Cordyceps

A parasitic fungus from Chinese medicine, taken for energy, stamina and exercise recovery.

People take it for

Energy and tiredness
Exercise recovery
Alertness during exercise
Immune function

A plain-English overview, not advice. Written from published reviews and trials and from what people say in public forums.

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What is cordyceps?

Cordyceps is a parasitic fungus. In the wild it is Cordyceps sinensis, also known as the Chinese caterpillar fungus, which grows out of a caterpillar high on the Himalayan plateau and has been used as a tonic herb in Chinese medicine for centuries. Because wild Cordyceps sinensis is rare and expensive, most supplements today use a related cultivated species, Cordyceps militaris, grown on grain, or mycelium grown by fermentation rather than gathered from the wild. In Britain it is sold as capsules, powders and extracts, with a long tradition in East Asian medicine as what is called an adaptogenic tonic, associated with fatigue and everyday vitality.

Why do people take cordyceps?

Energy and tiredness

The thinking. Many people take cordyceps simply for everyday energy, rather than for any specific complaint. In East Asian medicine it has long been used as what herbalists call an adaptogen, a general tonic, and reviews describe this tradition as centred on fatigue and on the body’s overall resilience, alongside a reputation for the immune system. That everyday, general-purpose reputation, more than any one specific use, is probably why many people who buy it do so.

What research has found. No trial in people has measured this, so there is nothing to report either way yet.

Exercise recovery

The thinking. Cordyceps is also taken by people who train hard, with recovery and stamina in mind. The idea draws on its traditional use as an energy tonic, and reviews describe its compounds as settling inflammation and mopping up the reactive molecules involved in oxidative stress, mostly in laboratory and animal studies so far.

What research has found. One small trial gave young adults a single dose before intense cycling and found less muscle damage and faster repair-cell activity in the hours afterwards than with a placebo. Another, in long-distance runners over sixteen weeks of training, found markers of iron status and muscle damage held up better than on placebo. Research here is still young: a few studies so far, mostly pointing the same way.

Alertness during exercise

The thinking. People also take cordyceps hoping for a mental edge alongside a physical one, particularly around exercise. The idea again rests on its traditional reputation as an energy tonic, this time applied to mental sharpness rather than muscles.

What research has found. One small trial had young men take a single dose before a maximal cycling test to exhaustion. Reaction times on a concentration test were faster afterwards than with a placebo, and resting oxygen use was higher, though accuracy and most other measures did not differ. Few studies have measured this yet, so there is little to go on either way.

Immune function

The thinking. Immune function is another common reason people take cordyceps, fitting its broader reputation as a tonic mushroom. Reviews describe its polysaccharides and other compounds as active on immune cells in laboratory studies, which is the idea behind taking it with the immune system specifically in mind.

What research has found. Three small trials in healthy adults measured natural killer cell activity, a type of immune cell, after several weeks of taking cordyceps by mouth, and all three found it significantly higher than with a placebo. Two of the three also found other immune or inflammatory markers moved in the same direction. Only a few studies have measured this so far, though they mostly agree.

What does cordyceps do in the body?

What researchers are most interested in is cordyceps’ chemistry. Its best-studied compound is cordycepin, a molecule closely related to one of the body’s own building blocks, alongside a family of polysaccharides, long chains of sugar units that make up much of the fungus’s structure. Reviews describe these compounds as active on immune cells, including the natural killer cells measured in the human trials, and as having antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions in laboratory and animal studies.

Much of this evidence so far comes from cells and animals rather than people. Where cordyceps has been tested directly in people, both cultivated Cordyceps militaris and mycelium grown by fermentation have been used, rather than the rare wild fungus, since these can be produced at a more consistent, affordable scale than a wild-harvested fungus can.

What do people say about taking cordyceps?

These are anecdotes people have shared, not evidence.

What people like

A few people on a longevity forum described more energy or motivation within days, including one who preferred a strong decoction to capsules as a pre-workout.
On a cycling forum, two posters taking it daily for sinus problems found breathing easier during hard rides, muscles rather than lungs becoming the limit.
On the same longevity forum, one person combining it with fermented ginseng felt their immune system and energy improved over several weeks of consistent use.

Common complaints

One person on the longevity forum found their blood count crept above the healthy range after months of daily use, and cut back to twice a week.
Another there felt keyed up and anxious for an hour or two after taking it, before settling down.
One person said they tried different forms and doses of cordyceps and noticed little or nothing at all.
On a forum for people with ME/CFS, one person taking half the labelled dose felt unexpectedly sleepy rather than energetic; another there said cordyceps is generally considered more sedating than stimulating.
A few posters on a cycling forum were sceptical of the whole idea, pointing out that cordyceps is an unusual parasitic fungus and that the research is thin.

How people take it

Forms and doses varied a lot: capsules taken once a day, powder simmered into a strong drink, and doses from about 25 mg up to 500 mg or more.
On the cycling forum, people took it daily, on a friend’s recommendation, hoping for easier breathing during hard efforts rather than any direct effect on speed or power.
One person on the longevity forum combined it with fermented ginseng and took it daily for several weeks, saying single doses were not enough to notice anything.

Read from these public discussions:

Cordyceps- Great for motivation (LongeCity forum, 2014)
Anyone else get sleepy from Cordyceps? (Phoenix Rising ME/CFS forum, 2016)
A finding on Cordyceps (Road Bike Review forum, 2006)

What forms of cordyceps are there?

Form	What’s different	Per serving, on products we list
Fruiting body extract	The mushroom’s fruiting body; wild-harvested Cordyceps sinensis is rare, so most fruiting body extract today is cultivated Cordyceps militaris.	not in our price tables yet
Mycelium (incl. CS-4)	The fungus’s thread-like growing network, grown in culture by fermentation rather than harvested; CS-4 is one such strain.	not in our price tables yet
Whole mushroom powder	The dried mushroom material milled into powder, rather than concentrated into an extract.	not in our price tables yet

What else is worth knowing about cordyceps?

Cordyceps affects immune cell activity, and separate trials have studied it in people taking immunosuppressant medicines after a kidney transplant.
Where trials measured safety, none reported significant adverse effects: one eight-week trial found no difference in safety blood tests between groups, and a separate three-month trial of a cordyceps mycelium supplement found no change in liver or kidney function, blood lipids or electrolytes.
The human trials so far have mostly been small, in healthy adults, young adults or long-distance runners rather than the general population.
Trial doses ranged from a single 1 g dose to 1.5 to 1.68 g a day for several weeks. Labels give the amount per serving, and a serving may be more than one capsule.

If you take medication, are pregnant, or have a health condition, check with a pharmacist or GP first.

The research behind this page (12 studies)

How much does cordyceps cost?

That depends on the form and the pack, so we work out the price of the same dose of every cordyceps product we can find and rank them.

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