Medicinal Mushrooms and Hair Loss: What the Research Actually Tested — and What Was Never Tested

In brief5 points · 1-minute read

• No clinical trial in humans has ever tested any medicinal mushroom for hair loss, in any species, at any dose or by any route.
• Reishi inhibits the enzyme 5α-reductase in a laboratory dish, but in two randomized trials in 88 men PSA and testosterone did not move.
• The famous 2015 mouse trial was done on a different plant entirely; reishi appeared only in the test-tube screen.
• The only follicle-cell study from 2024 pointed both ways: fewer senescence markers, but also lower expression of anagen genes.
• Lion's mane, cordyceps and turkey tail have no hair-loss evidence at any grade, and one case report links reishi to hair loss.

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Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum), known in traditional Chinese medicine as lingzhi, is the only one of the four medicinal mushrooms we grow that has anything at all on record in connection with hair — and “anything” is the precise word. As of today there is not a single clinical trial in humans that has tested any medicinal mushroom as a treatment for hair loss.

What exists on reishi is enzyme inhibition in a dish, prostate tissue in rats, and two human trials on the prostate — in which the blood hormones did not move.

The kinds of evidence that do exist, from closest to a human to farthest: two randomized trials in men with a reishi extract that measured the prostate; one study on human follicle cells in culture, pointing in a mixed direction; one trial in castrated rats, on the prostate; two test-tube studies on 5α-reductase inhibition; and a single case report of hair loss attributed to reishi. On lion’s mane, cordyceps and turkey tail — zero, at every grade of evidence.

Does reishi help with hair loss?

Unknown, and nobody has checked. No clinical trial in humans has measured hair after taking reishi. The claim rests on enzyme inhibition in a laboratory dish and on a rat trial that measured the prostate. In the only two human trials with that same extract, blood hormone levels did not change — and hair was not counted.

Note the difference between “unknown” and “does not work”. We cannot say that reishi has no effect on hair, because nobody measured it. But for the same reason, anyone who tells you it does is making it up. Between an enzyme screen and counting hairs on a head there are four stations: absorption, availability in the scalp, the direction of the effect on the hair cycle, and the size of any clinical effect. Not one of them has been tested for reishi. This page shows where the chain breaks.

Where did the reishi–hair connection even come from?

From two Japanese prostate studies. In 2005, methanol extracts of 19 edible and medicinal mushrooms were screened for inhibition of the enzyme 5α-reductase, and reishi showed the strongest inhibition. In 2006 the responsible compounds were isolated from the same mushroom. In both studies the endpoint was benign prostate enlargement. Not one hair was measured.

The 2005 study (Fujita and colleagues) screened 19 mushrooms in the test tube, then tested castrated rats given testosterone: reishi fruiting body and an extract of it significantly inhibited growth of the ventral prostate. A real finding — about a rat’s prostate. The 2006 follow-up (Liu and colleagues) isolated two compounds from an ethanol extract of the fruiting body: ganoderic acid DM with an IC50 of 10.6 micromolar, and a second lanostane compound with an IC50 of 41.9 micromolar. The system: microsomes only. The chemistry is interesting, and we wrote about it on the reishi science page. But online, “reishi”, “5α-reductase” and “DHT” appeared in the same abstract, and somebody completed the equation on their own, all the way to “hair loss”. Neither of the two studies took that step.

What are 5α-reductase and DHT, and why are they relevant to hair at all?

5α-reductase is the enzyme that converts testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT is the hormone that gradually shrinks scalp follicles in people with a hereditary tendency to androgenetic alopecia, and it is also involved in prostate enlargement. That is why one enzyme interests both urologists and dermatologists — and why a prostate study gets misread as a hair study.

The marketing logic: DHT causes balding; reishi inhibits the enzyme that makes DHT; therefore reishi stops balding. Except that the middle link was measured at a given concentration, in a concentrated extract, in a dish. Inhibiting an enzyme in the test tube does not mean that after swallowing, the substance is absorbed, survives the liver and reaches the scalp at a comparable concentration. That can only be checked in humans — and in the case of reishi, it was checked. The result is in the next chapter.

Two more that get cited in the same context: competition between a reishi extract and DHT for the androgen receptor — in a prostate cancer cell line (Zaidman and colleagues, 2007); and 15 lanostanoids as androgen-receptor ligands — in a computer simulation only (Vidal-Limon and colleagues, 2017). Prostate cells and a computer. Not hair.

