Comment · Sat, October 20, 2018 · Natrium Health & Nootropics Depot
Why does the 1:1 ND Lions Mane extract powder have higher Beta Glucan content than the more expensive 8:1 extract?
Original post in this thread
12398312 · 21 points
1:1 extract powder, with "Beta-Glugan (β-Glucan) minimum content: 25%"
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8:1 extract powder, with "Beta-Glugan (β-Glucan) minimum content: 15%"
http://nootropicsdepot.com/lions-mane-mushroom-powder-8-1-extract/
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Furthermore on the site, it says:
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As a dietary supplement, take 1000mg of Lions Mane Mushroom 8:1 extract daily
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As a dietary supplement, take 1000mg of Lion's Mane Mushroom Extract once daily.
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Wouldn't it be more appropriate to recommend that the end user takes 1/8th of the quantity of the 8:1 extract daily?
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Or is the 8:1 not actually 8 times more effective as a nootropic?
What they were answering
Direct reply to the original post — see the thread post above.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · Natrium Health & Nootropics Depot
Beta-glucans are a class of compounds. There are different ones, and some are more soluble than others in water and ethanol. So in the 8:1 you are concentrating the soluble compounds, and losing some of the insoluble ones. This means that the types of beta-glucans are shifting. You are concentrating more of the 1,3 and 1,6 branched beta glucans, and losing the 1,4 branched ones. You are also concentrating other compounds than beta glucans, like hericenones and erinacines. So the 8:1 would have higher amounts of hericenones, erinacines, and 1,3/1,6 branched beta glucans, but less total beta glucans as a whole.
Remember, when you are looking at extract ratios, it does not mean they are 8X more effective. That just means you are using 8 times the amount of raw plant to concentrate down to a single part of the extract. They types of extraction used, and the extraction efficiency, plays a massive role in the concentrations of the final product. Don't just see something like "20:1 extract" and think it's the exact same as taking 20 times as much of the raw plant powder. It does not work that way for any plant extract. It's much more complicated.