Medicinal mushrooms have many benefits for overall health and well-being and can be a powerful super-food for athletes. If you are health-conscious, a runner, cyclist, or someone that enjoys being active then you can use mushrooms to support whole-body function as well as sports performance and recovery.
Medicinal mushrooms offer many benefits for overall health. We share around 30% of our DNA with fungi (more than with plants), and they are a very bio-available medicine to us. Cultures around the world have used them for thousands of years to promote health and modern-day scientific research is now beginning to back up their healing properties. Let’s take a look at how mushrooms can be beneficial for sports and which mushrooms can help you go the extra mile…
Cordyceps is probably the most well-known mushroom for its sports performance benefits. It can help to support stamina and endurance and became popular in the 1990’s after a group of Chinese athletes put their Olympic success on the track down to using a tonic containing cordyceps powder.
Cordyceps helps to support cardiovascular function by delivering more fresh blood and oxygen to the muscles faster, allowing more oxygen to reach all the cells in the body resulting in better cell function and performance.
Cordyceps also contains adenosine which can support the production of ATP, our bodies energy currency. Research has shown that cordyceps powder is able to improve exercise performance as well as overall wellness.
Chaga mushroom has also been found to have a positive effect on sports performance, helping to support stamina and endurance by supporting oxygen flow like cordyceps.
As well as being great for supporting sports performance, mushrooms are also very beneficial for supporting recovery.
Chaga is one of the most antioxidant-rich foods on the planet, and helps to stimulate the most powerful antioxidant in the body: superoxide dismutase, which helps to protect against oxidative stress. Exercise, especially intense or long-duration forms, creates a lot of free-radicals in the body which can cause damage, and Chaga mushroom with its antioxidant powers can help to combat this.
Cordyceps’ adaptogenic benefits enable the body to cope and adjust when under stress, helping the body to deal with stress hormones and regulating physiological functions.
Training hard can be very taxing and place enormous strain on the body, especially the nervous and immune system. Reishi mushroom powder has been used for centuries to support resiliency and immunity, and it’s adaptogenic benefits help the body to cope under times of stress like heavy training. Reishi is also the most anti-inflammatory of the mushrooms, so can help the body to deal with post-workout inflammation and muscle soreness.
All medicinal mushrooms are rich in beta-glucans which helps to modulate the immune system and ensure we are able to fight off any coughs, colds, and infections. Heavy training can affect our immune system function, leaving us run down and susceptible to infections, but medicinal mushrooms can help us to fight inflammation and ensure our immune system is working correctly.
There are many ways to integrate performance supporting mushrooms into your daily routine:
Capsules: Our mushroom capsules are easy to use, great if you are on-the-go, and like the convenience of a controlled dosage. Grab some Cordyceps before a tough session, or Reishi to support post-workout recovery.
Powders: If you like making smoothies, or porridge bowls pre or post-workout then try our mushroom powders. Add some Cordyceps or Mycomplex powder to your pre-workout smoothie, or Reishi if you prefer to replenish post workout. Or if you like to fuel during your workout try making some Cordyceps energy balls to keep you going for longer.
Mushrooms Coffee/Lattes: For an extra boost try our Cordyceps Adaptogen Coffee before your next session, with Cordyceps extract combined with organic Sumatran coffee to really get you ready to perform. Or for a super boost try our Beetroot Cordyceps Latte with the added ergogenic benefits from Beetroot for extra endurance support.
Medicinal mushrooms can be your new best friend for sports performance, helping to support your endurance and stamina and having an anti-fatigue effect. They can also support recovery, helping with quicker muscle recovery, immune modulation, and combating the negative effects of stress on the body. Make mushrooms your secret weapon for sports performance and recovery.