What happened when the same reishi extract was tested in humans?

The hormones did not move. In two randomized double-blind trials from 2007, men received 6 mg a day of the extract chosen for having the strongest 5α-reductase inhibition among 19 mushrooms. The prostate symptom score fell slightly — but serum PSA and testosterone did not change, and prostate volume did not change. Hair was not measured.

This is the most important chapter on the page: the only human evidence that exists, and on precisely the extract all the marketing rests on. The first trial (Noguchi and colleagues, 2007) enrolled 88 men over the age of 49 with lower urinary tract symptoms. The authors define the extract as having “the strongest 5α-reductase inhibitory activity among extracts of 19 edible and medicinal mushrooms” — the extract from the 2005 study. The dose: 6 mg once a day, 12 weeks. The result: a 2.1-point drop in the IPSS prostate symptom score, a mean difference versus placebo of 1.18 points (95% confidence interval: 0.62 to 1.74; P<0.0001). And in the same breath: no change in quality of life, urinary flow, residual urine, prostate volume, serum PSA or testosterone levels.

The second trial, a dose-ranging study by the same group, compared placebo (12 participants) with 0.6 mg (12), 6 mg (12) and 60 mg (14) a day, in men aged 50 and over with an IPSS of 5 or more and a PSA below 4 ng/mL. Here too: improvement in IPSS, with no change in urinary flow, residual urine, prostate volume or PSA. The recommended dose that was set: 6 mg, well tolerated.

Now connect that to the dish. If 5α-reductase inhibition translated into a hormonal signal in the body, something would have moved in the blood — testosterone, PSA, prostate volume. Nothing moved. The small drop in the symptom questionnaire is a legitimate finding, but with no hormonal sign beside it. And if the signal does not reach the blood, there is no reason to assume it reaches the follicle. That turns the story from “no information” into “there is information, and it is not what you are being sold”. Whoever cites 2005 and omits 2007 is omitting the part that contradicts it.

“Reishi grew hair in mice” — where did that myth come from?

From reading half a title. A 2015 study screened nine traditional Chinese herbs against 5α-reductase in the test tube; reishi was among four that showed strong inhibition. The hair-growth trial in mice was done on a single plant — Platycladus orientalis leaves. Reishi never entered the animal stage. The title itself says so explicitly.

The study (Zhang and colleagues, 2015) is titled “Inhibitory activities of some traditional Chinese herbs against testosterone 5α-reductase and effects of Cacumen platycladi on hair re-growth in testosterone-treated mice”. The first half of the title is about an enzyme screen; the second half names the only plant tested on hair. Anyone who read only the first half saw “reishi — strong inhibition” and “hair re-growth in mice” on the same line, and assembled the sentence themselves.

What actually happened in the C57BL/6 mice: Cacumen platycladi extract at 5 mg and 2 mg per mouse per day shortened the hair-growth time (P<0.01), slowed the entry of follicles into telogen, and lowered DHT and 5αR-II expression in the skin. A nice finding — about a different plant. If you see someone citing this study as proof that reishi grows hair, they have not read it.

And a simple test that sums it all up: a PubMed search for reishi combined with shampoo, scalp application or a topical preparation returns one result in the entire database — and it is exactly this paper. The world’s entire literature on reishi on the scalp amounts to a paper that is not about reishi on the scalp.

What did the study closest to hair actually find?

A 2024 study on human hair follicle cells in culture. A reishi extract reduced senescence markers and free radicals induced by the stress hormone CRH — but in that same study the extract also lowered the expression of genes tied to anagen, the growth phase of the hair. Mixed direction, in a dish, no animal, no human.

The study (Lee and colleagues, iScience 2024) is the only one in the world to have brought reishi together with human follicle cells, so it is worth reading in full. The cells were exposed to CRH, a hormone of the stress response, which raised SA-β-GAL and free radicals and suppressed ALP and anagen-inducing genes. The reishi extract restored ALP, lowered SA-β-GAL and ROS, prevented MAPK phosphorylation and reversed the inhibition of Ki67. So far — a protective direction.

