Cordyceps for Fatigue
Cordyceps earns a weak (Tier C) rating for fatigue: the limited human evidence is mostly indirect, drawn from small exercise-performance trials rather than studies measuring fatigue itself, so any benefit for everyday tiredness remains unproven.
Why this grade7-layer evidence engine
The grade is held down by both the type and size of the evidence. The supporting human data come from three small studies that measured exercise surrogates rather than fatigue directly. A 2025 meta-analysis in athletes (PMID 41280379, n=528) found only marginal endurance gains (p=0.05) plus modest improvements in ventilatory threshold and VO2peak, while two tiny double-blind RCTs (PMID 27408987, n=28; PMID 20804368, n=15) reported better time-to-exhaustion and metabolic thresholds. None measured everyday tiredness as a primary outcome.
Quality caveats compound the uncertainty: sample sizes are very small, doses and Cordyceps species differ across trials (sinensis vs militaris), and the Cs-4 product in PMID 20804368 was industry-supplied, raising a conflict-of-interest concern.
Authorities are largely unconvinced or silent. The EU EFSA assessed a Cordyceps energy/vitality claim and rejected it as not supported by pertinent human data. The Cleveland Clinic notes its traditional use for energy and fatigue but stresses that evidence is conflicting and more human trials are needed, while the NIH, Harvard, NHS and WHO do not endorse it for fatigue. That mix of weak surrogate data and a skeptical-to-absent expert consensus is why the rating stays at weak rather than moderate.
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 = 0.569
- 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