Not all ingredients are created equal

The hunt for the highest quality Cordyceps mushrooms

At HANAH, our mission is to preserve and to protect ancient medical traditions around the world and adapt them into products that we can use in our modern lives. We are constantly on the hunt for the purest and highest-quality ingredients on the planet. In the next edition of our Not All Ingredients are Created Equal series, we take an in-depth look at the Cordyceps mushroom. The word is truly out on the health benefits of Cordyceps mushrooms, creating a dizzying array of drinks, powders and capsules— which can be very confusing. Cordyceps mushrooms grow in the wild and they're also grown in laboratories. So how do you distinguish between the two, and should you even care? Watch the video to learn more.

The benefits of Cordyceps mushrooms are very well documented and include:

• Inhibiting cancer cell growth
• Reducing inflammation
• Boosting the immune system
• Increasing athletic and mental performance 

Real, wild grown Cordyceps sinensis vs. the lab-grown version

There are two types of Cordyceps sinensis and this is the crux of the matter. Let's take a look at the two: wild Cordyceps grow above 14,000 feet on the Tibetan Plateau, including Bhutan, and contain 20 bioactive ingredients. This fungus grows from the ghost moth caterpillar in the nutrient dense and oxygen starved soil of the Himalaya. They are very rare, more expensive and more powerful than the lab grown version. Due to the high demand, noticeable benefits and rarity, real Cordyceps sinensis can cost $10,000 a pound.
The alternative are Cordyceps grown in labs on rice, wood chips or straw and are not sprouted from the ghost moth caterpillar. The lab-grown fungi are mass-produced by companies who put profit over health, and often contain starchy fillers which can be up to 65% of the product, as well as toxic solvents, heavy metals and pesticides. Even though the majority of the Cordyceps supplements on the market do not contain the wild fungus, this does not stop many companies from using pictures of the ghost moth caterpillar in their marketing materials.

The HANAH difference and promise

We at HANAH have been working very closely with the Bhutanese Traditional Medicine Institute, and have created a product which not only contains real, wild-harvested Bhutanese Cordyceps, but also contains eight other herbs and adaptogens. We are calling this product Cordyceps+ and its based on a recipe from the 2,500-year-old Bhutanese book of traditional medicine called the Sowa Rigpa.

At HANAH, we source only the purest ingredients and use ancient methods to ensure that our products deliver noticeable results. To that end, we source only the purest highest quality wild-harvested Cordyceps from the Himalayas of Bhutan, a place that has very strict guidelines on sustainability. Unless your mushroom supplements come from a manufacturer that is completely transparent, you might want to look elsewhere.