Have you ever bought a golden grass that can cure all diseases?

Legend has it that there is such a creature that it is grass in summer and adult in winter. Born in snow-capped mountains, it is l

Have you ever bought a golden grass that can cure all diseases?

Legend has it that there is such a creature that it is grass in summer and adult in winter. Born in snow-capped mountains, it is longer than thousands of years of frozen soil. Known as the magic medicine, the degree of deification is comparable to that of Saussurea involucrata. And once the price was close to the people. In the early years, a pack of ordinary cigarettes could be exchanged for a catty. ?

Later, he was carried to the altar, with the aura of "curing all diseases", and his value soared, winning the reputation of "golden grass", and countless people were crazy about it. ?

It's Cordyceps sinensis. ?

Cordyceps sinensis (source: 123RF genuine picture library)?

I believe everyone has heard of its legend, but the legend is just a legend after all. First of all, we must make it clear that Cordyceps sinensis is not a bug or a grass. ?

What exactly is Cordyceps sinensis? Is it really worth pursuing and can it be used as a high-grade health care product to prevent and treat all diseases? Let's start with its birth. ?

The struggle of Cordyceps sinensis?

Cordyceps sinensis is actually one of more than 90 kinds of Cordyceps sinensis in China/KLOC-0. It is essentially a fungus and belongs to the genus Cordyceps, which belongs to the family ergotaceae of Ascomycomycetes. The strain is a unique Cordyceps sinensis (also known as Cordyceps sinensis) in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China. It mainly grows in alpine meadows above 3000 meters above sea level and is distributed in Tibet, Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan and other places. ?

Cordyceps sinensis is parasitic only on a bat moth larva. Larvae of the family Hepialidae, lucky enough to be (or unlucky enough to be) Cordyceps sinensis, is called Cordyceps hepialidae. It spends most of its life underground, likes low temperature and takes plant roots as its staple food. ?

Cordyceps bat moth?

(Image source:/large/4E47D97A5C39C31960&; 690)?

Its life is very tortuous. It was born in midsummer (from late June to early September every year) and almost became an orphan as soon as it came to this world. In order to avoid the cold, it has been wintering in the underground frozen soil since childhood. After the first winter of my life, I dare not come out for air and live honestly in the basement. If you are lucky and don't have an accident, if you stay underground for two to three years, it will leave the basement where it has lived for most of its life and come to the ground to receive the sunshine and rain, become a moth and fly high. ?

"Insect Life" has developed to this stage, and it is really a beautiful story of a loyal wife who broke the cocoon into a butterfly. But experience tells us that a perfect story is usually not too long, either paving the way for new conflicts or indicating that the story is coming to an end. Cordyceps bat moth is no exception. ?

It is white when it first comes out of the ground, and it will turn brown-red after an hour, and then it will turn brown-black. It is covered with spots and flies like a butterfly. It is high-spirited, flying up and down among the flowers, but it doesn't eat or drink, and is only busy with one thing. ?

That's the baby! ?

And the continuation of life is at the expense of life. Generally, females begin to lay eggs within a few hours after emergence, and after mating, they lay more eggs, with an average of 400 to 500, up to 700. The female moth died immediately after laying eggs, and the male moth soon became a double suicide. It usually takes three days from emergence to death. It is really an insect version of "If you give me three days of light". ?

The eggs laid are usually left on the leaves of plants (parents' new house is the delivery room). Under suitable temperature and humidity conditions, eggs can hatch into white-headed worms in about one month. As soon as the bug shed its eggshell, it rushed into the soil, built a tunnel connected up and down underground, and moved up and down in the tunnel with the change of temperature. The tunnel twists and turns and runs through from top to bottom, which is called three-dimensional fortification (refer to the series of Tunnel Warfare). Larvae has excellent ability to resist hunger and cold, even if it is frozen for three feet in severe winter, it is fearless. Although young, it is tenacious, and it will not die. Followed by a long dormant, waiting for the light ...?

(image source:/question/920214784146564859.html)?

Overwintering larvae pupate in tunnels near the ground, and then pupate into adults. Adults continue to take over the banner of their parents and contribute everything to the continuation of the race. However, all these bat moths need good luck to live a happy life. If the bat moth larvae encounter uninvited guests during dormancy, its life trajectory will change greatly. It will lose its soul and body, leaving only one body in this world. ?

This uninvited guest is Cordyceps sinensis. ?

Summer grass's extravagant hope?

Cordyceps sinensis likes to move at temperatures below 25 degrees Celsius, especially the larvae of Cordyceps sinensis and Batmoth. Whenever you see it, you will fit it. Cordyceps sinensis generally takes 3 to 5 years to mature, and a large number of sporophytes will be produced after maturity. Every hot summer, while bat moths are tirelessly breeding and laying eggs on the flowers and leaves or on the ground, Cordyceps sinensis is constantly sending their children out of the house, and the sporophyte "sends me to Qingyun by good wind" and floats with the wind all the way. ?

Mature Cordyceps sinensis (Source:/)?

When the bat moth emerges from its egg and is about to start its own "wilderness survival", the spherical Cordyceps spores will immediately "land" when they see this scene. As soon as it meets the moth larvae, the spores of Cordyceps sinensis immediately get into the larvae to parasitize, and then eat the nutrients in the larvae until the larvae die. Worms entering the soil are not good. After the spores fall to the ground, they don't "fall into the box" and die immediately, but they are scattered on the ground and wait patiently. When there is all kinds of precipitation, it will seep into the soil layer with the water flow. The larva really sits at home, and disaster falls from the sky. If you unfortunately encounter spores flowing downstream in the tunnel, you will really die! ?

