Mushroom can stop Mental Decline: Perhaps every mushroom is magical. A team of researchers in Singapore has discovered evidence that the fleshy, spore-bearing, fruiting bodies of fungus could prevent Mild Cognitive Impairment, just weeks after scientists told us the psychedelic ones could one day be used to treat depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse, and even to stop smoking.
There is plenty of proof that the tiny shiitake mushrooms are healthy for you, providing you stay away from the dangerous ones. The healthy ones are not only free of fat, sodium, calories, and cholesterol but also rich in antioxidants, beta-glucan fibre, B vitamins, copper, and potassium.
According to Russell McLendon’s essay “7 Mind-Bending Facts About Magic Mushrooms,” fungi have been on Earth for at least 2 billion years.
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Researchers are investigating a mushroom chemical to slow or stop mental decline
A team of Singaporean researchers has restarted a clinical experiment to see if adding ergothioneine, a substance primarily found in mushrooms, to one’s diet can help prevent or delay cognitive decline and dementia. The trial follows the discovery that low blood levels of ergothioneine are associated with a higher risk of developing cognitive problems.
The patients with the lowest blood levels of ergothioneine experienced cognitive deterioration more quickly than those with higher amounts of the substance, according to the researchers, who observed 470 elderly subjects over the course of five years. The only thing that was known before to this investigation was that ergothioneine deficiency was associated with impaired cognitive function.
One of the researchers stated that ergothioneine levels in cognitively healthy individuals are a predictor of who may experience cognitive impairment. In other words, your risk of getting cognitive impairment was significantly higher if you were healthy and your level was low.
Mushroom Compound may reduce the risk of cognitive decline
According to McLendon, “they’ve evolved some astonishing skills during that time, many of which are either fascinating or frightening to humans—and sometimes a bit of both.” For instance, some extinct fungi reached nearly 30 feet tall before trees appeared, and a 400-acre fungus in Oregon is currently thought to be the world’s biggest creature. Some mushrooms glow in the dark, and others can transform insects into zombies. While some animals are deadly to humans, others give us vital superfoods… Even still, despite millennia of knowledge, we are only now beginning to understand many of the magical and therapeutic abilities these mushrooms have.
And now, a group from the Psychological Medicine and Biochemistry departments at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine in Singapore has discovered that seniors who eat more than two servings of mushrooms each week may have a 50% lower risk of developing MCI. This month, the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease published online the findings of the six-year study.
Researchers found that participants who ate two portions of mushrooms per week had a lower risk of developing Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) than those who ate them less frequently, and that this association was unaffected by participants’ age, gender, education level, smoking, alcohol use, hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, physical activity, or social activities. Our cross-sectional data provide evidence for the possible neuroprotective effects of mushrooms and the bioactive chemicals they contain.
The study examined six different varieties of mushrooms, and it was discovered that each one was connected to lower MCI levels. They contained both dried and canned mushrooms, as well as golden, oyster, shiitake, and white button mushrooms. The authors of the study assert that it is possible that additional mushrooms that were not mentioned in the study would have shown similar positive benefits.
More than 600 Chinese seniors over the age of 60 who resided in Singapore were the subject of the study, which ran from 2011 to 2017. The Life Sciences Institute and the Mind Science Centre of NUS, as well as the National Medical Research Council of the Singapore Ministry of Health, all provided funding for the study.
A portion was determined by researchers to be three-quarters of a cup of cooked mushrooms with a weight of approximately 150 grammes. Even one modest quantity of mushrooms per week may help lower the risk of MCI, according to studies.
This association is unexpected and uplifting. According to the primary author, Assistant Professor Feng Lei of NUS Psychological Medicine, “it appears that a readily accessible single chemical could have a profound impact on cognitive decline.”
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, mild cognitive impairment affects 15 to 20% of persons over the age of 65. (MCI). A “slight but measurable decrease in cognitive capacities, particularly memory and thinking skills,” is brought on by the disorder. MCI patients have cognitive changes that are significant enough for them and others to notice, but not so severe as to impair everyday functioning or independence.
Calculating MCI in seniors
Although a person with MCI is more likely to get Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, the illness does not always worsen. In some circumstances, MCI stabilises or returns to normal cognition.
Memory loss is a common symptom of MCI in older persons, but they may also have difficulties with language, attention, and visuospatial skills. The alterations may be minor and less incapacitating than the cognitive impairments associated with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia.
So, the question we had to answer in this study was if these seniors performed worse on common neuropsychological tests than people their own age and educational level, explained Feng. The many facets of a person’s cognitive ability can be measured using tasks that are especially created for neuropsychological examinations. We adopted some of the tasks from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, a popular IQ test, for use in this study.
Feng said the study’s subjects underwent in-depth interviews and testing that considered their demographics, medical histories, psychological makeup, and eating habits. Researchers took measurements of the subjects’ blood pressure, weight, height, hand-grip, walking speed, and a quick test of their cognition, depression, and anxiety.
Standard neuropsychological evaluations took two hours to complete, and scores on dementia were provided. To reach a consensus on a diagnosis, the professional psychiatrists engaged in the study “examined the overall outcomes of these tests in depth,” according to Feng.
Mushrooms and cognitive impairment
According to researchers, a particular chemical present in nearly all species of mushrooms may be the cause of the lower occurrence of MCI in mushroom eaters. Ergothioneine (ET) is a substance in which “we are highly interested,” according to Dr. Irwin Cheah, senior research fellow at NUS Biochemistry. “ET is a special anti-inflammatory and antioxidant that humans cannot produce on their own. However, it can be gained from diet, with mushrooms ranking among the top sources.
The team’s 2016 study on elderly Singaporeans found that people with MCI had plasma levels of ET that were “substantially lower than age-matched healthy individuals.” According to the study, which was written up in the journal Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, a lack of ET may be a risk factor for dementia, and boosting ET intake by eating mushrooms may be able to improve cognitive health.
Other substances found in mushrooms, according to researchers, may also be beneficial for lowering the risk of cognitive deterioration. The synthesis of nerve growth factors may be aided by specific hericenones, erinacines, scabronines, and dictyophorines. By preventing the synthesis of beta amyloid, phosphorylated tau, and acetylcholinesterase, bioactive chemicals found in mushrooms may help prevent neurodegeneration in the brain, according to their findings.
The authors stated that “emerging research has suggested that mushrooms may have neuroprotective qualities.” Even with the “promising” findings, the researchers emphasised that it is “unknown if mushroom consumption is connected with lower likelihood of having MCI” because only two epidemiological studies have examined the cognitive benefits of eating mushrooms in elderly adults.
In order to establish the effectiveness of these phytonutrients in preventing cognitive decline, researchers suggest they may run a randomised controlled experiment using the pure ET component and additional plant-based compounds including L-theanine and catechins from tea leaves. The team, according to Feng, also intends to find additional dietary components that may be linked to healthy brain ageing and a future lower risk of age-related illnesses.