Cordyceps

Introduction to Cordyceps

Cordyceps sinensis, also known as caterpillar fungus, is a precious tonic herb commonly used by the Chinese people. Its nutritional content is higher than that of ginseng. It can be used as medicine or eaten. It is a superior delicacy with high nutritional value. Cordyceps sinensis can enhance the body's immunity, nourish the lungs and kidneys, and has a significant inhibitory effect on lung cancer and liver cancer. In clinical practice, it is effective for chronic cough due to lung deficiency, asthma, hemoptysis due to tuberculosis, night sweats, back and knee pain due to kidney deficiency, impotence and spermatorrhea, neurasthenia, and decreased red blood cells after chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Cordyceps sinensis efficacy and function

Effects on the circulatory system

(1) Effects on the heart

Cordyceps sinensis has negative frequency, reduces myocardial oxygen consumption, improves myocardial ischemia, resists platelet aggregation and resists arrhythmia, etc. Cordyceps sinensis alcohol extract has a significant protective effect on acute viral myocarditis.

(2) Effects on the blood system

Cordyceps sinensis has a significant protective effect on thrombocytopenia and damage to platelet ultrastructure, and has a significant antihypertensive effect on sodium pentobarbital anesthesia. Cordyceps water extract has a strong function of dilating coronary arteries and increasing coronary flow. Cordyceps extract can promote platelet aggregation and play a hemostatic role, and its alcohol extract can inhibit thrombosis.

Effects on the respiratory system

Cordyceps sinensis can significantly enhance the bronchial dilation effect of adrenaline, regulate bronchial smooth muscle, alleviate symptoms of chronic bronchitis, asthma, emphysema, cor pulmonale and other diseases in the elderly, and delay recurrence. At the same time, cordycepin has a strong inhibitory and killing effect on bacteria that cause lung infections such as tuberculosis, and cordycepic acid and cordyceps polysaccharides can repair damaged alveolar cells.

Effects on the immune system

Including the following aspects:

(1) It has a bidirectional regulatory effect on humoral immune function, either enhancing or weakening it;

(2) It can enhance the phagocytic function of macrophages and improve the body's immune function;

(3) It affects the weight of immune organs by promoting the biosynthesis of spleen DNA, increasing the content of nucleic acids and proteins, and promoting the proliferation of spleen lymphocytes;

(4) Enhances the activity of natural killer cells, thus playing an important role in anti-cancer and anti-viral infection.

Effects on the digestive system

The liver is an important digestive gland secretory organ in the human digestive system. It plays an extremely important role in hematopoiesis, detoxification, fat conversion, etc. The effect of Cordyceps sinensis on the digestive system is mainly manifested in a series of protection and prevention of the liver.

(1) Cordyceps sinensis can improve patients’ liver function, reduce inflammatory cell infiltration in the liver and liver cell degeneration and necrosis. Cordyceps mycelium has a strong effect in promoting liver cell repair;

(2) Cordyceps polysaccharide liposomes (CPL) have a certain protective effect on liver tissue damaged by CCl4;

(3) Cordyceps sinensis aqueous solution can inhibit the proliferation of hepatic fat-storing cells and the transformation of hepatic fat-storing cells into myofibroblasts and fibroblasts.

Cordyceps sinensis medicinal value

【Nature and flavor】

Sweet, warm.

① "Bencao Congxin": sweet, neutral.

② "Medicinal Properties": sweet in taste, warm in nature.

③ "Bencao Zaixin": slightly poisonous.

④ "Qinghai Medicinal Materials": sweet and sour taste, neutral nature, fragrant smell.

[entry into meridians] "Bencao Zaixin" says: enters the lung and kidney meridians.

【Function and indications】

It can replenish deficiency, benefit essence and qi, relieve cough and resolve phlegm. It can treat cough due to phlegm, asthma due to deficiency, tuberculosis, hemoptysis, spontaneous sweating, night sweats, impotence and spermatorrhea, soreness of waist and knees, and long-term weakness after illness.

① "Bencao Congxin": Protects the lungs and kidneys, stops bleeding and resolves phlegm, and cures fatigue cough.

② "Medicinal Properties" says: It can secrete essence and replenish Qi, and specifically nourish the life gate.

③ "Ganyuan Xiaoshi": Soak a few pieces in wine and eat them. It can treat pain between the waist and knees and benefit the kidneys.

④ "Compendium of Materia Medica": Pan Youxin said it was used to treat diaphragmatic disease, Zhou Jianshi said it was used to treat swelling.

⑤ "Modern Practical Chinese Medicine": Suitable for pulmonary tuberculosis, chronic cough and asthma in the elderly, vomiting blood, night sweats, spontaneous sweating; also used for anemia and weakness, impotence and spermatorrhea, fear of cold in the elderly, excessive mucus and tears, etc.

⑥ "Yunnan Chinese Herbal Medicine": Nourish the lungs, strengthen kidney yang. Treat cough and wheezing caused by phlegm.

[Usage and Dosage] For oral use: decocted in water, 1.5 to 3 qian; or made into pills or powder.

[Note] "Sichuan Traditional Chinese Medicine Records": Use with caution if there is external evil.

