We’ve covered plenty of unconventional ways to improve running performance here at Six Minute Mile, but few have generated as much curiosity as functional mushrooms. In our previous article, “Can mushrooms improve running performance and recovery?”, we explored research suggesting that certain fungi could improve endurance, reduce fatigue, and support recovery.
That article caught the attention of an SMM reader named Jon Carter, who reached out to tell us about his company, Sporeticus. Jon had developed a snack that combines two of the most promising functional mushrooms, lion’s mane and cordyceps, and thought we might be interested in giving it a try.
I agreed to test the product, and after a couple of weeks, I was pleasantly surprised by the results. But before we get into my experience, I’ll share some of Jon’s story.
Before launching Sporeticus, Jon was an avid backcountry skier who spent long days in the mountains. He wanted a more reliable source of energy than traditional snack bars and began experimenting with cordyceps mushrooms, eventually developing his own recipes in the tiny kitchen of his truck camper.
Then, at age 30, he was diagnosed with Stage 3 testicular cancer that had spread to his abdomen and chest. During chemotherapy, Jon maintained an intensive nutrition and supplement regimen, incorporating lion’s mane and cordyceps with encouragement from his oncologist. He felt that the mushrooms supported his energy and well-being during a difficult period.
After completing treatment and receiving the news that no cancer was detectable, Jon found himself struggling to maintain his complicated supplement routine. That inspired him to simplify things by making a portable, real-food snack with mushroom extracts.
He launched Sporeticus Energy Bites, and a portion of every purchase supports nonprofits serving young adults affected by cancer.
Sporeticus’s approach brings together two mushrooms that researchers have investigated for different potential benefits.
Lion’s mane (Hericium erinaceus) contains bioactive compounds called hericenones and erinacines, which have attracted scientific interest for their possible effects on nerve growth factors, cognitive performance, and mood. Some early human studies suggest that consistent supplementation could improve certain aspects of mental processing and reduce subjective stress.
Cordyceps has a longer history in endurance sports, thanks to research exploring its effects on oxygen utilization, fatigue resistance, and recovery. Compounds such as cordycepin may influence physiological processes involved in exercise performance, although researchers are still working out exactly how these effects occur.
The reasoning behind combining them is that Lion’s mane could support your ability to concentrate, and cordyceps may help your body sustain physical effort. In his own article about combining lion’s mane and cordyceps, Jon notes that combining them in a single daily snack is convenient, especially for people who struggle to maintain a supplement routine.
Sporeticus recommends two 10-gram Energy Bites per day, delivering a combined 750 mg of lion’s mane and cordyceps extracts. According to the company, its extracts are standardized for compounds including erinacines, cordycepin, and beta-glucans.
The bites also use date paste rather than added sugar. Dates provide carbohydrates for readily available energy and have a relatively low glycemic index. Individual blood sugar responses can vary, but pairing the fruit with other ingredients may help make for a more gradual energy source than a highly refined sugary snack.
I went into this experiment curious, but without any particular expectations. I opted for the Lemon Coconut flavor, which tasted great.
After about a week of consistent use, I thought I noticed a slight improvement in my ability to concentrate. It was subtle enough that I couldn’t confidently attribute the change to the mushrooms. Perhaps I was having a particularly productive week.
By the second week, I found myself maintaining better focus throughout the workday, with fewer dips in energy that often arrive during the afternoon. Tasks that required sustained concentration felt easier to stick with, and I seemed to have more energy left toward the end of the day to finish work and power through my afternoon run.
The improvement felt pretty steady too. Unlike caffeine or snacks high in sugar, the bites really do feel like a gentle boost in energy, rather than a spike and crash.
Jon tells us that focus, steadier afternoon energy, and satiety are the three benefits that appear most frequently in customer reviews. Some customers also describe using the bites during outdoor activities, including running and cycling, as convenient food that sits comfortably in their stomachs.
Of course, these are personal experiences rather than controlled scientific findings. My own test didn’t include a placebo, and I can’t rule out changes in diet, expectations, or other factors. The dates themselves could also account for some of the immediate energy benefits.
Fortunately, Jon pointed us toward several published studies that offer a closer look at what these mushrooms might actually do.
One encouraging piece of evidence comes from a 2023 study published in Nutrients, which examined the cognitive and mood effects of lion’s mane supplementation in healthy adults aged 18 to 45.