Then the sentence most citations leave out: the extract “lowered the expression levels of anagen-related genes” in the CRH-treated cells — the opposite direction from what you would expect of a hair-loss treatment. The mechanism the authors themselves propose is inhibition of cellular senescence and a delay in the entry into catagen, not hair growth. A starting point for an animal study; not evidence on a head.

The stress–hair link itself is well established, and has nothing to do with mushrooms: human hair follicles in culture respond to CRH and secrete cortisol (Ito and colleagues, 2005), and in follicles from the balding scalp of men, CRH raises catagen-inducing TGF-β2 (P<0.001) and inhibits keratinocyte proliferation (Fischer and colleagues, 2020). The substance that neutralised all of those effects there was caffeine at 0.001% or 0.005% — not a mushroom.

What was actually measured — and what was never measured?

The table below sorts all the evidence on reishi by test system, from the dish to a human being: what was actually measured, and whether hair was measured. The right-hand column says “no” from top to bottom, and in the human rows the hormones did not move. This table alone tells the whole story.

What about lion’s mane, cordyceps and turkey tail?

Nothing. No trial, no cells, no mouse, no case report. We checked PubMed species by species: lion’s mane and hair returned one publication — on trace elements in dog hair. Cordyceps — one publication, on a herbal blend in mice that isolated no ingredient. Turkey tail — one publication, on hair dyeing. Zero on hair loss.

It is worth knowing these three results, because each of them may show up online as “a study on mushrooms and hair”. Lion’s mane (Hericium erinaceus): a 2026 study of 8 anxious dogs versus 21 control dogs, 1000 mg per 10 kg a day for 28 days; anxiety scores fell by 62% (P=0.002), and the minerals in the hair stayed stable except for a rise in calcium (P=0.012). “Hair” here is a sample, not an endpoint. Cordyceps: a 2019 study of a herbal blend called 4HGF in nanoparticles of about 400 nm in C57BL/6N mice — multi-ingredient, and the mushroom’s contribution to it was not isolated. Turkey tail (Trametes versicolor): a 2016 study using the laccase enzyme from the mushroom to dye grey human hair within 2.5 hours. Dyeing. Not hair loss.

Nor is there human evidence on mushrooms we do not grow. The strongest evidence in the mushroom world in the direction of the follicle is on chaga: lanostane-type triterpenes improved the proliferation of human dermal papilla cells in culture more than minoxidil as the positive control in the same dish (Sagayama and colleagues, 2019). “More than minoxidil in a dish” is not “more than minoxidil on a head”, and on chaga no animal or human trial has been done. Why we do not grow it — we wrote here.

What did we find when we searched — and nothing came back?

8 queries returned zero results in all of PubMed — including every pairing of a medicinal mushroom with telogen effluvium, alopecia areata or “androgenetic alopecia”. Three authoritative meta-analyses of hair-loss treatments do not mention mushrooms on any line. Evidence of absence here is not “we did not find it” — it is “there is none”.

Absence of evidence is evidence when the search is systematic. Mushroom (mushrooms in general, reishi, cordyceps or lion’s mane) with telogen effluvium or alopecia areata — 0 results. “Medicinal mushroom” with “androgenetic alopecia” — 0. Cordycepin with dermal papilla cells in mice — 0. Screening of mushroom extracts for 5α-reductase inhibition — 0. In other words: there is not one publication in the world linking a medicinal mushroom to telogen effluvium or alopecia areata. The broadest query, mushrooms with androgenetic alopecia, returned 7 results; we read all of them, and none is a clinical trial. Measuring scalp DHT after a mushroom — 4 results, all prostate, simulation or a cancer cell line.

And from the other side, the literature on hair-loss treatments that does exist: a network meta-analysis in JAMA Dermatology from 2022 summarised 23 studies; a systematic review from 2023 screened 2,314 papers and found 17 that met its criteria; a network meta-analysis from 2026 included 27 papers and 3,012 participants; and a comprehensive review from 2025 searched five databases for the years 2015–2024. In all four, medicinal mushrooms appear on no line — not because they were forgotten, but because no mushroom preparation has ever produced a trial that could be included.

And this is how “no evidence” becomes “established”: a 2025 pharmacology review of reishi writes that recent research “highlighted its potential for treating alopecia” — without citing a study, a species, a dose or a test system. A cosmetics review from the same year writes that mushrooms “have become a popular ingredient in hair-care products” — marketing, not a finding. Go looking for the study behind those sentences, and you arrive back at 2005 (prostate) and 2015 (a different plant). That is the whole circle.