【Additional prescription】

① Weakness after treatment: 3-5 pieces of summer grass and winter worms, an old male duck, remove the stomach and internal organs, split the duck head, put the medicine in it, tie it up with thread, steam it with soy sauce and wine as usual and eat it. (Compendium of Materia Medica)

②Treat asthma due to deficiency: Take 50g to 100g of Cordyceps sinensis and steam it with an old male duck. (Yunnan Chinese Herbal Medicine)

③Treat anemia, impotence, and spermatorrhea: Take 50 cents to 100 cents of Cordyceps sinensis and stew it with meat or chicken. (Yunnan Chinese Herbal Medicine)

The beauty effects of Cordyceps sinensis

1. Delay aging and reduce spots

Insufficient secretion of sex hormones and excessive activity of monoamine oxidase can cause human aging, and Cordyceps sinensis can significantly improve gonad function and inhibit the activity of monoamine oxidase. Therefore, Cordyceps sinensis can regulate body functions, delay aging, and at the same time fade spots caused by sexual dysfunction and endocrine disorders.

2. Eliminate dark circles

Since Cordyceps can improve arrhythmia and regulate heart function, taking Cordyceps can eliminate dark circles caused by insufficient blood supply to the heart, heart dysfunction, and nephritis.

3. Cordyceps sinensis can treat chronic renal insufficiency, chronic nephritis dehydration and other urinary system diseases, so taking Cordyceps sinensis can remove eye bags caused by renal dysfunction and nephritis.

How to eat Cordyceps sinensis

1. Boil water and drink it as tea

Cordyceps should not be soaked in water and drunk, but boiled in water. The correct way to boil cordyceps is to add about one cup of water to the cordyceps and cook it over low heat for ten minutes. Then pour out the water and drink it immediately. Then add more water and cook it for ten minutes. After pouring it out and drinking it, add more water and cook it. Repeat this process until the water boiled from the cordyceps becomes lighter.

2. Stew with meat

The taste of Cordyceps sinensis is very soft and fragrant. It is best to stew Cordyceps sinensis with meat. However, it must be noted that Cordyceps sinensis cannot be stewed for too long, otherwise the nutrients of Cordyceps sinensis will be lost. Generally, half an hour is the most suitable time for stewing Cordyceps sinensis. Cordyceps sinensis has different health benefits when stewed with different meats. According to folklore, in 1764, Emperor Qianlong, who was 53 years old, suffered from dizziness and back pain. He tried all the medicines prescribed by the imperial doctors in the palace, but felt that they were not ideal. One day, he accidentally told his favorite minister Heshen about his physical condition. Heshen certainly would not miss this opportunity to please Qianlong, so he introduced the folk doctor who was on good terms with him to Qianlong. After the doctor took the pulse of Emperor Qianlong, he prescribed the following prescription: Cordyceps sinensis, wolfberry, yam, black chicken, and Qianlong took it continuously as he was told. A year later, Qianlong's body recovered as before. Not only did the discomfort symptoms such as dizziness and back pain disappear without a trace, but he also felt a great increase in energy. Qianlong was very surprised and asked the doctor how he could solve the problem of the imperial doctors with only three herbs. The doctor said that the credit should be attributed to the Cordyceps sinensis collected from Tibet. The kidney controls the essence, and kidney deficiency will lead to loss of essence. Cordyceps sinensis can nourish the lungs and kidneys, improve the essence and qi, and cure all kinds of deficiency and damage. Cordyceps sinensis is a mountain delicacy that combines health preservation, health care and treatment. It can not only nourish the kidney, but also delay aging if taken for a long time. When Qianlong learned that Cordyceps sinensis had such benefits, he asked the doctor to use his magic again and enjoy it for life.

3. Grind into powder and take

If you find it troublesome to boil Cordyceps sinensis in water or stew it into soup, there is a very simple and convenient method, which is to grind the Cordyceps sinensis into powder with a grinder, and then put it into capsules. This way you can carry it easily and take it regularly every day.

Contraindications of using Cordyceps sinensis

1. Cordyceps sinensis is not suitable for the following people: infants, people with fever (acute high fever patients), and women during menstruation. People with hot constitution, hypertension and stroke patients, and tumor patients should use it with caution or not use it during radiotherapy. People with internal bleeding (such as hemoptysis, bloody stool, etc.) and cerebral hemorrhage should not eat it. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis should reduce the dosage. People with real fire or evil should not eat it.

2. Avoid taking too much or too little Cordyceps sinensis: Cordyceps sinensis is essentially a traditional Chinese medicine. Long-term use can improve the body's immunity and fight fatigue. It can treat all kinds of human deficiencies and injuries when combined with other Chinese medicinal materials. However, if the amount consumed each time is small and not taken regularly, it is actually ineffective. Cordyceps sinensis is not like Western medicine, which can feel its efficacy in a short period of time. It requires a process of accumulation in the human body, and long-term and sufficient use can see the effect. On the contrary, if the amount consumed is too much, the human body cannot absorb it all, which is also a waste. The scientific intake is 3-5 grams per day, and taking it continuously for 30-180 days can play an effective conditioning role of Cordyceps sinensis. If conditions permit, it should be taken frequently and for a long time.

3. Avoid eating Cordyceps sinensis raw: Cordyceps sinensis grows in grassland soil. When it is dug, there are countless live fungal spores and live parasite eggs on its surface. Even brewing it with boiling water cannot completely kill the fungal spores and eggs, let alone eating it raw or grinding it into powder. Therefore, Cordyceps sinensis must be washed first and then stewed or decocted, which is more conducive to human absorption.

4. Do not eat Cordyceps sinensis if it is moldy: It is not recommended to eat Cordyceps sinensis that has become moldy due to improper storage.