With the continuous exploration of the health value of cordyceps, the price of cordyceps has been rising recently. According to industry insiders, speculative trading is the main reason for the drastic fluctuations in the price of cordyceps in recent years. So what are the benefits of cordyceps?
Behind the sky-high prices: rampant counterfeiting
1. It's hard to say whether cordyceps is effective or not. But what is certain now is that due to rampant counterfeiting, even if used as a health product, you have to worry about getting "poisoned"!
2. Some Tibetan people remember using cordyceps for cooking, but others consider cordyceps to be sacred and believe it to be the "hair of mountain gods". However, due to large-scale excavation driven by profit, many mountain gods have become "bald". 30 years ago, a cigarette could be exchanged for a piece of cordyceps (0.2-0.5g) from Tibetan people, and a pack of cigarettes could be exchanged for a bunch of cordyceps. But 30 years later, the same medicinal material is more expensive than gold, with a market price of 200-700/g. In Hong Kong, top-grade cordyceps has even been speculated to a price of 800,000 per kilogram, known as "soft gold".
3. An anonymous industry insider revealed that the skyrocketing price of cordyceps is not because of its extraordinary medicinal effects, but because of the lack of regulation in the market. The excessive number of channels, scarcity of resources, and hoarding and speculation have all contributed to the soaring price of cordyceps. At the same time, the expansion of markets in Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, and other regions has made cordyceps even more in demand. In the end, cordyceps is no longer consumed as a health product or medicine by its main consumer group, but as a luxury gift. "Some people eat it and feel good, while others eat it just for show."
4. Driven by the "sky-high" prices, counterfeiting in the cordyceps market is rampant. The Chinese University of Hong Kong once conducted a spot check on 15 types of cordyceps in the Hong Kong market and found that 40% of the samples were counterfeit: toothpicks, iron wire, alum soaking, plant silk, and even agarwood sticks disguised as cordyceps. In mainland China, the methods of counterfeiting cordyceps are even more dazzling: adding lead powder, injecting mercury, using adhesive to cover up deteriorated cordyceps, using starch to forge... Instead of benefiting health, these counterfeits can be harmful. Many people now say that they usually have to seek expert identification before they dare to eat cordyceps received as gifts, and some even just pass them on to others.
Cordyceps consumption methods
1. Steaming
Steam the cleaned cordyceps in a container over low heat for 20-30 minutes. (Alternatively, boil directly with water)
2. Soaking in Cordyceps Wine
Soak 10g of cordyceps in 1 jin (500g) of white wine, seal it for 15 days, and drink 1 small cup in the morning and evening.
3. Cooked in Congee or Steamed with Rice
Take 1 gram of cordyceps, wash it, and put it in a pressure cooker to steam together with rice. Eat it once or twice a day for 3 to 6 months. This method has a good effect as an adjuvant treatment for hepatitis B with high viral load or mild viral load.
4. Stewed (Steamed) with Meat
When stewing (steaming) meat, put cordyceps in the meat (inside the belly of a duck or pigeon) and simmer over low heat until the meat is cooked.
Benefits of Cordyceps
1. Slowing down aging and the occurrence of diseases
There are 7 recognized anti-aging components in the medical field, and cordyceps contains 5 of them: polysaccharides, amino acids, peptides (proteins), nucleic acids, and vitamins. In 2008, the School of Pharmacy at Peking University collaborated with NOEVIR Inc.'s Kobe Research Institute in Japan to conduct an experiment on the "delayed aging effect of cordyceps extract".
The experiment showed that cordyceps can alleviate the decrease in central catecholamine levels caused by aging and the damage caused by biochemical processes, preventing the appearance of various signs of aging and significantly delaying aging.
Since then, scientific experiments and research papers have proven that cordyceps can effectively remove harmful free radicals in the body, have anti-aging effects, and slow down the occurrence of aging and diseases. Clinical studies organized by a research center in China have also found that after taking cordyceps powder for only 15 days, 85.71% of volunteers had increased levels of SOD (P<0.001), and after taking it for 30 days, as many as 91.4% of volunteers benefited.
2. Improving and enhancing male physical functions
In a clinical trial conducted by Yuan Hongfen from Xiaoshan Hospital in Zhejiang and Zhu Jianping from the Zhejiang Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 2001, cordyceps was used to treat nocturnal emissions. They selected 15 male patients aged 17 to 42, with a disease duration of about 3 months to 5 years, and a frequency of nocturnal emissions exceeding 3 times per week, even 3 to 4 times per night. The patients also had symptoms such as fatigue, soreness in the waist and knees, dizziness, tinnitus, forgetfulness, insomnia, and irritability. After clinical treatment with cordyceps, the effectiveness was significant. Those who had a normal sex life no longer had nocturnal emissions, and those who didn't have a normal sex life had fewer than 5 nocturnal emissions per month.
