NOW Foods Lion's Mane

Verdict

A solid budget pick from a legacy GMP-certified brand using organic fruiting body powder, but transparency stops at the marketing copy: there are no public lot-level COAs and no labeled beta-glucan percentage, so you are trusting NOW's in-house lab rather than verifying it yourself.

Best for: Budget-first readers who want a mainstream brand.

Score breakdown

Each axis is scored 0 to 10. The overall NootroScore weights potency 40%, purity 25%, value 20%, and transparency 15%. See the full methodology.

Potency Beta-glucan content as disclosed on each brand's published Certificate of Analysis, weighed against the label claim.

7/10

Purity Heavy-metals and microbial test results, where the brand publishes a per-batch COA, evaluated against USP-grade thresholds.

8/10

Value Cost per active milligram of beta-glucan, normalized across formats.

9/10

Transparency Sourcing disclosure, public certificate-of-analysis access, and label accuracy.

6/10

What we liked

• + USDA-organic Lion's Mane fruiting body (Hericium erinaceus), not mycelium-on-grain, per the supplement facts panel
• + Manufactured in NOW's Bloomingdale IL facility (NSF/ANSI 455-2 GMP, UL National Brand, NPA A-rated GMP, SQF certified)
• + Cheapest-per-serving tier in the mainstream Lion's Mane panel, with a 120-cap SKU available for further cost reduction
• + Broad availability across Amazon, iHerb, Vitacost, Kroger, Sprouts, and independent health stores
• + Clean formulation: organic Lion's Mane powder, organic inulin, vegetable capsule, no proprietary blends or fillers

Where it falls short

• − No published beta-glucan percentage on the label or product page, so the active polysaccharide concentration is unknown
• − Straight mushroom powder, not a standardized hot-water or dual extract, so per-mg potency is lower than concentrated extracts
• − No publicly accessible per-batch COA; NOW relies on in-house ISO-accredited testing plus supplier audits, not lot-level disclosure
• − 1000 mg daily serving (2 capsules) is on the low end for cognitive-support protocols where trials typically dose 3000 mg+
• − Mass-market positioning: brand is optimized for shelf price across thousands of SKUs, not for specialist mushroom science

At a glance

Extract

Fruiting body powder

Beta-glucan content

Not disclosed

Serving

2 capsules daily

Servings per bottle

60

Third-party tested

Not disclosed

Vegan

Yes