What is Cordyceps?

Cordyceps is an adaptogenic mushroom that has been used for centuries as a traditional medicine of China and by the people in the mountains of Tibet as a remedy for fatigue and weakness.

The name cordyceps comes from the Latin words ‘cord’ and ‘ceps’ which mean ‘club’ and ‘head’. Effectively, these words describe the appearance of the fungus. It grows in high mountains at an altitude of around 3,500 to 5,000 meters above sea level and is found in Nepal Himalayas, Tibet, Bhutan, Sichuan, Quanghai, Xizang and Yunnan provinces of China.

It was written about in Tibet from the 15th century, of which much of this knowledge is now being studied and scientifically tested.

One of the main active compounds within cordyceps is beta glucans polysaccharides. These are long sugar chains with many oxygen sections within them. As these sugars break down the oxygen molecules are released and absorbed on a cellular level.

What is Cordyceps 10:1 extract?

Cordyceps 10:1 extract is not exactly 10x more potent than a 1:1 extract but it signifies that 10g of raw cordyceps powder was used to generate 1g of 10:1 extract.

Clinical studies have shown dosages above 3g have attributed to the most benefits and around 4-6 have resulted in increased oxygen saturation and lactate clearance.

Each serving of our athletic stack provides the equivalent of 4g.

What are the benefits?

  • Improved aerobic endurance
  • Improved tolerance to high intensity exercise
  • Supports immune system & recovery
  • Improved libido and fertility

Improves aerobic endurance

Cordyceps has been shown to increase ATP ( adenosine triphosphate) production by as much as 55% [1].

Increased synthesis of ATP results in the body being able to provide more energy that can be used for workouts. Cordyceps makes oxygen utilisation more efficient and studies have shown an improvement of oxygen utilisation of up to 40% [1].

Improved oxygen utilisation combined with enhanced blood flow results in an improved endurance exercise capacity meaning you can workout for longer before exhaustion.

It has been shown that when cordyceps and rhodiola were used the exhaustive run time was noticeably longer and parasympathetic activity was regulated which is a sign of your bodies ability to cope with stress, allowing for greater endurance performance [2].

Increases tolerance to high intensity exercise

Similar to the aerobic benefits cordyceps provides this can also contribute to improvements when training at a high intensity.

Lactate clearance may be enhanced due improved blood flow and oxygen utilisation, combined with the reduction of oxidative stress this may result in fatigue being delayed allowing you to maintain a high intensity for longer. Therefore, performance gains may come through being able to train at a higher intensity and fatigue being delayed. [3].

A significant reduction of time was found for running longer distances of 5km and shorter running distances of 200m. Additionally, oxygen saturation levels were decreased sharply from 100% to 60-75% in placebo groups whereas the cordyceps subjects maintained 95% until the end of a 5 minute treadmill test [4].

Supports immune system & recovery

Undergoing high intensity exercise will cause muscle damage therefore it is key to be able to recover in between sets and workouts.

Inflammation is an immune response for muscle regeneration after damage. Cordyceps has been shown to help accelerate the resolution of exercise-induced muscle inflammation when taken before workouts. This is due to a potential preconditioning affect of using a pro-inflammatory stimulus to help the recovery of muscle inflammation post workout [5].

Cordyceps has been found to provide an immune boosting properties and it helped increase the production of ‘natural killer’ (NK) cell activity [6]. NK cells are the bodies way of fighting off infections but can also help increase T-cell production which can help in the building of muscle power as this is improved with healthy cells [1].

Improved libido and fertility

Sexual desire and drive can be improved with cordyceps supplementation.

Three separate double-blind, placebo controlled studies with over 200 men with ‘reduced libido and other sexual problems’ demonstrated results that on average 64% of cordyceps users reported significant improvement of their symptoms [1]. Sperm count has also been shown to increase by 33% after 8 weeks of cordyceps supplementation [7].

References

[1]https://jeffreydachmd.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Cordyceps-Sinesis-Medical-Mushroom-Richard-Alan-Miller-Nexus.pdf

[2]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4174424/

[3]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5236007/

[4]https://ajbs.scione.com/cms/fulltext.php?id=813#2333562_ja

[5]https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2024/fo/d3fo03770c

[6]https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-58742-z

[7]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4791983/