Health Benefits Of Cordyceps mushrooms

You will probably never accidently experience the health benefits of cordyceps mushrooms. That's because you simply don't find them in your grocery aisle or sitting next to the portabellas that you love. They're really rather creepy looking mushrooms that exist on their host, caterpillars early in their life. Chinese medicine reveres the cordyceps mushrooms for their medicinal properties and used them nearly two thousand years. It does bring a question to mind. Who first noticed the fungus growing on the back of a caterpillar and decided it might cure something and who was the first brave person to take it?

Aside from those questions that we'll never answer, there are some facts we do know about the health benefits of the cordyceps mushrooms. Cordyceps live on the body of a wintering caterpillar six inches underground. When spring hits, the caterpillar comes out of its shell and leaves the mushroom behind. It then sprouts from the ground, looking a bit like the caterpillar it inhabited.

There are many different health benefits from these ugly fungi, which make you overlook their less than attractive appearance. These little guys are power packed with hydroxyl Ethyl Adenosine, HEA and Cordycepin. Both of which help enhance the performance of athletes and increase their endurance. Perhaps this is why the Chinese revered the mushrooms more than gold and used them as an anti-aging supplement.

In the 1950's scientists investigated the element cordycepin from the mushroom as a potential cure for cancer. The cordycepin, however, degraded easily in the body once scientists removed it from the mushroom. The test results showed little effect.

It wasn't until recently that the scientists decided to try cordycepin again. Instead of simply using the mushroom, the used the extract again but in order to prevent degradation of the compound, they combined it with a second drug that has potential side effects. This time it worked.

Scientists tried the cordycepin a second time because they found that it blocked the growth and functioning of the cancer cells in the body. In high doses, this mushroom element stops the development of the protein and therefore makes the cancer cells unable to function or survive.

Of course, the scientists used the cordycepin directly and did not use the mushrooms. Had they, they might not have had to use the strong drug. The problem with the use of the mushroom for cancer is it's impossible to patent a fungi used in medicine for thousands of years.

There is good news for all that believe many of the cures for disease are already available to man, and they don't come in pill form. The study by Dr Cornelia de Moor published in "The Journal of Biological Chemistry" helps confirm that fact when it comes to cordyceps and cancer treatment.

Scientist investigating the cordyceps medical uses also found other significant benefits for people who take it. Shanghai University researchers found that cordyceps might promote liver health. University of Macau, China researchers studied the use of cordyceps for diabetes and showed that the mushroom lowers blood sugar. Researchers at the China Agricultural University in Beijing also concluded the same results. Researchers also found that it contains powerful antioxidants. Western medicine is just now catching to what the Chinese doctors knew thousands of years ago; there are many health benefits of cordyceps mushrooms.