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| Mushrooms contain unique compounds that are used in Eastern medicines to strengthen the immune system and allow the body to handle larger amounts of stress and training volumes. Any athlete looking to support his or her training program should look to the medicinal support of several mushroom products. |
| A mushroom is the fruiting body and reproductive structure (like the orange is the fruit of the tree) of a fungus that is composed of fine hair-like strands, called the mycelium. A mushroom begins to grow when the mycelium begins consuming the host, which can be wood or a dead worm. Mushrooms can also be cultivated in a medium of sugars and starches in commercial vats for controlled production. As the mycelium grows it will finally blossom into a full-blooming mushroom. Just before the mushroom matures, it is at its maximum potency for the compounds important for immune function, and when combined with other herbs and a healthy diet will greatly improve your training and health. |
| The medicinally useful compounds discovered so far in mushrooms include numerous polysaccharides, sterols, lipids, proteins and triterpenes. The long-chain sugars known as polysaccharides have received the most scientific attention because of their ability to stimulate the immune system and inhibit tumor growth. Mushroom polysaccharides enhance a healthy cell's ability to fight off foreign substances such as a virus or cancer cells. |
| Listed below are several mushrooms that have become popular in sports nutrition for their ability to enhance health and performance. |
| Cordyceps |
| In 1993, the Chinese women's national track and field team broke the 10,000 meter run by an unbelievable 40 seconds. They also improved previous world records for the 1,500 and 3,000 meter events and went on to set further record times at the Asian Games in Japan in 1994. Since then, many articles have been written about a tonic mushroom that was attributed with having a large impact upon their performance. The mushroom known as the caterpillar fungus, or ''cordyceps'' (Cordyceps sinensis), initially received a lot of unfavorable press and |
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