Cordyceps and Reishi: Taking Both

Quick answer

Cordyceps and reishi have been tested together. In 96 students, a commercial supplement of the two taken for about a month changed neither exercise capacity nor any thinking test compared with placebo. On their own, each has only early evidence, and both have raised immune cell measures in small trials, so ask first if you take immune-suppressing medicines.^1,2,3,4

Key facts

Two reports from one research group on 96 physical education students found no effect of a cordyceps and reishi supplement on exercise or thinking tests.^1,2
A third trial tested a blend of about 4 g a day that held Cordyceps militaris, reishi and four other fungi, and found no difference from placebo after 1 week.^5,6
LiverTox rates cordyceps an unlikely cause of liver injury and reishi a possible rare cause.^7,8
Our Mushroom Complex lists 266 mg of each a day, below the 500 mg low end of the usual reishi amount and the 1 to 4 g of cordyceps in trials.^8,9

The trials that gave both

Exercise: 96 physical education students, 43 of them women, took a low or high dose of a commercial cordyceps and reishi supplement, or a placebo, for 28 to 33 days. Maximal oxygen uptake, treadmill responses and anaerobic power did not change.¹
Thinking: in a report on 96 students from the same group, given the supplement for 30 days, no thinking test differed from placebo, from memory and attention to processing speed.²
A wider blend: 28 young adults took about 4 g a day of a blend of Cordyceps militaris, reishi, lion's mane and three other fungi. After 1 week nothing differed from placebo, and maximal oxygen uptake rose in the 10 who carried on for 3 weeks.^5,6

None of these trials can say what either mushroom adds on its own, and none measured immune function. A supplement company funded the blend trial.⁵

What each has shown on its own

Their own evidence is early for both. They meet on one point: each has raised a measure of immune cells in a small trial, cordyceps as a powder or a mycelium extract, and reishi only as a purified beta-glucan.^3,4,10

May raise natural killer cell activity, one measure of immune function, in healthy adults; whether this means fewer illnesses was not tested*^3,10,11

Early evidence

In 79 healthy Korean men, 1.5 g a day of Cordyceps militaris for 4 weeks raised natural killer cell activity and lymphocyte growth more than placebo. In 79 healthy adults, 1.68 g a day of a cordyceps mycelium extract (Paecilomyces hepiali) for 8 weeks raised natural killer cell activity by about 39% compared with placebo. In a 40-person trial of a Cordyceps militaris drink, activity rose in men by 4 weeks against their starting level and, compared with placebo, in women by 8 weeks. The trials were small and short, and none counted illnesses.

Amount studied: 1.5 to 1.7 g a day for 4 to 8 weeks

A purified reishi beta-glucan may raise counts of some immune cells in healthy adults*^4,12,13,14

Early evidence

In a randomized, placebo-controlled trial in healthy adults aged 18 to 55 (157 enrolled, 135 finished), 200 mg a day of a purified reishi beta-glucan for 12 weeks raised counts of several kinds of T cells and natural killer cells more than placebo. It did not measure whether people fell ill less often, and a company paid for it. A trial in young children who ate a yogurt with reishi beta-glucans found a similar rise. Whole reishi did not show this: 1.44 g a day for 4 weeks, and 4 g a day of an extract for 10 days, left immune measures unchanged in small trials.

Amount studied: 200 mg a day of purified reishi beta-glucan, for 12 weeks

Neither line of trials counted illnesses, so these are readings from blood tests, not a shown effect on health.^3,4

Two different mushrooms in one capsule

Cordyceps and reishi compared^6,7,8,9
	Cordyceps	Reishi
Where it grows	On insects in the wild; supplements use lab-grown mycelium or Cordyceps militaris	At the base of trees and on stumps; farmed on logs, sawdust or wood chips
Compounds studied	Cordycepin, adenosine and polysaccharides	Beta-glucans and bitter ganoderic acids
Usual or studied amounts	0.5 to 4 g a day in products, 1 to 4 g in trials	500 mg to 3 g a day, per LiverTox
LiverTox liver rating	Unlikely cause of liver injury	Possible rare cause of liver injury
Our Mushroom Complex	266 mg of Cordyceps sinensis mycelium powder	266 mg of reishi extract from the fruiting body

What's in ours

Our Mushroom Complex already pairs the two, at 266 mg each a day, with eight other mushrooms. Its cordyceps sits well below the trial amounts and its reishi below the low end of the usual range, so we make no claim for the pair in it.^8,9

Shared cautions and who should ask first

Because both mushrooms have moved immune measures, both carry the same caution: ask first if you take medicines that suppress the immune system, for example after a transplant, or if you have an autoimmune condition.^3,4

Platelets are a second shared caution, from laboratory work. Cordycepin slowed platelet clumping in test tubes, while reishi at 1.5 g a day for 4 weeks did not change clotting or platelet tests in 40 healthy volunteers.^15,16

Rare cases of liver injury have been reported, usually 1 to 2 months after starting reishi, with tiredness, nausea, stomach pain, poor appetite, dark urine or yellowing of the skin and eyes. Most people recovered within 1 to 3 months of stopping, but one woman died.⁸

Rare: hepatoportal sclerosis, a disorder of the small veins in the liver, in an 81-year-old woman who had taken a cordyceps tablet daily for 5 years. Doctors judged cordyceps a possible cause, and she improved after stopping.¹⁷

Lead poisoning from contaminated cordyceps powder: two cases in Taiwan, where the powder held up to 20,000 ppm of lead. Blood lead returned to normal after they stopped taking it.¹⁸

When 19 reishi supplements bought in the United States were analyzed, the measured triterpenes and polysaccharides matched the label in only 5.¹⁹

Ask your doctor first if you take a blood thinner or antiplatelet medicine, or have surgery planned¹⁵
Ask first if you take medicines that suppress the immune system or have an autoimmune condition^3,4
Ask first if you take medicine for blood sugar or blood pressure: laboratory and animal studies suggest both mushrooms may lower blood sugar^8,20
Ask first if you have liver disease, and stop if you notice dark urine, yellowing of the skin or eyes, or unusual tiredness⁸
Ask first if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, under 18, or allergic to mushrooms or molds

Questions people ask

What are the benefits of taking cordyceps and reishi together?

None has been shown for the pair. The trials that gave both found no change in exercise or thinking tests, and each mushroom's own evidence is graded early.^1,2

Should cordyceps and reishi be taken at different times?

No source we read suggests it. Reishi's bitter compounds reach the blood within minutes of a fasting dose and fall by half in under 40 minutes, and most cordyceps exercise trials split the day's amount into three doses.^6,9,21

See what we make

Every product shows its whole label and what its lab report covers. The store opens soon.

See the Full Measure line

Sources

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

This page is information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about your own situation.