Eating mushrooms regularly helps protect against cancer, according to Pennsylvania State University (US).
The mushroom is a vegetable rich in vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants, in other words, it is a superfood. According to American researchers, the fungus that grows in our garden can protect us against the risk of cancer. At least that’s what they say through a study published on March 16 in the Revue. Advances in Nutrition.
A large-scale study
Scientists reviewed research from more than 17 cancer studies published over a 54-year period (1966 to 2020). The data relate to approximately 19,500 patients. Several previous publications have already established a link between fungi and cancers. So, to be more precise, scientists at Pennsylvania State University (United States) focused research on the correlation between the consumption of mushrooms and the risk of contracting cancer by analyzing the composition of several types of mushrooms. “Mushrooms are the highest food source of ergothionein, which is a unique and powerful antioxidant, as well as a cellular protector”, said Djibril M. Ba, a graduate student in epidemiology at Penn State College of Medicine.
According to the study, shiitakes, king oyster and oyster mushrooms or tufted polypores contain huge amounts of ergothionein. It would suffice to eat just 18 grams of these types of mushrooms per day to reduce the risk of developing cancer by 45%.
Good prospects in breast cancer research
“Overall, these results provide important evidence for the protective effects of fungi against cancer.”, said John Richie, co-author of the study, researcher at the Penn State Cancer Institute.
Several types of cancer have been examined, it turns out that the strongest association between this pathology and the consumption of this food has been observed for breast cancer. Women who consume mushrooms significantly are said to have a significantly lower risk of developing one, compared to others.