Spores will "stay" in the larvae, no matter how hard the larvae try to drive them away. Once the environment is suitable, spores will develop into sclerotia and bud tubes will germinate. These pointed buds can invade the larvae through all possible channels such as their mouths and stomata, and form fungal hyphae in the larvae. Fungal hyphae make full use of organic matter in larvae as nutrition until the life of larvae is exhausted, and finally become a "mummy" full of hyphae. The larvae infected by fungi are miserable. They can't sleep well in the ground and keep crawling. They often end up rolling 2 to 3 centimeters above the ground, with their heads up and tails down, and die with hatred. This is "Cordyceps sinensis". In May and June of the following year, a long dark brown grass-like stick will grow on the worm's head, which usually appears on the ground. This is "summer grass". Summer grass is a substrate composed of fungal hyphae. ?

The insect body is connected with the fungal stroma to form a complete strain of Cordyceps sinensis. Among them, integrity, fullness, hypertrophy, Huang Liang in outer color, white in inner color and short female seat are preferred. ?

What is the formation process of Cordyceps sinensis?

(Source: Station Cool Luohai Creative)?

Disillusionment of "magic medicine"

Cordyceps sinensis was originally a traditional Chinese medicine, its main function is to tonify kidney and lung, stop bleeding and resolve phlegm. Modern pharmacological research shows that it has certain antiasthmatic, antitussive and expectorant effects. During the SARS in 2003, there were rumors that Cordyceps sinensis could cure all diseases, and the first generation of "magic medicine" officially debuted at C. After that, the merchants added the aura of "anti-cancer" and "longevity" to it, and then entered the field of advanced health care products. The scenery is infinite, and its price naturally rises. In 2007, the price climbed to the peak, and the price of 2,000 yuan per kilogram of Cordyceps sinensis was as high as 200,000 yuan per kilogram. ?

Cordyceps sinensis has become a popular gift.

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Due to the continuous speculation of Cordyceps sinensis, a large number of counterfeit products have appeared in the market. Even if it is genuine, in order to increase the weight of Cordyceps sinensis, vendors often add metal impurities, such as iron powder, aluminum powder, lead powder and so on. 16 when sampling and testing various cordyceps products, it was found that the arsenic content of almost all the tested products far exceeded the national standard, and there was a high risk in long-term use. ?

In 1950s, German scientists discovered cordycepin in Cordyceps sinensis, which was considered to have certain antibacterial and anticancer effects, and became the basis for countless businesses to speculate on its various magical effects. However, after research, not all cordyceps sinensis contain cordycepin, even if it is detected, the content is extremely low, and the therapeutic effect cannot be achieved at all. On the other hand, the heavy metal content of Cordyceps sinensis has exceeded the standard, and long-term consumption may do more harm than good to human health. ?

As early as 20 16, the former US Food and Drug Administration issued the "Consumer Tips for Cordyceps Products" in official website, stating that "Cordyceps belongs to Chinese herbal medicines and does not belong to dual-use substances. The limit value of arsenic in National Safety Standard for Health Food is 1.0 mg/kg. Long-term consumption of Cordyceps sinensis, Cordyceps sinensis powder, pure powder tablets and other products will cause excessive arsenic intake and may accumulate in the human body, which poses a high risk. " ?

Related studies also show that long-term consumption of products such as Cordyceps sinensis, Cordyceps sinensis powder or pure powder tablets may cause excessive accumulation of arsenic in the body, leading to deterioration of renal function, aggravation of edema on the face and limbs, oliguria, pericarditis, palpitation and shortness of breath, arrhythmia, precordial pain, headache, irritability and facial erythema. ?

At the same time, as for the absurd "anti-cancer" effect, many related scientific research teams have studied it and proved that it is only a gimmick under marketing, and its effect has been seriously exaggerated. ?

Liu Gaoqiang, School of Life Science and Technology, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, showed in the article "Study on Chemical Composition and Pharmacological Activity of Cordyceps sinensis" that the components of Cordyceps sinensis are basically clear at present: wild Cordyceps sinensis contains water 10.83%, crude protein 29. 1% ~ 33%, crude fat 8.62% and total sugar/kloc-0. In addition, it also contains amino acids, fatty acids, nucleosides, sterols, 7% ~ 9% mannitol, polysaccharides and so on. These components are the main material basis for Cordyceps sinensis to exert its possible physiological activity or drug effect, but these components are not unique to Cordyceps sinensis, and no unique active components have been found in Cordyceps sinensis. ?

Image source: Nanfang Daily client?

On February 27th, 20 18, the former US Food and Drug Administration issued "These four health products are unhealthy, so don't waste money!" The first one refers to Cordyceps sinensis. ?

2065438+On March 8, 2008, the former US Food and Drug Administration issued the Notice on Stopping the Pilot Work of Using Cordyceps sinensis as Health Food, which once again emphasized that Cordyceps sinensis should be excluded from the ranks of health care products. ?

Cordyceps sinensis should not be used as a few grams of health care products. Everyone must be rational when they see the exaggerated functions of Cordyceps sinensis in advertisements, and then decide whether to take it after consulting a professional doctor. Never be careless about things related to your health. ?

(The pictures indicated in this article are authorized. )