The Science Behind Cordyceps: How This Mushroom Impacts Fertility | Expert Mycologist Explains | Be Well Moments

0:00Welcome to Live Well Be Well, a show to help high performers improve their health and wellbeing.

0:10I don't know if you'd have watched this. The Last of Us was quite a famous show on Netflix and it just reminds me of cordyceps, where everyone turned into a zombie. I haven't seen it. When I think of cordyceps, I now think of us all turning into zombies in the future. But, you know, that's another topic of conversation. So what is a cordyceps mushroom and how helpful is that for us? What does it do? What's the benefits? Taking cordyceps for 15 years and I haven't become a zombie. So it's quite safe. It's a booster for energy. It's a booster for performance and for fertility. No. Tell me more. Well, cordyceps works in many ways.

0:57But for men, for example, what it works is in activating the synthesis of spermidine. Spermidine? Yes. Producing sperm. Yes. Improves the quality of the sperm. And then also activates the libido, which is very proven. And then also for women, it cleanses all the mucus from the fallopian tubes. So it allows the fertility moment where the implementation of the sea goat into the endometrium. and that is going to help to really bring you know to a good end let's say when we are trying to have a baby to conceive. One billion people worldwide are deficient in this nutrient that so many of you guys might not be aware of and women if you're listening you are more risk of being deficient in this nutrient.

2:03So I'm going to first of all explain what the physical symptoms are If you have cold hands and feet, pale skin, extreme lack of energy or fatigue, then you might be suffering with iron deficiency or anemia. Now, first off, please go to your GP to get your iron levels checked. Secondly, please explore a good iron supplement. Many people that come to me are worried about taking iron supplementation because it can cause constipation or GI distress. that's why I'm so incredibly proud to be partnering for this episode with Spartone the number one iron rich water supplement now I've personally been using these for years the reason why is because they are naturally sourced highly absorbable iron that means it's much more gentle on your stomach there's no harsh tablets it's just one naturally sourced ingredient that works very well you can pick it up in boots or buy online at amazon but please do not ignore this it is really critical to make sure your iron levels are in check wow i think it's so interesting because one of the episodes that i'm really wanting to do at the moment is on and the kind of increase in male infertility it's you know i think for so long it's always been looked at as a woman if he's struggling to conceive right and more and more we're now also seeing that men are really suffering with this and it's unknown to them.

3:28I think women sometimes are a bit more aware because we're aware of our biological clock and many, you know, maybe many people have known other women that struggled. So we immediately can think it's us, which also for the men, they don't have that realization that maybe they should get checked at the same time as a woman. And now I think that's becoming, the awareness now is rising so much. I think men are more aware than ever or when they start trying for a baby, they are. So thinking about mushrooms in this setting is really interesting because it's something that I wouldn't have naturally thought about.

4:00And we've done quite a lot of fertility episodes on this podcast. And I think having something like cordyceps, which... We work very much in fertility, even we work in fertility clinics. Wow. And with reishi mushroom and with cordyceps mushroom, because you're looking at always when And when you're looking at a couple that are looking for to conceive and they go on through the step of going to a clinic, it's because they have already tried and it hasn't gone well enough. So that becomes a stress. Yeah, massive. It becomes a very stressful process. And that is not helping. Stress is completely the opposite of conceiving.

4:46So the first thing we need to get is down levels of stress, and that is where reishi comes in as a big player, bringing the levels of stress really down. And so this applies to both. And lately we're working where this is something that society is really asking for, more knowledge and more research on fertility, and we're working on this. and lately I've been thinking it's a you know it is conceiving a child is a project of two so it should be taken care from the two people that are going to have this project in common so starting with both of them taking the mushrooms because both sides are stressed And we know that when men are stressed, the production of sperm, it's very highly reduced.

5:44It is highly reduced now with all the problems with the antennas and all of the, you know, there are many, many studies coming out with all the frequencies, the radio frequencies and how they are affecting. but you can see differences in 15 days. So that's by even having things like your phone. Like the phone. If they take the phone away 15 days, you see the difference in the quality of this perm. It's amazing. Wow. And also, tell me if I'm right or wrong, chemical products around the home. Exactly. Yeah. Cleansing products. Yeah. What happens also for the hormonal disruptors for women. The endocrine system, the endocrine disruptors.

6:32Yeah. Is there any concern about the fetus development when taking mushrooms? I'm just thinking because we're always thinking about supplements that women should stay away from if they're trying to conceive. Like vitamin A, we shouldn't be having too much vitamin A. And also for men, thinking about their sperm quality. Is there any risks of taking these at all? Not at all. Okay. As I said previously, unless you are allergic, someone who's allergic to mushrooms shouldn't take mushrooms, obviously. not the derivatives from mushrooms but uh all we can see from the mushrooms for conceiving is as we said um the most important part is going to be to have the cells healthy and the other side and the sperm have to be healthy and there is where we are going to see very good results with the intake of the extracts of the mushrooms, reishi and cordyceps in particular.

7:33And then for men and women, and the incredible thing is that it's the same mushrooms for men and women, cordyceps and reishi. Wow, okay. And this also, so many times, rings a bell of the adaptogenic properties of the mushrooms, which is incredible because they're like intelligent creatures. It's like you're putting a problem, but you're putting both sexes and genders into the conversation and it's the two same mushrooms that you need in the same quantity that's going to help both genders. Wow. And this is absolutely impressive. And there's a lot of science backing this up. So it's something that we already know and we are working on it to bring more clinical trials and more solid evidence.

8:33Thanks so much for listening. To hear the full episode, there's a link in the description.