New Evidence Suggests Cordyceps May Help Aerobic Performance

IN TODAY’S EDITION

• 🍃 | Green extraction gains

• 🧪 | Mixing risks

• 🪵 | Flavor shift

Hi Shroomers! I hope you’re easing out of Thanksgiving with a little warmth and a little rest. This week’s research is practical and grounded — from cordyceps for endurance to how we process mushroom foods and what psilocybin really changes. A mix of health, flavor, and soil wisdom to carry you into the weekend.

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Green extraction gains 🍃 A CO₂-based eco extraction of reishi (Ganoderma lucidum), lion’s mane (Hericium erinaceus), and snow fungus (Tremella fuciformis) produced highly potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant oils. Reishi came out strongest, cutting IL-6 levels by 80-90% and showing powerful antioxidant activity with an IC₅₀ of 258.9 μg/mL. The benefits were tied to fatty compounds like linoleic acid and triterpenoids, and while alcohol extraction increased yield, it weakened the anti-inflammatory effects.

Endurance boost 💨 Cordyceps (Cordyceps sinensis) supplements improved athletes’ oxygen efficiency across multiple controlled trials. The meta-analysis found higher VO₂peak, a stronger ventilatory threshold meaning fatigue kicked in later, and a near-significant gain in overall endurance. Daily doses of 2–3 grams were the most consistently effective in supporting better breathing and longer performance.

Immune tuning 🛡️ β-glucans from mushrooms act as powerful immune modulators, but their effects depend completely on their molecular shape and structure. They work in two ways: directly activating key immune cells or indirectly feeding beneficial gut microbes that create anti-inflammatory compounds. Because their chemistry varies so much, not all mushroom supplements deliver the same immune benefits and the structure of the β-glucan determines its real-world impact.

GIVING TUESDAY

This Giving Tuesday, consider supporting Lily’s Lighthouse, a community nonprofit funding epilepsy research and family support services. On December 6, they’re hosting the 4th Annual Santa Run 5K + Fun Run, a beachside event where early runners receive functional mushroom supplements, and every registration helps power the next research study. In their most recent cohort, 90% of participants reported meaningful seizure improvements, making this work urgent and deeply impactful. If you’re giving in the name of mushrooms this coming week, Lily’s Lighthouse is a powerful place to start.

PSILOCYBIN & LEGISLATION 

Cognitive lift 🧩 Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy showed small, short-term improvements in processing speed and executive function for people with treatment-resistant depression. Scores on tasks like TMT-A, TMT-B, and the TMTB-A executive measure improved significantly even after accounting for mood changes (p values from <.001 to .022). But when researchers looked at reliable change, only 4-12%showed meaningful improvement, which did not exceed chance. The findings suggest any cognitive gains may reflect practice effects or normal variability rather than a strong therapeutic impact.

Insight matters 🧠 A large global survey of Spanish-speaking adults reported strong mental health improvements after meaningful experiences with psilocybin or LSD. Most participants felt better, including 84% with depression and 74% with anxiety. Psychological insight was the most powerful predictor of benefit, more than doubling the odds of improvement in depression, while challenging trips were linked to lower chances of feeling better afterward.

Mixing risks 🧪 User reports combining psilocybin or LSD with serotonergic antidepressants showed mostly reduced psychedelic effects, with 65% reporting blunting. Even so, meaningful or therapeutic experiences still appeared in 22% of cases. Signs of serotonin toxicity showed up only with LSD in 10 percent of reports and not with psilocybin, suggesting a potentially safer profile for psilocybin. Lack of clear guidance also led to risky behaviors, including extreme dose increases in 22% of users and sudden antidepressant discontinuation in 17%

Boulder psilocybin 🌄 Boulder now has at least three licensed psilocybin healing centers offering high-dose, facilitated mushroom sessions with required prep and integration. Demand is strong across older adults and midlife clients seeking relief from anxiety, trauma, or addiction, though centers still face banking and zoning hurdles. Sessions cost $1,500 to $4,000.

ECOLOGY & CONSERVATION

Polar pigments 🎨 Fungi from Arctic and Antarctic environments produce vibrant natural pigments with fast growth and easy cultivation, offering a sustainable alternative to synthetic dyes. Key producers include Aspergillus and Penicillium in Antarctica and Alternaria and Cladosporium in the Arctic.

Soil revival 🍷 Adding spent substrate from wine cap mushrooms (Stropharia rugosoannulata) to sunflower rotations restored heavily degraded soil. It raised pH by 0.57, cut salinity by 37% percent, and increased available phosphorus by 84%. Bacterial diversity improved while fungal overgrowth dropped, relieving nitrogen limitations and showing SMS as an effective, sustainable soil-recovery tool.

Melon boost 🍈 Beneficial soil fungi helped muskmelon plants resist Gummy Stem Blight by priming their natural defenses. Black mold fungus (Aspergillus niger, isolate Asp-MRF54) showed the strongest lab inhibition at 82%, while priming with Penicillium (Pen-MRF18) and Trichoderma virens (Tri-MRF47) protected plants by 82% and 77%. The fungi activated low-input plant defenses, increasing lignin, callose, and phenols to block infection.

Lettuce protection 🥬 Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi helped lettuce cope with PET microplastic pollution by cutting uptake by 20% and boosting biomass by 11% through improved nucleotide metabolism and zeatin biosynthesis. But the same fungi increased the uptake of PP and PS microplastics, worsening toxicity by disrupting antioxidant and stress-response pathways. Their benefit appears specific to PET, pointing to a targeted bioremediation role rather than a universal solution.

GROWING & GOURMET

Processing affects safety 🍽️ A review of 60 mushroom products found that processing methods change how many heat-made compounds form. Chips had the highest levels because added sugars like maltose boosted these browning compounds, while pickled mushrooms had the most AGEs — Advanced Glycation End Products, which form when foods are heated for long periods. One AGE called CML appeared in every product, showing that mushroom snacks and ready-to-eat items can vary widely in these heat-formed compounds.

Flavor shift 🪵 Wood ear mushrooms grown on traditional logs had far stronger cooked aroma than modern factory-grown versions. Log-grown mushrooms produced more mushroomy, nutty, and fruity scents because they started with higher levels of key fatty acids that form these aromas. Factory-grown mushrooms had more umami amino acids but lacked the rich aroma that makes wood ears taste distinctive.

Cornmeal upgrade 🌽 Adding cornmeal to compost improved the nutrition of white button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus). The best dose raised protein content to 3% fresh weight, a 14% increase. Pairing that with a recycled sugarcane-based casing soil produced the firmest mushrooms and matched the antioxidant quality of peat, showing it can replace commercial substrates effectively.

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