
Why Lion's Mane capsules are our best-selling product...
When we started Flow State, the mushy buzz was just starting to swell across New Zealand. We were inspired by the likes of Paul Stamets, Aubrey Marcus, and Joe Rogan- spreading the good mycological word across the American airwaves and around the world. Around the same time, Michael Pollan published "How to Change your Mind: the New Science of Psychedelics"- a mushroom positive perspective that you could share with your parents. The world was changing fast.
What emerged from these changing times was a groundswell of humans looking to optimise performance, vitality, concentration, and cognition, and seeking natural ways to do so. Who wouldn't want to be more focused, clear headed, and able to tap into flow state?
We were having conversations on the daily with a wide cross section of Kiwis who were looking for medicinal mushrooms to try them out for themselves and see what all the hype was about.
Our OG product, the Flow State 4-blend, covered all the medicinal mushrooms bases in terms overall health support- immunity, nervous system, digestion, and cognition.
Fast forward 12 months, and our most requested product was Lion's Mane. We were stoked to launch our Lion's Mane capsules in November 2020. Despite releasing three new products since then, the lion's mane capsules are by far our best seller, and the product on which we receive the most positive customer feedback.

What our customers say:
"Fantastic product! I have tried 3 different lion's mane products from different companies. This one was the most effective I have tried! I presume the others had fillers and other stuff in them. Love this product! I felt the difference probably around day 3. I recently suffered a mild concussion, and this was amazing for the brain fog and helped my processing. I also find it is helping my stomach issues! Wonderful 😊" -Jeremy K
"Great product - feeling much more clear-headed and my moods have also improved." -Hugo G
How it works:
Traditionally, lion's mane was used for treating stomach and digestive problems. However, lion's mane stands out, and has really come to be known specifically for its effects on the brain.
"[Lion's mane] has the ability to repair and regenerate neurons in your body, resulting in improved overall cognitive function, and lion's mane has been known to reverse and mitigate the effects of neurological diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and dementia." Tero Isokauppila (2017)
Lion's mane works by stimulating the synthesis of nerve growth factor (NGF) proteins, which protect existing neurons and stimulate new neuron growth. NGF proteins play an important role in nervous system operation. However, NGF proteins are too large to pass through the blood/brain barrier (an internal filtering system which protects the central nervous system by filtering our foreign compounds). If the brain doesn't generate sufficient NGF proteins, it can lead to degenerative neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and dementia.
Let's break down the Latin name of our beloved Lion's mane: Hericium erinaceus
Hericenones are molecular compounds that stimulate the brain to make more NGF.
Erinacines are powerful compounds that are small enough to permeate the blood-brain barrier.
Lion's Mane literally stimulates the brain to make more NGF proteins from within the brain. Hence the improved concentration, focus, clarity, and the feeling of flow state. Mushrooms are so fucking incredible.
Lion's mane is here to stay.

Not only were the health benefits of medicinal mushrooms going mainstream around 2018, but the therapeutic potential of psilocybin (the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms) for healing trauma, depression, addiction, and end of life anxiety was inspiring a mycelial renaissance in mushroom culture and mycology around the world.
For any psilo-friendly medicine consumers out there, you may have heard of the 'Stamets stack' for micro (and macro-dosing) psilocybin. He recommends using psilocybin, lion's mane, and niacin (B6) in unison for optimal neurogenesis and cellular regeneration. As the psilocybin quiets down the default mode network of the brain, lion's mane promotes the formation of new neural pathways (thought patterns and beliefs), with the added flushing support of the niacin to help distribute the medicine throughout the body and penetrate the blood/brain barrier. The trifecta. You can read more about it here.
Psychedelic mushrooms being illegal for consumption in New Zealand, we do not advise consuming psilocybin. That being said- the same principle of the Stamet's stack applies with taking your lions mane- sans psilocybin.
https://thethirdwave.co/microdosing-psilocybin-mushrooms-stamets-stack/
There are many reasons this mushroom has stolen our hearts and minds. It is an inspiring example of the natural kingdom providing humans with her secret nectar for living the fullest, most switched-on human experience available.
Want to say thank you to our ever-providing mother earth? Open up one of your lion's mane capsules and sprinkle it in your garden or backyard as an offering of gratitude. Or just put another one in your mouth. Up to you.

I ordered some Lions Mane mushroom capsules and after a while of waiting and them not turning up I contacted Flow State. Wow, what amazing friendly and helpful service, they delay was not their fault at all the couriers were experiencing delays but the guy from Flow State was so apologetic and insisted that he compensate me for the inconvenience, this was above and beyond what I expected, thank you so much. I wish you all the best for you business in the future
Hi
I hope you’re gearing up for being able to provide the full stack one day here!! 😃
Hi
I hope you’re gearing up for being able to provide the full stack one day here!! 😃
Thank you for this inspiring and enlightening post.