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27.07.2021

Meta-study confirms protective effect of edible mushrooms against cancer

If you eat an average of 20 grams of mushrooms such as oyster mushrooms, shiitake or belly button mushrooms every day, the chance that you will develop cancer is 45 percent smaller than if you never eat edible mushrooms.

Study
Penn State College of Medicine researchers collected 17 previously published epidemiological studies on the association between cancer and the consumption of edible mushrooms. They combined the results of those studies and re-analyzed them.

Results
When the researchers compared the study participants with the highest mushroom intakes to those with the lowest intakes, they found that the former group developed cancer significantly less often than the latter group.

Broken down by cancer type, the evidence was strongest for a protective effect of mushrooms against breast cancer. This is probably not because mushrooms would not protect against those other cancer types, the researchers suspect. There are just more breast cancer studies, so finding statistical significance is easier.

Below you can see the association between intake and the risk of cancer. With an intake of an average of 20 grams of mushrooms per day, the risk of cancer is 45 percent less than with an intake of 0 grams.

The researchers found no indications of publication bias, the figure above shows. So probably few studies with disappointing results have been left lying in a desk drawer. They do, however, find the quality of quite a lot of studies to be sub-optimal.

Mechanism
We ourselves have reported relatively often in the past about the immunomodulatory effects of edible mushrooms. Polysaccharides in edible mushrooms make immune cells more aggressive, causing them to attack cancer cells with greater fervor.

The researchers also mention another component. They suspect that ergothioneine, a sulfur-containing amino acid with an antioxidant effect, plays a significant role in cancer-prevention by mushrooms.

Edible mushrooms contain ergothioneine in a bioavailable form. [Prev Med. 2012 May;54 Suppl:S75-8.] Humans cannot produce ergothioneine, but food scientists have discovered that the compound keeps joints flexible, slows down brain aging and has a host of other positive effects. According to Bruce Ames, the founder of the Triage theory, ergothioneine is a longevity vitamin. [Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Oct 23;115(43):10836-44.]

Conclusion
"Our findings may have important public health implications in the prevention of chronic diseases and mortality", the researchers write. "In addition, the results are useful for policy makers, contributing to increasing public awareness about the role of the diet on health, and potential protective effects of mushrooms in lowering the risk of cancer."

Source:
Adv Nutr. 2021 Mar 16:nmab015. doi: 10.1093/advances/nmab015.

More:
Getting older? Belly button mushrooms improve motor coordination 09.04.2021
Oyster mushroom glucans prevent virus infections 09.03.2020
Edible mushrooms keep skin young 29.01.2020

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Cancer Prevention & Survival
Breast Cancer
Mushrooms

Eating lots of button mushrooms helps Natural Killer Cells to clear up more cancer cells An American animal study suggests that button mushrooms make Natural Killer Cells behave more aggressively towards cancer cells.	Each gram of mushroom reduces chance of breast cancer by several percent, says meta-study We've already written a couple of times about epidemiological studies which suggested that a diet containing large amounts of mushrooms protects against breast cancer. These studies don't deliver real proof.	Mushrooms may protect against cancer A small epidemiological study that South Korean researchers at Hanyang University published in 2008 in the International Journal of Cancer suggests this.