What is actually evidence-based for hair loss?

For hereditary hair loss there are treatments with evidence from meta-analyses of randomized trials: minoxidil, finasteride and dutasteride, alongside PRP and low-level laser. Their differences are measured in hairs per square centimetre. This is a medical field with a differential diagnosis; the place to go is a dermatologist, not a supplement, and certainly not a farm’s website.

We will not list doses and we will not recommend a drug — that is not our role. What does matter: androgenetic alopecia, telogen effluvium, alopecia areata and chemotherapy-induced alopecia are four different diseases with four mechanisms, and each has a different treatment. The first step is a diagnosis, not a purchase.

And there is a standard a botanical supplement can meet: a 2025 multicentre randomized trial in 225 subjects with androgenetic alopecia tested a supplement of saw palmetto, pumpkin seed, L-cystine and vitamin C added to drug treatment, for 6 months. “Much improvement” was recorded in 36.5% versus 25% on drug treatment alone (P=0.04). A trial with measurement, a control and a blinded assessor — and no mushroom supplement has ever tried to meet it.

For whom does the anti-androgenic activity matter as a precaution?

Anyone taking 5α-reductase inhibitors or hormone therapy, anyone under PSA monitoring, and women who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy. In the human trials reishi did not change PSA or testosterone, and that is reassuring — but the mechanism studied in the laboratory is anti-androgenic, and here every supplement goes through the physician, not a product page.

Anyone on finasteride or dutasteride, and anyone under PSA monitoring. A 2014 review (Morgia and colleagues) notes that the PSA reduction under 5α-reductase inhibitors is observed up to 48 months from the start of treatment, and that any rise from the lowest point should be regarded as suspicious. Interpreting your PSA is already complicated; an additional substance with anti-androgenic activity in the test tube enters the same equation — even if in the human trials it did not move PSA. Tell your physician about every supplement, including ours.

Pregnancy and planning a pregnancy. Anti-androgenic hair-loss treatments are not suitable in pregnancy, which is why finasteride is contraindicated for women of childbearing age. Mushroom extracts have no pregnancy safety data in the literature reviewed here, and an absence of data is not proof of safety. In pregnancy, while breastfeeding, or when planning — consult a physician before any supplement. Hormone therapy of any kind — the same rule. More on drug interactions on the dedicated page.

Has hair loss from a mushroom supplement ever been documented?

There is one case report in the literature, from 2013, describing anagen effluvium as part of a severe aplastic crisis attributed to reishi. The abstract is not available, so no dose or clinical details can be cited from it. A single case report does not prove causation — but it is not zero, so it is here.

We mention the case for two reasons: it is the only human documentation that has ever linked reishi to hair, and it does not point in the direction marketers like; and this is what honesty looks like — whoever says there is no evidence for growth must also say there is a single report of loss, and what it is worth. A broad query on mushroom supplements, hair loss and adverse effects returned 5 results, and none is a report of hair loss from a supplement of one of our four mushrooms. More on documented side effects.

What we actually measure in our bottle

After a whole page that says “not measured”, you deserve to know what was. We grow the mushrooms ourselves on our farm in the Galilee — fresh fruiting body, not mycelium grown on grain and not imported powder whose name on the sack cannot be verified. The mushroom goes from harvest straight into extraction, with no drying step in between; as far as we know, we are among the very few in the world who work this way. The extraction is triple, and its alcohol stage runs for 7 weeks. Extraction ratios on a fresh-mushroom basis: reishi 1:3, cordyceps 1:2.5, lion’s mane 1:2, and turkey tail + reishi 1:3. Alcohol in the finished extract: 32%.

And the numbers are not ours to set. We sent the finished extracts for testing at TÜV Austria, and what came back is the beta-glucan percentage on a dry-matter basis — and beside it alpha-glucan, meaning starch, which was not detected in any of them. Alpha-glucan not detected is the chemical proof that there is no grain in the bottle. To understand why that matters, it helps to know the market’s three-step ladder: mycelium grown on grain, where beta-glucan is usually below 7% and most of the weight is the grain’s starch; imported dried fruiting body, whose quality depends on who dried it and when; and fresh fruiting body from the farm, which is what we do. Why beta-glucan and not “total polysaccharides” — we explained separately.

