Cordyceps sinensis is a highly valued medicinal mushroom in both Classical Chinese Medicine and modern clinical practice. In China it is called "winter worm, summer grass", and the "caterpillar mushroom". Cordyceps is found in the highlands of China, Tibet, and Nepal, above 10,000 feet.

Cordyceps attracted the attention of the general public and the health profession in 1993 when a group of Chinese runners broke nine world records in the World Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Germany. Afterwards the coach attributed those results to the athletes regular use of a cordyceps based tonic. Because Cordyseps helps increase stamina, energy levels, and endurance, it has become one of the top selling sports supplements amongst the worlds' elite competitive athletes.

Clinically, Cordyceps is used to build and support immune function in various immune compromised conditions including chronic fatigue, cancer, and respiratory conditions, especially asthma.

Cordyceps Sinensis Cs-4
The wild fruiting form of Cordyceps used in Traditional Chinese Medicine is extremely rare in the wild and because of this it is very expensive. Chinese scientists spent many years looking for a vegetative form of Cordyceps that would produce the same active compounds as the fruit body; the result of that research is the Cordyceps strain Cs-4.

All of the published clinical research has been conducted with hot water extracts of the mycelium of the Cs-4 strain of Cordyceps, the same strain MushroomScience uses to produce their high potency extract.

Clinical Research
There has been a significant amount of research done on Cordyceps. Studies have looked at the immuno-modulating and immuno-regulating activities, uses in supporting renal health and respiratory health, and adrenal and glycemic modulation.* 1,2

Traditional Use and Preparation
Cordyceps is sweet and acrid in taste and warm in nature, acting through the lung and kidney channels.3 Cordyceps invigorates the kidneys and protects the lungs.* Cordyceps is also used to replenish the bone marrow and increase blood production, and is used in cases of fatigue, sexual impotence, night sweats, anemia, bacterial infections, and debility after illness.*4 For most conditions Cordyceps is prepared as a decoction, although when used as a tonic in TCM the fruit bodies are often cooked into a chicken broth.5

Active Constituents
Polysaccharides, Cordycepin, Sterols, Adenosine, Cordycepic Acid

Extraction Information
Wild Cordyceps sinensis fruit bodies and cultivated Cordyceps sinensis mycelium have demonstrated equal levels of immune activity,* neither being superior to the other.6 The modern clinical research has been conducted with hot-water extracts of the cultivated mycelium. The optimal preparation for both is a hot-water or hot-water/ethanol extract.

Our product is a hot-water/ethanol extract from the Cs-4 strain of Cordyceps. The mycelium is cultivated on an all-natural chemical-free nutrient base. This process yields all of the active constituents that make Cordyceps one of the most highly prized medicinal mushrooms.

References

1. Zhu, J., et al., The Scientific Rediscovery of an Ancient Chinese Herbal Medicine: Cordyceps sinensis, Part 1. The Journal of Alt and Comp Med. 1998 (4); 3:289-303.
2. Zhu, J., et al., The Scientific Rediscovery of an Ancient Chinese Herbal Medicine: Cordyceps sinensis, Part 2. The Journal of Alt and Comp Med. 1998 (4); 4:429-57.
3. Hobbs, C., Medicinal Mushrooms. Botanica Press. 1995.
4. Xie, Z., Huang, X., Lou, Z., Li, S., Zhou, L., Yuan, S., Yang, Z., Tang, Z., Dictionary of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The Commercial Press Ltd., Hong Kong. 1988.
5. Liu, B., Bau, Y., Fungi Pharmacopoeia. Kiniko Press. 1980.
6. Chen, D., et al. Effects of natural Cordyceps and the cultured mycelia of Cordyceps sinensis on murine immune organs and functions of mononuclear phagocyte system. Abstracts of Chinese Medicine, 1:371. 1985.