Is a parasitic fungus the secret to athletic performance?
What is Cordyceps?
Cordyceps sounds like something out of a horror movie, it is a parasitic fungus that infects its host and devours it from the inside out, eventually killing it. Once it finishes consuming the hosts body, it sprouts a mushroom from the hosts head, and releases its spores to begin the whole cycle again with another host. Fortunately for us Cordyceps only infect insects.
What is it used for?
Cordyceps have long been used in traditional Chinese medicine to increase energy, treat asthma and improve sexual function. It is said that the benefits of Cordyceps consumption were first discovered when herders in the Himalayas observed that yak, goat and sheep which had eaten the mushroom became very strong and stout. The local people then used the fungus to improve the vitality of their cattle, and it was not long before the locals themselves started consuming it. The locals claimed it had aphrodisiac effects and it became known as Himalayan Viagra(1).
Cordyceps hit the headlines in 1993 during the Beijing Olympic games when several Chinese runners smashed various world records and attributed their success to eating Cordyceps mushrooms.
Wang Junxia beat the 10,000 meters women's world record by an astonishing 42 seconds, she also broke the 3000 meters world record and her teammate set a new world record in the 1,500 meters. It sounded too good to be true, could a mushroom do all this? Probably not.
Wang Junxia of China, center.
Credit Ed Reinke/Associated Press
Does it really work?
It appears this team may have been taking much more than mushrooms. In 2016 a letter reportedly from Wang and nine other athletes was published which alleged Coach Ma forced them to dope(2). In addition Coach Ma was fired from the Chinese national team in 2000 after 6 of his athletes tested positive for performance enhancing substances. However just because of this scandal the ability for Cordyceps to positively affect athletic performance should not be written off as several recent studies have shown some impressive results.
One human study showed that supplementation over a three week period (4 grams per day) resulted in significant improvements in the body's ability to absorb oxygen, improvements in exercise endurance and in some measures of heart health(3). Another study showed that exercise performance for healthy older people was significantly improved upon taking Cordyceps versus the placebo group (4)
The mechanism by which Cordyceps improves athletic performance is not fully understood but it is believed that Cordyceps helps improve blood flow as well as the body's ability to burn fat and process glycogen(5) (glycogen is the carbohydrate energy store within our muscles). Together these effects increase the availability adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in the body, ATP is the source of energy the body uses to power the contraction of muscles.
In addition Cordyceps have been shown to delay lactate accumulation(6). Lactate accumulation is responsible for that burning feeling in muscles during intense exercise, consuming Cordyceps means you can exercise harder for longer.
But the benefits of Cordyceps are not limited to athletic performance; Cordyceps are also a powerful antioxidant(7), have been shown to help regulate the immune system(8), may help fight certain types of cancer(9) and may be beneficial for brain function(10).
It is important to note that most of the studies on athletic performance only observed benefits when supplementation continued for several weeks, very little benefit was shown from short term (one week or less) supplementation. Therefore if you choose to supplement with Cordyceps, you will need to keep it up for several weeks before you can expect to see results.
But not all Cordyceps are created equal!
The form of Cordyceps most commonly shown in pictures, where you see a mushroom sprouting out the head of a caterpillar is Cordyceps sinensis, it grows wild at high altitude in the Himalayas.
Cordyceps sinensis growing on caterpillars
Due to high demand and limited availability, wild Cordyceps now cost around $50,000 a kilo! Beware of any supplements which state they contain wild Cordyceps Sinensis, due to the high price tag these supplements often contain very little of the mushroom.
Fortunately there are other varieties of Cordyceps which can be grown in the lab which are far cheaper – and vegan friendly!
One of these is Cordyceps CS-4, Cordyceps Cs-4 is a mycelium culture which is grown in liquid vats, Cs-4 is unable to produce a mushroom but the mycelium which is cultivated has many of the same health benefits.
Another variety is Cordyceps militaris, which grows in Europe, and actually contains more cordycepin than the other species! Cordycepin is one of the constituents of Cordyceps which has anti-cancer, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities(10).
Cordyceps militarism
Just beware of Cordyceps supplements which are grown on grain, often these contain mostly grain and very little of the mushroom or mycelium itself. Unfortunately it is not easy to identify such supplements but one red flag is if the label says anything like "myceliated brown rice/grain".
Unfortunately you won't find Cordyceps in your grocery isle but a range of supplements and extracts can be found online. Below is a selection of brands which offer products high in beneficial mycelium or mushroom content.
Another great way to get your daily dose of Cordyceps is to take it in your coffee or hot chocolate, the guys at Four Sigmatic produce some great mushroom blends.
References
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/25/world/asia/china-olympics-doping-ma-junren.html
Feng K, Yang Y. Q, Li S. P. Renggongchongcao. In: Li S. P, Wang Y. T, editors. Pharmacological Activity-Based Quality Control of Chinese Herbs. New York: Nova Science Publisher, Inc.; 2008. pp. 155–78.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1382668916300308