Researchers used a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design, with 41 participants completing the 28-day supplementation period. Participants took 1.8 grams of lion’s mane daily and completed a series of cognitive assessments.
The researchers observed two particularly interesting results.
First, participants performed significantly faster on a Stroop test, which measures aspects of attention and cognitive control, approximately one hour after taking lion’s mane.
Second, after 28 days of supplementation, participants showed a trend toward lower subjective stress levels compared with the placebo group.
Those findings offer some support for the idea that lion’s mane could help with mental performance. However, the improvement in processing speed appeared on only one cognitive test, and the overall stress result fell just short of conventional statistical significance. The researchers emphasized that larger trials are needed before drawing firm conclusions.
Earlier studies involving older adults with mild cognitive impairment have also reported improvements following longer supplementation periods. That raises interesting questions about whether lion’s mane might have benefits extending beyond everyday concentration, especially as we age.
For now, the evidence provides a reason to remain curious about lion’s mane as a cognitive supplement.
For endurance athletes, cordyceps may be the more intriguing half of the combination.
A 2024 study published in Nutrients examined the effects of cordyceps militaris extract on 22 male university distance runners over 16 weeks of preseason training.
Half the runners took 1.8 grams of cordyceps extract daily, and the others received a placebo.
Researchers found that the cordyceps group experienced more favorable changes in several blood markers associated with oxygen transport and iron storage.
At four and eight weeks, their changes in ferritin, a protein that reflects the body’s iron reserves, were significantly more favorable than those in the placebo group. At eight weeks, changes in hemoglobin and hematocrit also favored the cordyceps group.
That’s potentially useful for distance runners, who can experience increased iron demands during heavy training.
Researchers also observed lower creatine kinase levels in the cordyceps group compared with placebo after 16 weeks. Creatine kinase is a marker associated with muscle damage, so this finding suggests a possible benefit for managing training-related muscle stress.
There’s an important qualification, though. Both groups improved their 5K times, and the cordyceps group did not improve significantly more than the placebo group. The changes in blood markers may indicate physiological benefits, but this study didn’t demonstrate an advantage in actual race performance within the given timeframe.
A separate placebo-controlled study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine offers another reason for optimism.
Researchers enrolled 20 healthy adults between ages 50 and 75 to investigate the effects of a cordyceps sinensis preparation called Cs-4 over 12 weeks.
Among those receiving cordyceps, metabolic threshold increased by approximately 10.5%, and ventilatory threshold rose by 8.5%.
In practical terms, improvements in these thresholds could allow an athlete to sustain a higher exercise intensity before fatigue-related physiological demands become more pronounced.
Interestingly, researchers observed no improvement in VO2 max, suggesting that the potential benefits of cordyceps may extend beyond changes in maximal aerobic capacity.
Our earlier coverage also highlighted a 2025 meta-analysis of 14 randomized trials that reported promising findings for fungal supplementation and endurance-related outcomes. Taken together, the research suggests cordyceps deserves further investigation as a potential tool for supporting performance and recovery.
There’s a reasonable scientific basis for exploring lion’s mane and cordyceps, particularly if you’re interested in cognitive performance, fatigue management, or endurance training.
The research is still developing, and studies use different mushroom species, extract preparations, dosages, and supplementation periods. The trials discussed above also used larger amounts of individual mushroom preparations than the 750 mg combined extract serving in Sporeticus Energy Bites.
Even so, I found my experience worthwhile. The convenience of a small, real-food snack made the routine easy to maintain, and the improvement I noticed in my afternoon energy and focus was meaningful enough that I wanted to share it.
We think Jon’s experience of creating a product inspired by his own challenges – and using the business to support other young adults navigating cancer – is really admirable as well.
For readers interested in experimenting with functional mushrooms, Sporeticus offers an approachable option with a clear ingredient philosophy and a mission worth supporting.
Jon has arranged a special offer for the Six Minute Mile community.
Through our link, readers can save 43% on their first 28-day supply of Sporeticus Energy Bites, plus 27% on every subsequent refill with a subscription.
lion’s mane and cordyceps supplement
If you’ve been curious about lion’s mane or cordyceps, this could be an opportunity to see how they fit into your daily routine. Give them a consistent trial, pay attention to how you feel, and remember that individual results may vary.
