Cordyceps

(Caterpillar Fungus, Cs-4)

Evidence: Reasonable
Possible Benefits: Reasonable
Safety: High

TABLE OF CONTENTS

What is cordyceps?

Cordyceps sinensis (also known as caterpillar fungus or Cs-4) is a type of mushroom with a long history of use as a traditional medicine in many places around the world. This mushroom is often used as a supplement for improving libido and athletic performance. This article is about the main benefits of cordyceps, its potential side effects, the best time to take it, and more.

Possible benefits

All of the potential benefits mentioned below are dose-dependent. As with other adaptogenic mushrooms, there is a sweet-spot dose that allows you to get most of the benefits without causing meaningful side effects or tolerance buildup in the body. We will discuss the best dosing protocol later in this article.

Minor benefits

  • Delayed fatigue – 150-300mg/kg of cordyceps was able to delay fatigue during a swimming test by about 12.5%.
  • Increased lactate threshold – One study shows an improvement in this exercise-related metric but more research is needed to confirm this effect. Unfortunately, the supplement doesn’t seem to improve athletic performance in adults.
  • Increased testosterone – Rather than increasing testosterone, the mushroom helps regulate testosterone levels and bring them slightly closer to a healthy normal.
  • Reduced immune cell infiltration – Cordyceps can reduce immune cell infiltration, a process that leads to damage and possible organ rejection

Possible side effects

The side effects below are dose-dependent. The risk for them increases (often linearly but sometimes exponentially) as you increase the dose. Some of the side effects only apply to very high doses.

  • Nausea – This side effect is most common when people take the mushroom on an empty stomach.
  • Diarrhea – Just like nausea, diarrhea caused by the supplement can usually be prevented by taking the mushroom with food.
  • Toxicity – As an adaptogenic mushroom, cordyceps acts as a mild stressor on the body. That is usually a great thing as it allows your body to adapt to specific forms of stress and become more resilient. However, stressing the body too much can be counter-productive and cause multiple side effects, including toxicity. While acute toxicity is extremely rare, taking high amounts of this mushroom could lead to chronic toxicity and cause some health problems over time. To prevent chronic toxicity or the buildup of tolerance, it is best to stay below 6 grams a day unless you have a great reason to take more.
  • Contamination – If growing conditions are not properly controlled, cordyceps can be contaminated with bacteria, molds, and other potentially harmful microorganisms. The mushroom can also be contaminated because of poor harvesting, processing, and packaging practices. Some growers also use fungicides, chemical compounds designed to kill or prevent the growth of other fungi. Many fungicides can have detrimental effects on human health. Choose the brand you get mushrooms and mushroom supplements from wisely.

Who should not take cordyceps?

You should probably avoid taking the mushroom if you:

  • are allergic to cordyceps or mushrooms in general
  • experience a severe adverse reaction after taking the mushroom
  • are pregnant or breastfeeding (while it may be safe to take the adaptogen during pregnancy or breastfeeding, it can act as a stressor and should likely be avoided during this period)
  • suffer from an autoimmune disease (adaptogenic mushrooms can stimulate the immune system, which can worsen symptoms of autoimmune diseases, such as lupus or multiple sclerosis)
  • are on a tight supplement budget (there are more cost-effective supplements on the market for most people)

Who will benefit the most?

You should consider taking the supplement if you:

  • have a high budget for supplements
  • just went through kidney transplantation (cordyceps can reduce immune cell infiltration, a step which leads to damage and possible organ rejection)

How much cordyceps should you take?

Because cordyceps can be considered an adaptogenic mushroom, it acts as a mild hormetic stressor on the body, which allows your body to adapt and become more resilient in the long term.

As with other adaptogens, a higher dose does not necessarily lead to bigger benefits. Instead, there appears to be an inverted U-shaped dose-response pattern. In other words, you want to find a sweet-spot dose that allows you to get the benefits of cordyceps without putting too much stress on the body or quickly causing the body to develop tolerance to the mushroom.

Unfortunately, not much is known about what the best dosage is. Most studies use between 1000 to 3000 mg daily. This amount should provide most of the benefits without meaningful side effects.

The higher end of this range may provide slightly more benefits in the short term. If you plan to take the mushroom for a longer time (multiple months or years), the lower end is probably a better way to go since you’d develop tolerance faster if you were to take higher doses.

While higher doses are generally safe, taking more than the sweet-spot dose daily would be counter-productive as your body would develop tolerance rather quickly. Additionally, very high doses can put too much stress on your system and cause some health problems if you take the supplement for a prolonged period.

Just like with most other adaptogens, it is best to cycle cordyceps and stay off of it for about 2 days per week to reset your tolerance. This will allow you to keep getting the benefits in the long term.

Keep in mind that the effects of this mushroom are cumulative. Therefore, you need to take it for at least 2-4 weeks to notice the benefits. But again, cycling the mushroom and not taking it at least twice a week is necessary to prevent tolerance in the long term.

Best time to take cordyceps

It is usually best to take cordyceps in the morning. To maximize the absorption, take this mushroom on an empty stomach and at least 30 minutes before eating.

Cordyceps can cause nausea and stomach discomfort when taken on an empty stomach. If you experience these unpleasant effects, it’s usually better to take the supplement with food.

Where to buy cordyceps

Amazon is the best option for ordering cordyceps and other mushroom supplements in most countries. They offer some very affordable products backed by many positive reviews. Also, you can choose from a wide range of brands without having to search through other markets on the internet.

Beware some brands display the dosage per serving instead of per pill or capsule. Therefore, you may accidentally buy something less potent than you intended. Do not fall for this marketing trick.

FAQ

As with most other mushrooms and mushroom supplements, it is best to cycle cordyceps and stay off of it for about 2 days per week to reset your tolerance back to baseline. This will keep your body sensitive to the mushroom and allow you to keep getting the benefits in the long term.

While you could take the mushroom at night, it is usually better to take it in the morning to maximize the benefits and make sure it doesn’t impact your sleep in a negative way.

This mushroom should not become harmful once it exceeds the expiration date but it can lose potency over time.

Keep the supplement in a cold, dark, and dry place, and it should remain just as potent for many months or even years.

As an adaptogen, cordyceps acts as a mild stressor on the body. This is usually a great thing as it allows your body to adapt to specific forms of stress and become more resilient. However, putting too much stress on the body can be counter-productive and cause multiple side effects, including toxicity. While acute toxicity is extremely rare, taking high amounts of this mushroom could lead to chronic toxicity and cause some health problems over time. To prevent chronic toxicity or the buildup of tolerance, it is best to stay below 3 grams a day unless you have a great reason to take more.

The half-life of cordyceps in the body is about 2 hours. This mushroom should get utilized in your body within 8 hours after you consume it.

The effects of this mushroom are cumulative. Therefore, you need to take it for at least 2-4 weeks to notice the benefits. But again, cycling the mushroom and not taking it at least twice a week is necessary to prevent tolerance in the long term.

Yes, cordyceps is vegan-friendly. If you buy the mushroom in a capsulated form, beware that the capsules often contain animal-based gelatin. Instead, find a brand that puts its products into cellulose capsules.

Cordyceps should not break a fast unless you take a very high dose at once. If you practice time-restricted eating, take this mushroom during your eating window so it doesn’t break your fast.

References

Most of the information provided in this guide is supported by scientific research that can be found and verified in the PubMed medical library. We highly encourage you to use the library to verify anything said in this article. We excluded from consideration studies that are either confounded or have a high conflict of interest.

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We hope this guide has helped you determine if you should add cordyceps to your supplement stack and how to do it right.

If you have any further questions or want to share your feedback, feel free to email us!

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