Posted on 11/13/2017 10:47:00 AM PST by Red Badger
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Mushrooms may make our favorite pizza and pasta dishes taste delightfully better, but it turns out they may help keep our brains and hearts younger too. A new study finds that some of our favorite toadstools may have high concentrations of antioxidants with anti-aging benefits.
Researchers at Penn State analyzed the chemical composition of a wide variety of types of mushrooms, finding that many contained high levels of ergothioneine and glutathione, both of which are important antioxidants.
“What we found is that, without a doubt, mushrooms are highest dietary source of these two antioxidants taken together, and that some types are really packed with both of them,” says lead researcher Robert Beelman in a university news release.
It is widely accepted that the human body’s chemical process of converting food into energy produces free radicals, which can cause damage to cells, protein, and DNA, the researchers explain.
“There’s a theory — the free radical theory of aging — that’s been around for a long time that says when we oxidize our food to produce energy there’s a number of free radicals that are produced that are side products of that action and many of these are quite toxic,” says Beelman.
Eventually, an accumulation of free radicals can lead to chronic disease and illness, including “cancer, coronary heart disease, and Alzheimer’s,” he adds. Ergothioneine and glutathione can help control those free radicals.
Beelman and his team found that the quantity of antioxidants in certain species varied, with the porcini species, which is a wild variety, carrying the highest amount of both ergothioneine and glutathione.
“This species is really popular in Italy where searching for it has become a national pastime,” Beelman says.
Meanwhile, some garden-variety types of mushroom, such as the white button, had fewer antioxidants, although more than most foods.
Interestingly, there was little evidence that cooking mushrooms significantly changed the composition of their antioxidants, particularly as it pertained to ergothioneine.
Future research could look into the ability of ergothioneine and glutathione to help prevent neurodegenerative disease, such as Parkinson’s and the aforementioned Alzheimer’s, Beelman suggests.
“It’s preliminary, but you can see that countries that have more ergothioneine in their diets, countries like France and Italy, also have lower incidences of neurodegenerative diseases, while people in countries like the United States, which has low amounts of ergothioneine in the diet, have a higher probability of diseases like Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s,” Beelman notes.
Although the relationship between mushroom consumption and neurodegeneration may be one of correlation, instead of causation, it would only take about five button mushrooms a day for Americans to close the gap, he adds.
The study’s findings were published last month the journal Food Chemistry.
Oh I remember her!’
She was the one in the creek skinny-dipping!................
Drop by the Kennet Square Annual Mushroom Festival.
Kennett Square is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is known as the Mushroom Capital of the World because mushroom farming in the region produces over a million pounds of mushrooms a day. To celebrate this heritage, Kennett Square has an annual Mushroom Festival
I think the pepperoni cancels out the mushrooms............
Yes, that's her.
I harvested four “puffer” mushrooms from my yard this year. 7 inches in diameter. I cut them into 1” thick steaks and ate them that way.
I’m going to try what you suggested, btw. That sounds awesome!
My wife wont touch mushrooms. :(
It’s great if you are on a low carb diet!.................
It would beat rice cakes as bread. Blech!
Eating rice cakes is as close to eating Styrofoam as you can get................
Eating rice cakes is as close to eating Styrofoam as you can get...
Styrofoam has more fiber...................
Earlier today it was sex, now they say it’s mushrooms. With any luck, a study will be published that claims a 20oz medium rare prime rib, smothered in sauteed mushrooms and served with a fully loaded baked potato after sex will be the key to the fountain of youth!
When I lived in Michigan they had a Morel Hunt every year. People all over the state were out in the woods looking for them.
And every year a few of them would die from eating toadstools because they did not know what they were doing.
It IS!!!!!!!!.....................
Oh, THOSE mushrooms.
Author is an idiot and is going to get someone killed.
Gonna have to check the packages from now on. Make sure I get American mushrooms.........................
Seems like every spring around April or May, some people die from eating the wrong WILD mushrooms..............I will not knowingly eat any wild picked mushrooms...................
How can you mistake ANYTHING for a Morel?
FWIW, I had about two pounds of Morels grow under a pine tree in my back yard once when I lived in Seattle. Those things were amazingly delicious. I had no idea what a prize they were at the time (It was about 35 years ago).
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