Unveiling Nature’s Secrets – Your Comprehensive Resource for Cordyceps Wisdom.
Cordyceps may help improve your athletic ability or performance by increasing cellular ATP (adenosine triphosphate) levels. ATP molecules store energy in the body, releasing it for use in small increments. Because it’s been used as a remedy for weakness/fatigue, people experiencing altitude sickness have been given Cordyceps.
The mountain communities in Bhutan say it is their ‘gift from the sky’: God rewarding them finally for their long toil in beautiful but forbidding high mountain conditions. In Bhutan, it is only the highlanders from Bumthang, Wangdue Phodrang, Gasa, Paro, Thimphu, Lhuntse, and Trashi Yangtse are eligible to pick cordyceps.
The eligible citizens are allowed to harvest and sell Cordyceps on condition that they do it on a sustainable basis: long-term sustainability is the focus during the cordyceps harvest. The highlanders are allowed to collect cordyceps only for a month during the season between May and June every year. The harvest duration was set based on scientific research. Bhutan has one of the most stringent regulations regarding the harvest of Cordyceps Sinensis. Local officials and forestry service workers oversee the entire process. They are on the lookout for poachers and outsiders who are involved in the illegal trade of the country’s most prized crop.
In the highlands of Bhutan, highlanders were once dependent on rearing livestock such as yak and sheep but most now make a living by gathering cordyceps. The collection of cordyceps has contributed to improving the living standard of many highlanders. Today the rare fungus has emerged as the main source of income for many herding families.
Some of its properties include D-mannitol, polysaccharides and 18 different amino acids and it’s rich in micronutrients and vitamins. These mushrooms may support health through a variety of pathways, including antioxidant effects and stimulation of the immune system. Some of the ways to consume cordyceps are
Place 6-8 Cordyceps fruit bodies and a cup of water in a pan. Bring to a boil. After boiling for a minute or so, then reduce the heat to very low and simmer for 15 minutes. Ideally, you’d drink two cups per day. What to do with the boiled fruit bodies? Eat them – dice them into soups or sauces.
You can eat Cordyceps fruit bodies raw. Aim for three to six grams per day.
Fresh mushrooms like Cordyceps can be as much as 90 percent water, so calculating dosages can be tricky. Dried Cordyceps, though, can be ground and taken by the teaspoon or in 400 mg capsules. For general immune support, take two capsules in the morning and two at night. Cordyceps supplement capsules are readily available in supplement shops and online.
Highlanders living in Gasa, Bumthang, Thimphu, Paro, and Trongsa will be permitted if they have their household number (tram) registered with the Gewog Administrator. A maximum of three people per household can register for the collection of the crop. The harvest of Cordyceps Sinensis is forbidden for civil servants and children under the age of twelve. To avoid conflicts of interest, the nomads are also given a particular harvesting boundary.
Today most of the women have gained financial independence, hence the social empowerment and youth have returned to the mountains ‘their native home’ to mine the gold, a lucrative cordyceps business. Numerous studies conducted in Bhutan show that the income generated from a month-long cordyceps collection significantly surpasses the earnings from a full year of yak farming. This transition has brought about transformative changes in herding communities, altering their lifestyles and economic dynamics.
