What is Cordyceps Sinensis?


Cordyceps Sinensis - Chinese Caterpillar Fungus

Cordyceps (a fungus) is unique among the medicinal mushrooms in growing on an insect host (bat moth larvar) rather than a plant host.

The mycelium of Cordyceps invade and replace the host, forming the "Mycelium" part under the ground which has the look of insect but with mycelia inside; the fungus then start to grow and form the "Fruiting body" above the ground.

Cordyceps Sinensis naturally occurs and is most commonly found in the high Tibetan plateau above 3,000m. The use of Cordyceps sinensis as a medicinal herb has long been noted in ancient Chinese medical literature and has been commonly used to treat 'lung' and 'kidney'.6
 
cordyceps
sneeze
Cordyceps Sinensis helps alleviate allergic rhinitis
 
The major health benefits of Cordyceps Sinensis are1,3,4,7:

1. Improve sleep quality, relieve symptoms of allergic rhinitis
2. Anti-oxidation, reduce the production of free radicals
3. Enhance immunity and revive vitality
4. Promote lung, kidney and liver health
5. Enhance physical strength of cancer and hepititis B (or carrier) patients
What are the main active ingredients of Cordyceps Sinesis?
The active ingredients of Cordyceps sinensis includes polysaccharides, cordycepic acid (D-mannitol), adenosine, amino acids and vitamins etc.

Polysaccharides: Enhance immune system; delay exhaustion time by replenishing polysaccharide stock. It also further enhances physical endurance by stimulating glucose transport in skeletal muscle, as well as inducing angiogenesis for more efficient glucose transport throughout the body.3 It also helps enhancing overall cardiovascular functions.2, 7

Cordycepic acid: stimulate bronchia relaxation5; reduce edema and complement plasma.

Adenosine: stimulate the synthesis of high-energy triphosphate to ensure sufficient ATP is made available to cells in the body; Inhibit platelet aggregation, anti-inflammatory and analgesic.


Phagocyte (white) killing pathogen (yellow)

What is Cordyceps Mycelia Cs-4?

Natural Cordyceps sinensis is extremely rare, and because of this, it is very expensive. Scientists spent many years looking for a vegetative form of Cordyceps that would produce the same active compounds as the fruit body; and they started to develop a technique for isolating a fermentable strain from mild Cordyceps Sinensis called Cs-4 (using the species Paecilomyces heipiali C). This is used to produce a fermented mycelia product that contains pharmacologically active components and have comparable health benefits as the wild one.

"Cs-4" has been included in Chinese Pharmacopoeia and can be used for pharmaceutical production. Cultivated Cordyceps Mycelia Cs-4 is therefore a great and affordable alternative to the expensive wild Cordyceps Sinensis.

cordyceps cs-4 powder

References
1. Balon, T. W., Jasman, A.P. Zhu, J. (2002). A fermentation product of Cordyceps sinensis increases whole-body insulin sensitivity in rats. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 8(3), 315-323.
2. Dai G., Bao, T., Xu, C., Cooper, R., Zhu, J. (2001). CordyMaxTM Cs-4 improves steady-state bioenergy status in mouse liver. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 7(3), 231-240.
3. Holliday, J., Cleaver Matt. (2004). On the Trail of the Yak Ancient Cordyceps in the Modern World.
4. Kumar, R., Negi, P.S., Ilavazhagan, G., Bhargava, K., Sethy, N.K. (2011). Cordyceps sinensis promotes exercise endurance capacity of rats by activating skeletal muscle metabolic regulators. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 136, 260-266.
5. Li, S.P., Li, P., Dong, T.T.X., Tsim, K.W.K. (2001). Anti-oxidation activity of different types of natural Cordyceps sinensis and cultured Cordyceps mycelia. Phytomedicine, 8(3), 207-212.
6. Lin, W. & Tsai, M. (2007). Improvement of sperm production in subfertile boars by Cordyceps militaris supplement. The American Journal of Chinese Medicine, 35(4), 631-641.
7. Zhu, J., Halpern, G.M., Jones, K. (1998). The scientific rediscovery of an ancient Chinese herbal medicine: Cordyceps sinensis Part I. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 1998 (4), 289-303.