Most Expensive Fungus (Yarsaghumbu) and its advantages

Cordyceps is a medicinal mushroom that's native to the Tibetan Plateau and the surrounding Himalayan regions of India, Nepal and Bhutan and it's a parasitic fungus. That's really unlike other mushrooms because it infects and completely takes over the brain and the central nervous system of living insects. There are many different species of Cordyceps and each one targets a specific insect as a host organism but the species of Cordyceps that's been most widely used in traditional Eastern medicine systems is Cordyceps sinensis which parasitizes the larvae of ghost moths which is why it's known as the caterpillar fungus and it's a better name for it is Yarsha or Gumbu which literally translates as summer grass winter one it preys upon larvae that are hibernating just below soil level and fungal mycelium takes control of the central nervous system of the lava and immediately repositions the body so that the Head is actually facing towards the soil surface and this means that when the reproductive fungal body of the mushroom is produced it can penetrate the soil and extend upwards into the air above releasing all of its spores that are going to be carried and dispersed very far and wide by Alpine winds. Absolutely amazing that the mushroom is taking over the consciousness of an invertebrate animal and controlling it in a way that ensures the maximum propagation of its own fungal genetic lineage. So Cordyceps is one of the most highly prized natural medicines on us and it's been used in the East for thousands of years and up until very recent history that was a privilege that was enjoyed exclusively by royalty and just the wealthiest members of society in Tibetan medicine. 

Cordyceps is used for people with kidney and heart weakness as a respiratory tonic and to enhance fertility. Now in traditional Chinese medicine Cordyceps is known for its ability to regenerate both the yin and yang aspects of our primordial acids our Ying and Yang represents our core vitality our youthfulness our general resilience and our ability to heal. So if we have strong ying we're going to do all right you know we're going to be more fertile and we're going to be able to produce much stronger offspring so cordyceps has been traditionally used to really help people recover from stress and over exertion and to just increase fertility and libido. Cordyceps is also regarded as a tonic for the subtle energies that travel throughout the vast Meridian system of the body and as a result that can improve digestion it can strengthen immunity and it can increase lung capacity by dilating the bronchi and the alveoli in the lungs and consequently it can enhance oxygen absorption and utilization on a cellular level because the air is very thin upon the Haida vessel Plateau and so anything that grows up there must become very proficient at extracting oxygen from the surrounding atmosphere and this is an ability that cordyceps can share with us when we use it as a medicine which is really why it's well suited for people with respiratory issues like asthma and bronchitis cordyceps also has a strong reputation as a performance-enhancing herb firstly because of this effect that it has on the respiratory system but also because it can increase our physical and mental endurance and it enhances our ability to heal and repair and this is actually how knowledge of cordyceps first began to permeate.

The Western world because three female athletes broke five World Records in track events at the Beijing National Games in 1993 this attracted some suspicion at the time because all three of these athletes are on the same team but they all tested negative for narcotics and when there were questions their coach explained that as part of their training regimen the team had been consuming daily doses of a horrible formula and the main ingredient in that formula was courtesans further studies on cordyceps have shown that it increases the production of adenosine triphosphate or ATP which is our cellular energy currency now cordyceps is a naturally rich source of adenosine and because ATP synthesis is completely dependent on cellular respiration the increased oxygen delivery from cordyceps is going to further support the production of ATP so it really just means that we're going to have access to more energy when we need it most traditionally cordyceps was used as a way to enhance mental clarity and improve phone and concentration and of course the increased oxygen delivery is going to have a corresponding effect on brain function so this is really why it's used as a support for things like meditation already any tasks that require your undivided attention for long periods of time some of the more recent findings have shown that cordyceps actually modulates the immune system by enhancing the activity of macrophages and natural killer cells that also possesses unique polysaccharides that inhibit the number of different types of cancer including leukemia so it protects against many pathogens including Lyme and it's a more effective antiviral medicine than the pharmaceutical drug River virus it regulates blood sugar inhibits cholesterol buildup within the cardiovascular system and because it's an adaptogen it can dilate the blood vessels even when we're under a lot of stress so it's really helping us to cope and just avoid unnecessary fight-or-flight responses which in turn is going to protect the integrity of the adrenals and the central nervous system it also possesses a number of biologically active compounds that have been studied extensively for their medicinal properties like kodi certain coat acetic acid and of course adenosine now quarter-second is broadly regarded as the primary active constituent in this mushroom because it's been studied the most and it possesses such a broad spectrum of potential health benefits that has to be said when we isolate 47 it has proven to be generally less effective than consuming the whole fungus and you know the multitude of other compounds and nutrients that are in the whole fungus so this really suggests that there is definitely some kind of synergistic activity between all the various constituents within quarters.

So you know nature generally knows best and when we isolate something and we take it out of context it isn't always going to behave the same way so popularity in cordyceps has literally exploded throughout the last few decades and it's now become the most expensive natural medicine respond this planet and you know it's such as like tens of thousands of US dollars per kilo which is absolutely mental so you know wild cordyceps is now just completely unaffordable to almost everybody but not only that you know because it's such a such a hefty price there's a lot of the legal poaching going on and it's reached a point now where you know it's basically endangered within its own native ecosystem so this is really why cultivating high-quality. 

Cordyceps is so important and fortunately it is now possible the Grunk would have sets of mirrors are very similar chemical profile to the wild variety and it's presenting you know the same high potency and the same assortment of health benefits but it's at a fraction of the cost and it's not compromising the biodiversity of the Himalayas at all so the wild species of cordyceps sinensis has been cloned and it's been used in the industrial cultivation of cordyceps mycelium. Now currently it's not that easy to consistently yield fruiting bodies from this mycelium so another chemically very similar species called cordyceps militarists is used for fruiting body cultivation and this is really important because traditionally the whole fungus was used for medicine both for mycelium and the reproductive fruiting body now although these two species are pharmacologically very similar they're not really interchangeable because they do contain varying amounts of certain bioactive compounds and so the potency does vary a bit between them for example they both exhibit different antioxidant activity no cordyceps sinensis mycelium is better at inhibiting protein oxidation whereas the cordyceps military fruiting body has a stronger effect on inhibiting lipid oxidation now cordyceps military also contains a higher percentage of the active compounds called the septum and adenosine but then cordyceps sinensis have shown to be more active in reducing elevated cholesterol so both species and both parts of this mushroom share many of the same medicinal compounds and you know the respective health benefits that come with that but in different quantities and you know different potencies so I think it makes far more sense to follow the lead of indigenous medical traditions that have been working with cordyceps for so long and use the whole mushroom you know use the whole mushroom mycelium and fruiting body combined and since cultivation of cordyceps is the same logical way forwards we should be I think combining cordyceps militaries and corsets and answers together for optimal benefit now cordyceps sinensis mycelium when it's cultivated via liquid fermentation it yields the best quality product that is generally free from contaminants free from experience and it's high in potency and cordyceps militar is the fruiting body that can be grown either as a vegan product or it can be grown to mimic the way that a grows in the wild using insect libraries so this is what's going to produce a mushroom products containing b12 whereas the vegan method isn't going to have that so the good news is now that we can cultivate high-grade full-spectrum cordyceps it's possible for us to harness the full benefit of it through completely sustainable and affordable means so that's really really good news you know this is a formidable ancient medicine that can offer genuine support to us and these really demanding and highly stressful times that we're living in.