Cordyceps

• Strengthens the energy of the kidneys- can be used for incontinence and fatigue
• Strengthens the energy of the lungs – can be used to improve energy, reduce allergies and treat lung imbalances ( Chinese medicine lung energy)
• It can be taken long term to improve energy levels.  There are few herbs that can be taken as a tonic long term.
• Is considered to be a supreme energy tonic in Chinese medicine, at one time it was very expensive and only emperors could have it.
• It was previously cultured as caterpillar fungus.  Now, fortunately, it is cultured on vegetable matter
• Improves the immune system
• Can be taken to reduce the side effects aging
• Can enhance libido

When I give people cordyceps, they always come back for more.  They always feel better, have more energy and want another bottle the next week.  They usually feel a difference in one week.  You can take cordyceps for a long time.

There is no contraindication for cordyceps like there is for Panax Ginseng.  Panax ginseng is used to boost the energy of the heart and improve the digestion.  It is not appropriate for everyone, especially people with high blood pressure.


I find patients who are very high strung do not do well with Panax Ginseng.  They can take cordyceps, however.  Cordyceps does not affect the heart energy the way Ginseng does.  Ginseng is used to strengthen the heart.  It is even used to revive people with congestive heart failure.  It is a very strong tonic.

When buying herbs, it is very important to buy a good brand that uses high quality cordyceps that has been processed properly.

Cordyceps should have a nice nutty smell.  The best cordyceps is usually a light brown or tan color.  If you try a cordyceps that does not smell at all, it is not good quality.  Good quality herbs usually have a smell.  I have found some cordyceps that are not good quality.  They look like flour.  This is a waste of money.

The dosage I usually give my patients is two tablets twice per day.  I often personally take more than that, but it is up to each individual.  Two tablets twice per day of a good brand is very effective.

Cordyceps is used in Chinese medicine to make your lung energy stronger.  That is related to your immune system in general.

If your lung energy is stronger, it is easier to avoid getting sick.  Your overall health and energy level determines if you are as likely to catch a cold or flu or suffer from allergies.  That is a Chinese medicine theory.

Cordyceps has been used to boost the immune system for years.  In addition to helping to reduce the likelihood of catching something, once a person catches something, if his overall health and energy were good to start with, it is easier to get over or fight off an ailment.


By strengthening your lungs and kidney energy, your immune system is strengthened, according to Chinese medicine theory.  If you strengthen your immune system with herbs, over time you should have fewer health problems.

Cordyceps is a deep immune tonic.  It strengthens the deep immune system and makes it more able to produce immune complexes for the long term.

If you have an immune problem, especially if you have an auto-immune problem, please consider Leaky Gut.  Leaky gut is when your intestinal wall is too thin and it allows undigested food into your bloodstream.  Probiotics help to protect your intestinal wall so it is less likely to become leaky.

In my research into autoimmune conditions, it has become clear to me that leaky gut is one of the main causes of immune problems.  Taking NSAIDS can damage the lining of your intestines and make it leaky.  Also, taking antibiotics on purpose, or by accident through your food can kill the good bacteria in your intestines.

Here is a graphic:

Food allergies also can damage your intestinal lining.  If you are allergic to wheat or gluten, this irritates the lining of your intestine and can contribute to leaky gut.

Leaky gut is a very complicated disease.  In my experience, taking glutamine powder called Intestinew by Renew life has been very helpful.  The glutamine helps to rebuild the intestinal wall.  Glutamine also reduces sugar cravings and bodybuilders use it to improve muscle growth.

This is where cordyceps can help.  Cordyceps makes your kidney energy stronger, so if you are retaining fluid that is caused by weak kidney energy, it can help you get rid of it.

If you have fluid retention, you might notice you go to the bathroom a bit more after taking cordyceps.  That is because it is making your kidneys stronger so they can function normally.

Acupuncture has the same effect.  We can stimulate certain acupuncture points that help your body get rid of excess fluid.

Many people do not even know they have edema.  There are two basic types, pitting and not pitting.

Pitting edema is when you press your finger into your flesh for about 30 seconds, after removing your finger, a little indentation stays there.  That is showing you that your body is retaining fluid.

If you have edema, please see your health practitioner.  There can be many causes of this problem and he/she needs to know what is going on with you.

It is important to deal with colds and flu as quickly as possible.  I use Echinacea extract and Elderberry extract.  I take it every hour or two.  Often people do not take it often enough or enough of it to make a difference.  They also take capsules or tablets and that is not effective.  Echinacea  needs to be in an alcohol extract.

Cordyceps can treat coughing that you get after a cold/flu.  In Chinese medicine theory, your lung energy is weakened by coughing a lot.  That is why sometimes you will have a light cough that can hang on for months after a cold.  This is called a “Residual Cough“.


Strengthening your lung energy with Chinese herbs such as Cordyceps, is a good way to make your lungs stronger and get rid of the cough.  Cordyceps is also used to reduce phlegm.  So, used after a cold, it can make your lung energy stronger and get rid of a small amount of residual mucus.

The only echinacea I have found to be effective is by Nature’s Way.  For some reason, not very many vitamin stores carry this.  I usually keep a couple of bottles handy.  I take several tablespoons of echinacea extract and combine it with the Elderberry.  The Elderberry tastes good, so it makes the echinacea go down easier.  I have found Elderberry to be very helpful for colds and flu.

Incontinence, whether it is during the day or night, is usually related to kidney energy.  It is not the kidney organs themselves, but the kidney energy, as used in Chinese medicine theory.  Chinese medicine is about Energy.  A Chinese medicine diagnosis of a kidney or lung “Energy” deficiency, has no correlation to a Western Medicine diagnosis.  The two systems are completely unrelated.

