The superfood studies suggest it can HALF your risk of cancer, but experts say there’s more to it

Over the years, fringe scientists have claimed that various compounds in everyday foods can help prevent cancer.

From phytochemicals in fruit to omega-3 fatty acids in walnuts, popular ideas about cancer-fighting foods have come and gone.

Now the spotlight seems to be on an unlikely vegetable: mushrooms.

An intriguing tweet from nutrition coach Lori Shemek shared details of a study of nearly 20,000 people, which found that eating just one mushroom a day could nearly halve the risk of developing all forms of cancer.

‘Cancer absolutely hates mushrooms,” wrote Shemek, who is not a doctor.

The claim seems far-fetched, but recent studies seem to suggest that some types of edible fungi could be useful in fighting cancer cells. So should we increase our mushroom content?

Mushrooms have been used by Asian physicians for centuries in the hope of treating a number of health conditions. Extracts of turkey tail mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms are currently approved for the treatment of cancer in Japan and China.

American doctors became attuned to the trend around the turn of the 21st century, while a series of studies have put the vegetables in the spotlight in recent years.

One of these is the 2021 assessment that nutrition coach Lori Shemek references, conducted by experts from Penn State University.

The scientists reviewed 19 previous studies on many mushroom varieties and found that eating 18 grams of mushrooms daily could reduce the risk of developing all cancers by 45 percent.

That’s about one standard-sized white mushroom per day.

However, of the 19 studies they analyzed, only 11 controlled for other factors that could have influenced cancer risk, such as exercise, body weight, or other dietary choices.

And it’s likely that those who eat diets high in mushrooms will also eat other fruits and vegetables, in addition to exercise, meaning their low risk of cancer comes from other elements of their lifestyle.

Of 270 potentially beneficial mushrooms, only 32 have shown scientific benefit in the laboratory, according to the majority of evidence.

And of those 32, according to A., only 11 have been tested on humans Review 2022 of Indian and Belgian scientists.

This review concluded that five types of mushrooms are the most promising: shiitake, turkey tail, reishi, white cap and maitake.

It’s thought that the vitamins and antioxidants in these five mushrooms may help protect against cancer by dampening the effect of free radicals – molecules that cause damage to our DNA and cells.

These include vitamins B, D, selenium and niacin, as well as two little-known compounds called ergothioneine and lentinan.

For example, one study from 2011 suggested that taking reishi extract for a year could reduce people’s risk of developing colon cancer.

The researchers did this by studying 225 Japanese people with abnormal cells in their colons called polyps. Polyps are abnormal cells that turn into cancerous tumors in about 10 percent of cases.

At the end of the year, people who took reishi extract had fewer polyps overall than those who did not.

This suggested that the extract could potentially help prevent colon cancer, in the US wrote the National Cancer Institute.

However, it was done on a small group of people and has not been tested in this way again. It’s also unclear whether the researchers took into account other factors that could have affected their polyps, such as genetics, diet, or exercise routines.

The evidence for reishi in general is sparse, which explains why no U.S. regulatory agency has approved the mushroom for the treatment or prevention of any medical condition, according to NCI.

Much of the interest in turkey tail mushrooms is rooted in the effects of a substance that may be distilled from the fungus polysaccharide K (PSK).

Japanese scientists suggest that PSK could help the body produce a greater number of proteins that fight back against harmful invaders such as viruses or cancer.

When used alongside other treatments, such as surgery or chemotherapy, people who took PSK supplements were less likely to have recurrent stomach, colorectal and lung cancer than those who took traditional treatments alone in about twenty different studies. according to the NCI.

But these studies included only small groups of people, were conducted mainly in Asia, showed minimal benefit, and most did not take into account other potentially beneficial influences.

All told, this study and others have not provided overwhelming evidence that mushrooms can treat or protect against cancer, said Dr. Liz O’Riordan, a breast cancer surgeon. told the Irish Examiner.

‘We do know that a healthy weight and sufficient exercise can halve the risk of the most common forms of cancer. However, there is no evidence that mushrooms reduce the risk, or that eating soy reduces the risk of developing cancer,” said Dr O’Riordan.

It’s always good to eat a more nutritious diet, but based on current evidence, mushrooms are unlikely to be a miracle cure, she suggested.

So it’s not a bad idea to add mushrooms to your diet if you’re interested in more nutrients, but US authorities warn against relying on them.

“Patients will read these blogs and podcasts and spend money on supplements and avoid sugar or buy Turkey Tail mushrooms in the belief that one person has said it will cure them or reduce the risk,” said Dr. O’Riordan , ‘and no. people support science.’