All our tests are public, and anyone who wants to read the report themselves will find our guide to reading a COA. Kosher certification — Mateh Yehuda Rabbinate, Rabbi Gad Atias. That is what we know how to measure and prove about what is in the bottle. What it will do for hair loss was not measured — so it is not written.

What this page does not say — and what we do not claim

We do not claim that reishi, lion’s mane, cordyceps or turkey tail treat hair loss, prevent it or slow it — in any type of hair loss. We do not claim that 5α-reductase inhibition in the test tube is a clinical achievement; in humans the hormones did not move. We do not claim that our extracts “support hair health” — marketing language with no measurement behind it. Under DSHEA, a dietary supplement may not claim to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease, and this page makes no such claim. Nor do we claim the opposite: there is no evidence that mushrooms harm hair, beyond a single case report that did not prove causation. What we do say: anyone dealing with hair loss needs a diagnosis from a dermatologist and a treatment with evidence, and does not need to buy anything from us for that. We sell mushroom extracts, and we are telling you explicitly not to buy them for hair. That is the point of this page.

The bottom line

There is no evidence that medicinal mushrooms treat hair loss in humans. Full stop. Reishi inhibits 5α-reductase in a dish; the human trials with that same extract measured the prostate and not hair, and in them PSA and testosterone did not change; the only follicle-cell study showed a mixed direction; the famous mouse trial was done on a different plant; and on the other three mushrooms there is not even a weak study. If you are dealing with hair loss — the address is a dermatologist and a treatment with evidence, not a supplement. And if someone is selling you a mushroom for hair, send them this page.

Frequently asked questions

Does reishi help against balding?

Unknown, because no clinical trial in humans has tested it. What does exist: reishi inhibits the enzyme 5α-reductase in a laboratory dish, and in two randomized trials in men it slightly lowered the prostate symptom score. In those same trials hair was not measured at all, and blood levels of testosterone and PSA did not change. “Unknown” is not “works”.

I saw a study where reishi grew hair in mice. Is that true?

No. That is a 2015 study that screened nine Chinese herbs against 5α-reductase in the test tube, and reishi appeared only in that screening stage. The hair-growth trial in mice was done on an entirely different plant — Platycladus orientalis leaves, named explicitly in the paper’s title. Reishi never entered the animal stage. Whoever cites the study as proof has not read it.

Reishi blocks DHT, and DHT causes balding. So it works, doesn’t it?

That is a logical leap, not a finding. Inhibiting an enzyme at a given concentration in a concentrated extract in a dish does not show that the substance is absorbed and reaches the scalp in sufficient quantity after swallowing. In the two human trials with that exact extract, at 6 mg a day for 12 weeks, blood levels of testosterone and PSA did not change at all. The signal never reached the blood.

There is a study on human hair cells with reishi — what did it show?

A 2024 study on human follicle cells in culture. A reishi extract reduced markers of cellular senescence and free radicals induced by the stress hormone CRH. But in that same study the extract also lowered the expression of genes tied to the hair’s growth phase — the opposite direction from the one expected. Cells in a dish, not hair on a head, and not in one clear direction either.

What about lion’s mane, cordyceps and turkey tail?

Nothing. We checked PubMed species by species. The search for lion’s mane and hair returned one publication — on trace elements in the hair of anxious dogs. Cordyceps — one publication, on a multi-ingredient herbal blend in mice that isolated no single component. Turkey tail — one publication, on enzymatic hair dyeing. Zero evidence on hair loss at any grade whatsoever.

If mushrooms do not help, what does work?

For hereditary hair loss there are treatments with evidence from meta-analyses of randomized trials: minoxidil, finasteride and dutasteride, alongside PRP and low-level laser. The differences between them are measured in hairs per square centimetre. But there are several types of hair loss with different mechanisms, so the first step is a diagnosis from a physician or dermatologist — not a supplement and not a product page.

Could taking mushrooms actually cause hair loss?

There is one case report in the literature, from 2013, linking reishi to anagen effluvium as part of an aplastic crisis in the blood. The abstract is not available, so no dose or details can be cited from it. A single case report does not prove causation — but it is not zero either. Beyond it, we found no report of hair loss from a supplement of any of our four mushrooms.