Your kidneys are responsible for holding the urine in.  Your kidney energy controls your bladder.  Weak kidney energy means you will not be able to control your bladder.  Of course, there can be other causes for incontinence, but in Chinese medicine theory, it is usually related to your kidney energy.


Cordyceps can be used to strengthen your kidneys energy.  There are many herbs used in Chinese medicine to make your kidneys stronger.  Horny goat weed, known in Chinese medicine as “yin yang huo” is a kidney tonic.  The problem with this is that this herb is very strong and is often only used for a week or two.  If you use it over the amount of time you need it, which might be only a week, you can get a lot of health issues.  Common symptoms of taking “yang” tonics for too long are:

• Insomnia
• Irritability
• Feeling too hot
• Hot flashes

I do not recommend anyone take horny goat weed.  This herb is never used alone in Chinese medicine.  It is also never used long term.  I recommend taking cordyceps instead.  Cordyceps will strengthen both the yin and yang of the kidneys.  It can be taken long term.  It not only strengthens the kidneys, but also the lungs.  That is why it is so effective to boost energy.  It strengthens multiple organ systems that are related to overall health and energy levels.

Regarding “overactive bladder syndrome”.  I never heard of such a disease until they came up with a drug to treat it.  You can simply have a kidney deficiency, treatable in Chinese medicine, or other problems could cause bladder issues.

Bladder irritation can be caused by:

• Drinking too many soft drinks, which irritates the bladder lining
• Infections – any frequent urination should be checked out with your medical doctor to rule out bladder infections.

Bladder infections can be deadly.  The bacteria can spread via your ureters to your kidneys.  Please consult your healthcare practitioner to rule this out.  A simple urine sample can be taken to check for bacteria levels.

For incontinence, I would take cordyceps power, it is stronger than cordyceps alone.

You might think that cordyceps would not help you with insomnia.  After all, cordyceps is an energy tonic.  However, Cordyceps can help with insomnia.  Very often, people wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.  They do not realize that they woke up to go to the bathroom, they think they just woke up and since they were already awake, they take the opportunity to go.  In fact, if your kidney energy were strong enough, you should not wake in the middle of the night.

I have these discussions with my patients.  They say they do wake at night, but it was not DUE to having to go to the bathroom.  Unless you drink a bunch of water before you go to bed, you should be able to sleep through the night.  Cordyceps can be taken long term to strengthen your kidney energy and reduce or eliminate the urge to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.


Cordyceps is a yin/yang energy tonic for your kidneys.  That means that it is used in Chinese medicine to make your kidneys stronger.  Your kidneys are the foundation of your health in Chinese medicine.  Common symptoms of a kidney deficiency are:

• Fatigue
• Low back pain
• Knee pain
• Nighttime urination
• Frequent urination
• Lack of bladder control

Many of these symptoms are just considered by most people to be symptoms of aging.  In fact, they are symptoms of a kidney energy weakness.  As you age, your kidney energy will normally decline.  You can reverse that decline by taking kidney tonics such as cordyceps.  It can take a few months for kidney deficiency symptoms to go away.  Bear in mind, it took you 40 or more years to get to the point that you had these symptoms, it will take a few months to treat them.  Chinese herbs work on a deep level.

I have used cordyceps with my patients for over 10 years to treat fatigue.  It is my favorite herb.  I even prefer it to ginseng for many people.  There is a big variety of quality on the market.  I have tested about 10 brands and done research on how the cordyceps is processed.

Another product this company makes is Cordyceps Power What I like about this formula is that it also has other energy tonic herbs in it that make it very strong to boost energy.

The other herbs in Cordyceps Power are:

Proprietary Blend: Cordyceps Mycelia CS-4 Standardized Extract (0.1% adenosine), Astragalus Root, Codonopsis Root, Adenophora Root, Eucommia Bark, Eleuthero Root, Bai-Zhu Atractylodes Rhizome and Ginger Root.


These are some of the top energy tonic herbs used in Chinese medicine.  Cordyceps alone is good for urinary issues, such as incontinence, but this formula is much stronger.  It has superior kidney tonics in it like Eucommia bark.  Eucommia bark is very expensive, so I was surprised to find it in this formula.  It is used in Chinese medicine to strengthen the kidney energy and treat high blood pressure in some herbal formulas.

• Cough
• Daytime sweating
• Dislike of Cold
• Dislike of speaking
• Propensity to catch colds
• Shortness of Breath
• Tiredness
• Weak voice

It is not uncommon to have a lung weakness after recovering from cold or flu.  When you cough a lot, it weakens your lung energy.  After a cold or flu, often people have a slight cough.  It might not be all the time, but a few times per day.

Your lungs have not completely recovered.  Cordyceps can help build your lung energy when recovering from a cold or other lung ailment.

Cordyceps is used to strengthen the lung energy as well as the kidneys.  It also helps to “resolve phlegm“.  That means that any residual phlegm in your lungs after a cold could possibly be resolved by cordyceps.

• Abundant urination
• Chronic vaginal discharge
• Clear frequent urination
• Dribbling after urination
• Enuresis
• In women – prolapse of uterus
• Incontinence of urine
• Nocturnal emissions without dreams
• Premature ejaculation
• Soreness and weakness of the back
• Spermatorrhea
• Urination at night
• Weak stream urination

Notice how many symptoms of urination there are.  In Chinese Medicine, the kidneys hold the urine.  When the kidneys are weak, you have a lot of kidney symptoms.

The diagnosis is not a Western Medicine diagnosis.  It has nothing to do with Western Medicine.  Chinese Medicine is Energetic.  It is based on an energy system.  You treat the energy of the organs by strengthening them or regulating them, so your body functions normally.