Organic Cordyceps Mushroom Extract Supplements

What is Cordyceps?

The Cordyceps we sell is Cordyceps militaris, a bright orange, club-shaped fungus that is farmed on a substrate and harvested as a fruiting body. It looks like nothing else in the range.

It is not the caterpillar fungus. That is Cordyceps sinensis, which grows out of an insect larva on the Tibetan plateau, is collected by hand, and sells for more per gram than gold. Nobody is putting it in a pouch at this price, and any brand implying otherwise is relying on you not knowing the difference.

What is Cordyceps taken for?

Energy, endurance and exercise tolerance. It is the morning one. Most people find it useless late in the day, and that is exactly what you would expect from something taken for daytime energy.

A good deal of what gets called brain fog is ordinary tiredness under another name, which is why Cordyceps turns up on brain health pages. Its human research is on exercise capacity and stamina, so it is the one to reach for when the problem is fuel rather than focus.

What does the research show?

The relevant human research is on Cordyceps militaris, the species we sell. Three weeks of daily supplementation was associated with better time to exhaustion and a higher ventilatory threshold, though a single dose did nothing (Hirsch 2017). It tested a six-mushroom blend, so it points at a direction rather than at one species.

The trial most often quoted against Cordyceps tested Cs-4, which is Cordyceps sinensis, a different species, and found no endurance benefit in trained cyclists (Parcell 2004). It is a real result and we keep it on the page. It is not a result about this product.

A 2025 review of the human work asks for larger studies on better-characterised preparations, which is a fair ask of any supplement. Every paper is linked at the foot of the page.

How much should I take?

One serving daily, in the morning. That is 1,660 mg of the extract powder or 900 mg in capsule form, which is three capsules. The 100 g pouch holds 60 servings and the 120-capsule bottle holds 40.

If you are taking it around training, the trial that found an effect used three weeks of daily supplementation rather than a dose before the session. It is a habit, not a pre-workout.

Powder or capsules?

The same extract at different serving sizes: 1,660 mg of powder against 900 mg in capsules. Cordyceps is the mildest tasting extract we sell, faintly savoury and slightly sweet, and it disappears into coffee more completely than any of the others.

Powder is cheaper per serving and lets you adjust. Capsules travel and need no measuring. Bulk is the same powder at the lowest cost per serving.

What does 30% beta-glucans mean?

Beta-glucans are the polysaccharides most of the mushroom research concerns, and the percentage is the honest way to compare two products. Ours is tested at a minimum of 30% per batch.

If a pack quotes a "polysaccharide" figure instead, be careful. Starch is a polysaccharide, so grain substrate inflates that number while contributing no beta-glucans at all.

Is cordycepin the same as beta-glucans?

No, and it is worth knowing the difference. Cordycepin is a nucleoside analogue and it is the compound Cordyceps militaris is best known for in the laboratory literature. Beta-glucans are the polysaccharide fraction. We test and publish the beta-glucan figure because it is the one we can verify batch to batch.

How is it extracted?

Hot water, at 10:1. Ten kilos of dried fruiting body reduce to one kilo of extract. Hot water extraction frees the beta-glucans from the chitin cell wall, which would otherwise pass straight through you.

How do you spot a weak Cordyceps extract?

• The pack shows a caterpillar. That is a different species and it is not what is inside.
• The label says mycelium or myceliated grain rather than fruiting body.
• No extract ratio is printed anywhere on the pack.
• A polysaccharide percentage is quoted instead of a beta-glucan percentage.
• No batch number, and no certificate of analysis you can actually open.