Free Republic

A team has shown that the natural substance ergothioneine improves the health span of aging animals. Ergothioneine is a natural compound found in certain fungi such as oyster or shiitake mushrooms as well as fermented foods. The researchers observed that treatment with ergothioneine from young adulthood not only extended the lifespan, but also increased their mobility as well as their resistance to stress and reduced age-related biomarkers. The project partners were also able to observe these positive effects in mammals. For three weeks, they treated six nine-month-old rats with a daily dose of about 10 milligrams of ergothioneine—roughly the same...

Radioactive cesium detected in Fukushima shiitake Radioactive cesium exceeding the government standard has been detected in shiitake mushrooms grown indoors in 2 cities in Fukushima Prefecture, about 60 kilometers from the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. This is the first detection of radioactive cesium exceeding the standard in produce grown in greenhouses in the prefecture since the nuclear accident. The Fukushima prefectural government says 1,770 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium was detected in mushrooms grown in Date City. The level is more than 3 times the provisional government limit of 500 becquerels per kilogram. 560 becquerels of radioactive cesium...

Lightning makes mushrooms more plentiful, according to ongoing research that offers a solid scientific basis for Japanese farming lore. For generations, Japanese farmers have welcomed storms over their fields based on the belief that lightning strikes provoke plentiful harvests of mushrooms, which are staples of Japanese cuisine. Currently, mushroom demand is so high that dealers are increasingly turning to foreign suppliers. Japan imports about 50,000 tons of mushrooms a year, mainly from China and South Korea. As part of a four-year study, scientists in northern Japan have been bombarding a variety of mushrooms in lab-based garden plots with artificially induced...