John Myers
Medicinal mushrooms are an inexhaustible pool of new properties and healing effects. One of the best-known medicinal mushrooms is the Cordyceps, also known as the caterpillar fungus. Studies have shown that Cordyceps strengthens the immune system, reduces depression, and is effective against arthrosis pain. However, his special talent lies in the area of potency and libido strengthening. At the same time, it also increases general physical performance, which makes it particularly interesting for athletes. It has now been found that Cordyceps can even help with cancer.
Cordyceps – a special kind of medicinal mushroom
The Chinese caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) – also known as the Tibetan caterpillar fungus or Cordyceps sinensis – grows in the Tibetan high mountains at altitudes between 3,000 and 5,000 meters.
As the name of the fungus already suggests, in the wild, it depends on a caterpillar to be able to exist at all. He lives off their flesh, so to speak.
The caterpillar is understandably not very happy with its parasite, but the fungus is all the more valuable for us humans.
If you don’t want to eat a “flesh-eating” mushroom, don’t worry, because the caterpillar mushroom that grows wild is extremely rare anyway and almost never reaches western regions.
The Cordyceps products available in Europe (e.g. Cordyceps CS-4® powder) come from Cordyceps fungi, which thrive on grain-based culture media instead of caterpillars, but still contain effective ingredients.
Cordyceps is a healing jack of all trades
Cordyceps has been held in high esteem in Asia for at least a thousand years, as it is regarded in folk medicine as a medicinal all-rounder with a particularly broad spectrum of effects.
For example, the medicinal mushroom stimulates libido and potency, helps with joint pain, and has a performance-enhancing effect, which we have already reported to you in detail.
Furthermore, cordyceps has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine as an anti-cancer agent. This is due to the fact that the medicinal mushroom stimulates the formation of white blood cells, inhibits the formation of new blood vessels in cancer tissue, and starves cancer cells.
In addition, the caterpillar fungus is often used in Asian countries such as China and Japan to alleviate the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation.
In the meantime, the Cordyceps has also fascinated European cancer researchers, with a number of studies that have led to astonishing results.
Cancer research: Cordyceps as a beacon of hope
In the 1950s, Western-oriented medicine first dealt with the healing power of Cordyceps. Even then it was recognized that the fungus can have a very positive effect on malignant tumors.
At the time, scientists discovered that the active ingredient cordycepin is broken down by the body far too quickly to pass the practical test and actually be able to help cancer patients.
A research team from the University of Nottingham managed to overcome this obstacle a few years ago: the active ingredient was simply combined with another substance that prevented it from being broken down in the body.
However, the addition, unfortunately, leads to side effects but helped identify cordycepin’s anti-cancer mechanism of action.
Cordyceps inhibits cancer cell growth
The study found that cordycepin affects tumor cells in different ways.
First of all, the medicinal mushroom has a growth-inhibiting effect on cancer cells and hinders their division. Also, under the action of Cordyceps, the cancer cells cannot stick to each other, which also prevents cancer from spreading.
In addition, the Cordyceps ensures that the protein production in the cancer cells no longer functions properly. The cancer cell can therefore no longer produce proteins that are helpful for division and growth.
dr Cornelia de Moor described the study as an important basis for further investigations.
The next step is to find out which types of cancer respond to cordycepin therapy and which side-effect-free additives are suitable for an effective combination.
Reishi – Potent medicinal mushroom for cancer
Reishi is also an extremely effective medicinal mushroom that can bring great success in cancer prevention, but also in cancer therapy. In many Asian countries, it has long been officially involved in cancer treatment.
Reishi expert Dr. Fukumi Morishige from the Linus Pauling Institute for Science and Medicine in California uses the Reishi mushroom to treat cancer patients who have long since been abandoned by conventional medicine – with very good results. He recommends the combination therapy of Reishi mushroom and vitamin C.
Chaga mushroom – the medicinal mushroom with a variety of effects
The Chaga mushroom is also a medicinal mushroom with a long history of use in traditional folk medicine – particularly in Siberia and the Baltic countries. The fungus particularly likes to grow on birch trees and was able to show in initial studies (on mice) that in its presence tumor growth could be slowed down or even inhibited and the number of metastases shrank.
The Chaga mushroom can also be integrated into the therapy for diabetes, gastrointestinal problems, allergies, autoimmune diseases, and many other typical civilization diseases. Read everything about the use and dosage of the Chaga mushroom in the link above.