Another typical experiment occurred in 2004. Zhen Wenjuan from the Department of Sports Medicine at Chengdu Sports University and Xie Sheng from Leshan Normal University conducted an experiment on the treatment of exercise-induced fatigue with cordyceps. They used SPSS software for analysis and comparison, and determined the significance of intergroup differences using the t-test, confirming that cordyceps can increase cortisol levels and improve testosterone secretion.
The efficacy of cordyceps.
3. Enhancing immunity and improving disease resistance
Cordyceps can enhance human immune function, which is the pharmacological basis for cordyceps as a tonic and preventive medicine for various weaknesses and diseases. In 1987, the Research Office of Basic Medicine at the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Medical College collaborated with the Clinical Laboratory at Cornell University in the United States to conduct an experiment on the "effect of cordyceps on T lymphocyte subsets".
Another convincing experiment took place in 2000. Wang Genwei and Chen Xiangwei from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Shanxi Medical University, along with Tang Shichuan from Beijing Friendship Hospital, conducted an experiment on the enhancement of human immune function by cordyceps. The results once again confirmed the miraculous effects of cordyceps.
4. Effective liver protection
The liver is an important organ responsible for digestion and detoxification in the human body. Long-term excessive alcohol consumption puts a heavy burden on the liver, leading to various discomforts such as alcohol poisoning, hepatitis, and fatty liver. Eventually, these damages can lead to liver fibrosis and even cirrhosis, which seem difficult to cure once they occur. However, a joint experiment conducted by Fan Yu, Li Hua, and Yan Jili from Huashan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, and the First Clinical Medicine of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine respectively, proved that this process is not irreversible. Based on the results of their scientific experiments, they wrote a paper published in the Journal of Fudan University (Medical Edition) on January 30, 2003.
The experimental report pointed out that cordyceps has a strong inhibitory effect on the proliferation of hepatic stellate cells, which may be related to the inhibition of NF-κB activity and downregulation of tumor necrosis factor-alpha expression. Therefore, cordyceps can enhance the digestive and detoxification functions of the liver, enhance immune function, protect liver cells from damage, effectively prevent the development of liver tissue fibrosis, and resist the production of lipid peroxides, thereby reducing the damage of alcohol to the liver.
The joint experiment conducted by Fan Yu, Li Hua, and Yan Jili from Huashan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, and the First Clinical Medicine of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine respectively also reached the same conclusion. They published the research paper in the Journal of Fudan University (Medical Edition) on January 30, 2003.
Research on the prevention and treatment of liver cancer with cordyceps has also been conducted for a long time. Ding Xiangping from the Digestive Department of the Second People's Hospital of Gansu Province, Ma Li from the Second Hospital of Lanzhou University, Wei Shutang from the Digestive Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University, and Feng Guoyan from the Infectious Disease Department of Lanzhou West Railway Hospital conducted a study on the effects of cordyceps on liver cancer. The results of their study were published in the Chinese Journal of Cancer Prevention and Treatment in January 2008. The experimental results showed that cordyceps has a significant inhibitory effect on human liver cancer cells.
Based on the above series of experiments and research papers, it can be seen that cordyceps has significant therapeutic effects in preventing and treating alcoholic liver disease, protecting the liver, and preventing and treating liver cancer.
5. Prevention and adjuvant treatment of malignant tumors
Multiple studies have shown that combined use of cordyceps with anticancer drugs can reduce their toxic side effects and enhance their immune-enhancing effects. In addition, cordyceps itself has preventive and therapeutic effects on malignant tumors.
Zhao Yueran and others from the Institute of Basic Medicine at Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences conducted an experiment to demonstrate the anti-tumor effect of cordyceps. Their paper was published in the Journal of Basic Medicine and Clinical Research in 1992. They found that cordyceps can directly or release cytotoxic factors to kill tumor cells by activating macrophages and T cells, inhibiting tumor growth. Clinical treatment with cordyceps for cancer has been found to help improve cellular immune function.
Another influential experiment took place in 1988. Peng Xiang'e and others from Hunan Medical College conducted a technical route experiment from normal animals to immunosuppressed animals, from animals to humans, from in vitro experiments to in vivo experiments, from immune indicators to anti-tumor indicators. They used scientific experiments to prove that cordyceps enhances NK cell activity in humans. Their experimental paper was published in the Journal of Hunan Medical College in the second issue of the 13th volume in 1988, stating that cordyceps has an inhibitory effect on the formation of lung tumor clones and enhances various immune functions and anti-cancer capabilities in the body.
