Cordyceps Mushroom Powder

Cordyceps is the mushroom our naturopaths hear about most from people who train. These are the questions they ask in store before you take it home.

A good fit if

• Endurance training is the reason you're buying
• You're happy with evidence that shows a real but modest effect, rather than a settled result
• You want the Latin species name on the label so you know which cordyceps you're getting
• You're choosing between cordyceps and reishi and fitness is your priority

Check with us first if

• You're having or have had cancer treatment. A review of case reports in people with cancer found mushroom products were the most often involved in severe reactions, mostly allergic. Talk to your treating team.
• You take a blood thinner, a medicine that affects your immune system, or medicine after a transplant. We haven't found any human interaction studies for cordyceps, so we won't guess either way.
• You're pregnant or breastfeeding. No trial included pregnant or breastfeeding women, and Australia's rules set no warning either way, which isn't the same as evidence that it's safe.
• It's for a child. There's no established safety position for cordyceps in children.
• You're buying it for focus or memory. The one trial that tested this found no benefit, so talk to us about what might suit you better.

• Cordyceps sinensis (cultivated). Best known for: The species in the athlete endurance meta-analysis. Absorption: Not measured in our register. Typical use: The pick when endurance is the reason; it can be an AUST L listed medicine.
• Cordyceps militaris. Best known for: The usual commercial species, because it's easy to cultivate. Absorption: Not measured in our register; one immune-marker trial at 1.5 g a day. Typical use: Sold here as a food, so it can't carry a permitted health claim.
• Wild cordyceps. Best known for: The traditional winter-worm summer-grass, fruiting from a caterpillar. Absorption: Not measured in our register. Typical use: Can't be used in an Australian listed medicine, because it contains insect material.

Reference values. There's no recommended intake for cordyceps. It's a mushroom rather than an essential nutrient, so the NHMRC doesn't set one.

Typical supplemental range. Australian cordyceps products commonly provide around 1 to 3 g a day. The one trial we found that states a dose used 1.5 g a day of Cordyceps militaris for 4 weeks, and it measured immune markers, not endurance. The athlete review doesn't give a dose we can pass on. These figures are for context, not a recommendation, so read the label and follow its directions.

Upper level. None is set. Australia's permitted ingredients list (Schedule 1) sets no daily dose cap for Cordyceps sinensis. That doesn't mean there's no limit, just that the rules don't set one.

Worth knowing. Check the species before you compare doses, because a gram of militaris isn't the same as a gram of sinensis. What you need depends on your age, diet and health, so talk to one of our naturopaths.

Food first, where the diet allows it.

• Cordyceps itself: not eaten as food; taken as a powder, capsule or extract

This list is the part of the page we will not shorten. If any of it applies to you, talk to one of our naturopaths or your doctor before starting.

• Known mushroom or mould allergy. Allergy was the predominant mechanism in the severe cases reviewed across 92 case reports in cancer patients, and mushroom products were mostly the products used.
• Cancer patients. Mushroom health-food products were mostly the products involved in severe reported reactions in cancer patients. Refer to the treating team.
• Pregnancy and breastfeeding. No cached trial in this family enrolled pregnant or breastfeeding women, and Schedule 1 imposes no pregnancy warning on Cordyceps sinensis.
• Children. No paediatric safety position is established for cordyceps.
• Anticoagulants, immunosuppressants and transplant medicine. No human interaction study is held, so nothing is asserted in either direction.
• Vegans and vegetarians buying wild or unlisted cordyceps. Wild cordyceps fruits from a caterpillar, and only a listed Cordyceps sinensis medicine is required to exclude insect material.
• If you take prescription medicines, check with your doctor, pharmacist or our naturopaths before starting.