Cordyceps for Endurance
Cordyceps shows only a small, inconsistent endurance signal across a handful of tiny trials, so the evidence is too weak to recommend it as a genuine performance aid. Any benefit appears mostly in older or recreational exercisers and largely disappears in already-trained athletes.
Why this grade7-layer evidence engine
The grade is held to weak (Tier C) because the human evidence is thin and pulls in different directions. The single 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis (PMID 41280379) did report small gains in endurance, ventilatory threshold and VO2peak, but every one of those pooled outcomes rested on just two studies with p-values sitting right at the 0.03-0.05 edge, so the result is fragile rather than robust.
The underlying trials are small and conflicting. A 12-week trial in healthy older adults (PMID 20804368, n=20) raised the metabolic and ventilatory thresholds but left VO2max unchanged, and a 3-week study (PMID 27408987, n=28) found a VO2max gain only after chronic dosing and used a multi-mushroom blend, so the effect cannot be pinned on cordyceps alone. Critically, the trial in trained male cyclists (PMID 15118196, n=22) found no benefit at all, meaning the positive signals do not extend to fit, performance-oriented users.
Regulators and clinicians reinforce the caution. EFSA assessed a cordyceps energy/invigoration claim and judged it not supported by pertinent human data, and the UK NHS, WHO and NIH ODS offer no endorsement. The Cleveland Clinic notes the VO2max study but stresses that other studies show no effect and that more research is needed. Most products are cultured mycelium (Cs-4/CordyMax) rather than wild cordyceps, further limiting how far these modest findings can be stretched.
Scoring transparency
All scores computed by a 7-layer evidence engine — fully auditable▸View the full decision path (audit trail)
- compute_raw_score — 加權公式: L2×0.30 + L3×0.25 + L5×0.25 + L11×0.10 + L1×0.10 = 0.572
- tier_from_score — 依分數區間映射至 tier letter
- apply_hec_rules — 高品質 SR/MA 顯示 positive (1 篇 > 0 negative)
- tier_strict_requirement_check — | B→C 因 scope.conflation_risk=true 且 L11 獨評較低 (B7-2 tier cap)
- detect_disputes — 偵測到 0 個 hard + 0 個 soft dispute
- decide_status — 依 tier + dispute 結果決定 status