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Cordyceps....dead catapillars and mushrooms? HUH!?!?!

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Cordyceps....dead catapillars and mushrooms? HUH!?!?!

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28-09.-2004, 10:29 AM	#1
andrewrech Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Posts: 16	Cordyceps....dead catapillars and mushrooms? HUH!?!?! Excerpt: "a parasitic organism that grows on a rare Tibetan caterpillar until the caterpillar dies and the mushroom sprouts from the caterpillar’s head" Ok...so...not very pleasant. But... "Although a number of studies have been conducted on cordyceps in China, relatively little information is available from U.S.-based scientists. A few animal studies have shown cordyceps feeding to increase the ratio of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to inorganic phosphate (Pi) in the liver by 45-55% - an effect that may be viewed as beneficial in terms of energy state and potential for performance enhancement. Furthermore, mice fed cordyceps and subjected to an extreme low oxygen environment, were able to utilize oxygen more efficiently (30-50% increase), better tolerate acidosis and hypoxia (lack of oxygen) and live 2-3 times longer than a control group." The above just happens to be one paragraph I cut and pasted when I “googled” "cordyceps." Cordyceps are the main ingredient in First Endurance's Optygen. I've read from many sources that these thingamagiggers can be used as a potent supplement for increasing your "body's ability to utilize oxygen", and other such seemingly desirable effects. Anyone care to enlighten me about this stuff? There seems to be an abundance of Chinese scientific research on the subject, however there exists a paucity of American research on their beneficial effects on athletes. Harmful side effects? American research? Is this all BS? Anyone...anyone...?

28-09.-2004, 04:32 PM

ric_stern/RST

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Re: Cordyceps....dead catapillars and mushrooms? HUH!?!?!

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrewrech

Excerpt: "a parasitic organism that grows on a rare Tibetan caterpillar until the caterpillar dies and the mushroom sprouts from the caterpillar’s head"

Ok...so...not very pleasant. But...

"Although a number of studies have been conducted on cordyceps in China, relatively little information is available from U.S.-based scientists. A few animal studies have shown cordyceps feeding to increase the ratio of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to inorganic phosphate (Pi) in the liver by 45-55% - an effect that may be viewed as beneficial in terms of energy state and potential for performance enhancement. Furthermore, mice fed cordyceps and subjected to an extreme low oxygen environment, were able to utilize oxygen more efficiently (30-50% increase), better tolerate acidosis and hypoxia (lack of oxygen) and live 2-3 times longer than a control group."

The above just happens to be one paragraph I cut and pasted when I “googled” "cordyceps." Cordyceps are the main ingredient in First Endurance's Optygen.

I've read from many sources that these thingamagiggers can be used as a potent supplement for increasing your "body's ability to utilize oxygen", and other such seemingly desirable effects.

Anyone care to enlighten me about this stuff? There seems to be an abundance of Chinese scientific research on the subject, however there exists a paucity of American research on their beneficial effects on athletes.

Harmful side effects? American research? Is this all BS? Anyone...anyone...?

in a recent study in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise (www.ms-se.com) from around May of this year there was a study of Optygen, which showed that when the supplement was taken as instructed there was no ergogenic effect.

ric

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