I take finasteride or dutasteride, or I am pregnant. Is there a problem combining mushrooms?

That is a question for your treating physician, not for a product page. 5α-reductase inhibitors lower PSA over years and change how prostate monitoring is interpreted, and an additional substance with anti-androgenic activity enters the same equation. For pregnancy there are no safety data on mushroom extracts in the literature reviewed, and an absence of data is not proof of safety. Tell your physician about every supplement.

Scientific sources (peer-reviewed)

• Methanol extracts of 19 edible and medicinal mushrooms were screened for 5α-reductase inhibition; reishi showed the strongest inhibition, and the fruiting body or its extract inhibited testosterone-induced ventral prostate growth in castrated rats. Endpoint: benign prostate enlargement. Hair was not measured — Fujita R, et al. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2005. View on PubMed
• Activity-guided fractionation of an ethanol extract of reishi fruiting body isolated ganoderic acid DM (IC50 of 10.6 micromolar) and a second lanostane compound (IC50 of 41.9 micromolar) as 5α-reductase inhibitors in microsomes only — Liu J, et al. Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 2006. View on PubMed
• Nine traditional Chinese herbs were screened against 5α-reductase; four, reishi among them, showed strong inhibition in the test tube. The hair-growth trial in C57BL/6 mice was done on Cacumen platycladi extract only (5 and 2 mg per mouse per day), which shortened hair-growth time (P<0.01) and lowered DHT. Reishi did not enter the animal arm — Zhang B, et al. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2015. View on PubMed
• In human hair follicle cells in culture, a reishi extract restored ALP activity, lowered SA-β-GAL and ROS and prevented MAPK phosphorylation after CRH exposure — and in the same study lowered the expression of anagen-related genes. Cells in culture only — Lee S, et al. iScience, 2024. View on PubMed
• Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial in 88 men over 49: the reishi extract with the strongest 5α-reductase inhibition among 19 mushrooms, 6 mg a day, 12 weeks. IPSS fell 2.1 points (difference versus placebo 1.18; 95% CI 0.62–1.74; P<0.0001); no change in prostate volume, PSA or testosterone. Hair was not measured — Noguchi M, et al. Asian Journal of Andrology, 2007. View on PubMed
• Randomized double-blind dose-ranging trial: placebo (12), 0.6 mg (12), 6 mg (12) or 60 mg (14) of reishi extract a day in men aged 50 and over. IPSS improved; no change in urinary flow, residual urine, prostate volume or PSA. Recommended dose set: 6 mg. Hair was not measured — Noguchi M, et al. Asian Journal of Andrology, 2007. View on PubMed
• Ethyl-acetate extract of reishi in the LNCaP prostate cancer cell line: apoptosis via caspase-8 and caspase-3, down-regulation of cyclin D1, and competition with DHT for the androgen receptor. A cancer cell line in culture — not a follicle, not a scalp — Zaidman BZ, et al. International Journal of Oncology, 2007. View on PubMed
• Virtual screening and molecular dynamics of 15 lanostanoids from reishi as possible ligands of the human androgen receptor. Computer simulation only, with no biological experiment — Vidal-Limon AM, et al. International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms, 2017. View on PubMed
• Case report: acute vesiculobullous hand dermatitis and anagen effluvium in an aplastic crisis attributed to reishi. The abstract is not available on PubMed; no dose or clinical details can be cited from it. A single report, causation not proven — Choi MJ, et al. Annals of Hematology, 2013. View on PubMed
• The only PubMed publication on turkey tail and hair: laccase from Trametes versicolor was used to polymerise catechin and catechol for dyeing grey human hair within 2.5 hours. Dyeing — not hair loss — Im KM, Jeon JR. Journal of Visualized Experiments, 2016. View on PubMed
• The only PubMed publication on lion’s mane and hair: 8 anxious dogs versus 21 control dogs, 1000 mg per 10 kg a day for 28 days; anxiety scores fell 62% (P=0.002); hair minerals stable except for a rise in calcium (P=0.012). Hair as a sample, not as an endpoint — Çevik Ç, et al. Biological Trace Element Research, 2026. View on PubMed
• The only PubMed publication on cordyceps and hair: the multi-ingredient herbal blend 4HGF in nanoparticles of about 400 nm increased hair length and brought anagen forward in C57BL/6N mice. No single component’s contribution was isolated — Lee HJ, et al. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2019. View on PubMed
