missed statistical significance.

Put together, that’s a hint rather than a finding. Lion’s mane is usually taken in the morning or daytime, and it isn’t psychoactive: it won’t change how you perceive things the way magic mushrooms do. For dosage, forms and side effects in more depth, read our lion’s mane guide.

2. Reishi

Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) is the classic “calming” mushroom of traditional Chinese medicine, and it’s the one most people picture as an evening mushroom. The modern evidence is thinner than its reputation:

• Neurasthenia, 2005. 132 adults with neurasthenia, a diagnosis involving long-term fatigue, irritability and poor sleep, took a reishi polysaccharide extract (1,800mg three times a day) or placebo for 8 weeks. Fatigue and overall severity scores improved more on reishi, and it was well tolerated.
• Breast cancer fatigue, 2012. In a pilot trial, 48 women on hormone therapy for breast cancer were randomly assigned to reishi spore powder or a control group for 4 weeks. The reishi group reported less fatigue, less anxiety and depression, and better quality of life.
• Fibromyalgia, 2020. A small pilot trial gave women with fibromyalgia 6g a day of milled reishi or a placebo for 6 weeks. There were no statistically significant differences between groups, although mood scores trended in the right direction.

Animal studies show calming effects, but there’s still no good trial of reishi in people whose main problem is anxiety. If you like the idea of reishi as part of a wind-down routine, that’s a reasonable thing to try, as long as you know it’s a ritual rather than a remedy.

Our Reishi Cacao is a hot chocolate with a little natural caffeine (see your routine). It isn’t a treatment for anxiety and we make no mood claims for it. More on the ingredients in reishi cacao benefits, and on the mushroom itself in our reishi guide.

3. Cordyceps

Cordyceps is best known for energy and exercise. A 2017 trial found a cordyceps blend improved tolerance to high-intensity exercise after 3 weeks. Some people find that feeling more energetic helps them cope with stress, but there’s no good evidence that cordyceps reduces anxiety directly. If anxiety makes you jittery, take it earlier in the day. Read more in our cordyceps guide, or see how the three compare in lion’s mane vs reishi vs cordyceps.

Mushrooms for anxiety and depression

Most people searching for the best mushroom for anxiety also ask about low mood, and the evidence overlaps:

So lion’s mane is the most studied mushroom for mood, but the trials are small and short, and none was a large, well-run trial in people diagnosed with depression. No mushroom treats depression, and no supplement should replace treatment you’ve been offered. Depression needs proper support: see your GP (the NHS advises not to delay) or refer yourself to NHS Talking Therapies. For urgent help, call NHS 111 (mental health option) or Samaritans free on 116 123. If you can’t keep yourself safe, call 999 or go to A&E.

Our guide to low mood covers the everyday basics.

Mushrooms for anxiety and sleep

Anxiety and poor sleep tend to feed each other, which is why “mushrooms for anxiety and sleep” is such a common search. Two of the small trials above measured sleep: the 2019 lion’s mane study reported better sleep scores, and the 2005 reishi trial was in people whose symptoms included poor sleep. Neither was a sleep trial in the usual sense.

If you’re going to experiment, the usual pattern is lion’s mane in the morning and reishi in the evening. Our reishi for sleep guide goes through timing and what the sleep research does and doesn’t show. If night-time worry is the main problem, our guide to anxiety at night has practical steps that don’t involve any supplement.

Mushroom coffee and gummies: do they help anxiety?

Mushroom coffee and gummies are the formats people see most on social media. Neither has been tested for anxiety. Two practical points are worth knowing.

• Mushroom coffee still has caffeine. If you feel more on edge after a mushroom coffee, the coffee is a more likely culprit than the mushroom. Our guide to caffeine and anxiety explains why some people are more sensitive, and mushroom coffee covers what’s actually in it.
• Check the amount in gummies. The trials above used grams of mushroom a day. Look for the extract amount per serving and whether it’s fruiting body or mycelium, and compare it with the trial amounts in the lion’s mane and reishi sections.

Mushroom supplements, including ours, are for adults. Don’t give them to teenagers or children, and never give them to pets.

What about chaga and turkey tail?

