NOT a beginner friendly grow, but one of the coolest mushrooms out there.

From TimeHealth:

Cordyceps militaris – a tiny mushroom with big ambitions

If you’re looking for a medicinal mushroom supplement that will help to improve your energy, this unusual mushroom may be what you need to be adding to your supplement regime, as Cordyceps militaris has shown its might in scientific research into stamina and performance.

Cordyceps militaris is actually a parasitic mushroom, and naturally grows on the larvae of a moth that lives in the Himalayas. This might sound a little odd to us in the West, but for millennia, the people indigenous to the Himalayan areas of Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan have been using Cordyceps militaris (complete with the moth larvae) for medicinal purposes.

Just like it’s cousin, Cordyceps sinensis, Cordyceps militaris has been traditionally used to help protect against and treat all manner of health conditions including certain cancers and diseases of the lungs, liver, kidney and heart. It’s also been used to improve vigour, performance and sexual function and protect against fatigue.

Since Cordyceps militaris is a parasite, harvesting it has always proven expensive, time consuming and difficult. So now, as the Western world has developed an appetite for Cordyceps militaris and its benefits, it’s available as a lab-grown supplement, that’s pure and free from insect larvae. (Making it perfect for vegetarians and vegans.)

Modern medical uses for Cordyceps militaris

When compared to Cordyceps sinensis, Cordyceps militaris shows a slightly higher level of active compounds including antioxidants and flavonoids.

This makes it particularly well suited to improving exercise performance. Various scientific studies have shown Cordyceps militaris to have benefits for athletes. One, showed that it had the ability to, “significantly improve time to exhaustion, peak power output and ventilatory threshold in cyclists”.

It’s thought to improve blood flow, oxygen uptake and cellular energy production, which all have a positive impact on performance. This allows for better results and achieving more out of each workout, whether you’re a professional or a keen amateur. All with no known side effects. An athlete’s dream? Quite possibly…

And talking of performance, Cordyceps militaris is also showing promising signs in helping both men and women with low libido or sexual dysfunction. HEYOOOO!!