• Five lanostane-type triterpenes from chaga showed a pro-proliferative effect on human dermal papilla cells in culture stronger than minoxidil as the positive control. Dish only — no animal, no human — Sagayama K, et al. Journal of Natural Medicines, 2019. View on PubMed
• Pharmacology review of reishi containing the sentence that recent research highlighted its potential “for treating alopecia” — without citing a study, species, dose or test system. The origin of the myth in the review literature — Sarkar T, et al. Natural Product Research, 2025. View on PubMed
• Review of mushrooms in cosmetics: on hair it says only that mushrooms “have become a popular ingredient in hair-care products” — with not one clinical study in the body of the abstract — Rukhsar S, et al. Archives of Dermatological Research, 2025. View on PubMed
• Human hair follicles in organ culture respond to CRH, secrete cortisol and run a local HPA-type feedback loop — the basis of the stress–hair-loss link, unrelated to mushrooms — Ito N, et al. FASEB Journal, 2005. View on PubMed
• In follicles from the balding scalp of men, CRH raised TGF-β2 (P<0.001), ACTH and MC-R2 and inhibited keratinocyte proliferation; caffeine at 0.001% or 0.005% neutralised the effects. In that model, the substance with the evidence is caffeine — Fischer TW, et al. The British Journal of Dermatology, 2020. View on PubMed
• Network meta-analysis of 23 studies in men with androgenetic alopecia: minoxidil versus 5α-reductase inhibitors compared by hair count per square centimetre at 24 and 48 weeks. Mushrooms are not mentioned — Gupta AK, et al. JAMA Dermatology, 2022. View on PubMed
• Systematic review and network meta-analysis: of 2,314 papers, 98 were read in full and 17 met the criteria of a randomized placebo-controlled trial measuring hair density at 24 weeks. No mushroom preparation is on the list — Feldman PR, et al. Frontiers in Medicine, 2023. View on PubMed
• Network meta-analysis of 27 papers (3,012 participants) on drug combinations in androgenetic alopecia. No mushroom-based intervention was included in any arm — Bai Y, et al. Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, 2026. View on PubMed
• Comprehensive review of drugs for alopecia based on five databases for the years 2015–2024: finasteride, minoxidil, JAK inhibitors and anti-androgens for non-scarring alopecia. Medicinal mushrooms appear on no line — Valdez-Zertuche JA, et al. Expert Opinion on Drug Metabolism & Toxicology, 2025. View on PubMed
• Multicentre randomized assessor-blinded trial in 225 subjects with androgenetic alopecia: a supplement of saw palmetto, pumpkin seed, L-cystine and vitamin C added to drug treatment, 6 months; “much improvement” 36.5% versus 25% (P=0.04). The evidence standard no mushroom supplement has tried to meet — Milani M, Alfano S. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2025. View on PubMed
• Review of 5α-reductase inhibitors and PSA: the PSA reduction is observed up to 48 months from the start of treatment; any rise from the lowest point should be regarded as suspicious. The reason to talk to a physician and not to a product page — Morgia G, et al. Urologia, 2014. View on PubMed

Read next

• Medicinal mushrooms and autoimmune disease — what the research actually tested
• Medicinal mushrooms and the liver — what was measured in humans
• Medicinal mushrooms and blood sugar — what the research actually tested
• Medicinal mushrooms by goal — the hub
• The research hub
• Reishi science — what was measured and what was not
• Cordyceps science
• Do medicinal mushrooms have side effects?
• Drug interactions
• Regulation of mushroom supplements in Israel
• Lab results — beta-glucan
• How to read a test report (COA)
• Beta-glucan vs polysaccharides
• Fresh or dried mushroom
• Extraction ratio — what the number means
• Chaga — why we do not grow it

This page is educational and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis or a substitute for professional care. Medicinal mushroom extracts are dietary supplements, not drugs, and are not intended for hair loss or any other medical condition. For hair loss, see a physician or dermatologist to diagnose the cause and receive evidence-based treatment. Before starting any supplement — and especially in pregnancy, while breastfeeding, on hormone therapy, on 5α-reductase inhibitors, under PSA monitoring, on regular medication or with an existing medical condition — consult a physician. *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.*