Chaga and turkey tail are popular for general wellbeing, but there’s no human evidence for anxiety. Chaga is also high in oxalates and has been linked to kidney damage in people who took chaga powder daily for months. See chaga mushroom and turkey tail.

How to take mushrooms for anxiety

• Choose an extract with the mushroom part (fruiting body or mycelium) and the extract amount clearly stated, rather than a vague “proprietary blend”.
• Follow the label dose and take it daily; the studies ran for 4 to 8 weeks.
• Match the mushroom to the time of day: lion’s mane or cordyceps in the morning, reishi in the evening.
• Pick a format you’ll stick with: capsules, powders in coffee or hot chocolate, or tea. See how to make mushroom tea.
• Keep a simple diary of mood and sleep so you can judge any change honestly. If nothing has changed after 8 weeks, it’s fine to stop.

Compare mushrooms in lion’s mane vs reishi vs cordyceps, and see how to choose a mushroom supplement before you buy.

Side effects and who should avoid them

Functional mushrooms are generally well tolerated in short trials. Reported side effects of lion’s mane include stomach discomfort, headache and allergic reactions. Reishi has been linked to nausea, dry mouth and itching, and there are rare case reports of liver injury with reishi powder, including one death, sometimes alongside other medicines or alcohol.

iCheck with your GP or pharmacist first if you:

• take blood thinners such as warfarin (reishi, cordyceps and chaga may increase bleeding risk)
• take immunosuppressants, have had a transplant or have an autoimmune condition
• take antidepressants, anti-anxiety medicines, diabetes or blood pressure medicines
• are having chemotherapy
• have liver or kidney disease
• are pregnant or breastfeeding (we don’t recommend our products during pregnancy or breastfeeding)
• are allergic to mushrooms or moulds

Don’t stop or change prescribed medication without speaking to your doctor, even if you feel better. Our products are for adults (18+) only.

Why no mushroom label can promise calm

In Great Britain, food supplements can only make health claims that appear as authorised on the government’s nutrition and health claims register. There are no authorised health claims for lion’s mane, reishi, cordyceps or any other mushroom. If a mushroom product says it reduces anxiety, calms your nervous system or lowers cortisol, that wording isn’t backed by an authorised claim.

Some nutrients do have authorised claims. Magnesium, for example, contributes to normal psychological function, which is one reason we cover it separately in magnesium for anxiety.

Magic mushrooms (psilocybin) and anxiety

Psilocybin, the active compound in “magic” mushrooms, is a different subject altogether. In the UK, magic mushrooms, fresh or dried, are a Class A drug: possession can carry up to 7 years in prison and supply up to life. The research you may have read about takes place in clinical trials, with carefully screened volunteers and therapists supporting them before, during and after each session. A 2024 Cochrane review of those trials, in people with life-threatening illnesses, rated the evidence on anxiety as low certainty. Outside that setting, magic mushrooms can make you feel anxious, panicked or paranoid, can make existing mental health problems worse, and are easy to confuse with poisonous mushrooms. Psilocybin isn’t one of the NHS treatments for anxiety, and none of the functional mushrooms in this guide contain it.

Getting help for anxiety and depression in the UK

If anxiety or low mood is affecting your work, sleep or relationships, the most useful step is usually a conversation, not a supplement. Not sure what you’re feeling? See anxiety symptoms.

• See your GP if you think you might have generalised anxiety disorder, or if treatment you’ve had isn’t helping. GPs usually suggest talking therapy, most often cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and may offer medicine such as an SSRI.
• Refer yourself to NHS Talking Therapies if you live in England and are 18 or over (16 or 17 in some areas). You don’t need a diagnosis or a GP referral, and it covers depression as well as anxiety.
• Try some self-help alongside: our guides to dealing with anxiety and stopping a panic attack are a good place to start.

Other options with better evidence

For anxiety, the strongest evidence is for talking therapies such as CBT, regular exercise, good sleep and, where needed, medication. Supplements that some people try include magnesium (which contributes to normal psychological function), L-theanine, ashwagandha and CBD. If you’re choosing between an adaptogen and a mushroom, reishi vs ashwagandha sets out the differences.

Related guides

• The best natural supplements for anxiety, ranked by evidence.
• Natural ways to lift your mood.
• We look at doses, sugar and safety in more detail in our guide to mushroom gummies.