LOW CANCER RISK
Like many people, you probably eat for both enjoyment and to protect your health against future disease. Fruits and vegetables help reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and some cancers. It is not surprising that mushrooms have also been found to play their part in lowering cancer risk, even though they are neither fruit nor vegetable.
Mushrooms contain compounds that have been linked to lowering the risk of a range of cancers. Compounds such as lectins and other unique proteins, glucans and other special carbohydrates, all have the potential inhibit cancer formation and growth. There is ongoing research to determine if fresh mushrooms and mushroom extracts can help to lower the risk of cancer, especially breast and prostate cancer.
Research shows that mushroom extracts reduced breast cancer growth (Chen 2006; Martin 2010). “Eating 100 grams, or even less, of mushrooms per day could have an effect on preventing new breast cancers”, said one researcher Dr Shiuan Chen. One study from the University of Western Australia showed that women who ate an average of only 10g of mushrooms a day had a 65% lower risk of breast cancer (Zhang 2009). Ten grams is about half a button mushroom. That has been quite a remarkable finding, stimulating more research on how mushrooms might lower cancer risk. As the CSIRO said: "The most promising data appear to be those indicating an inverse relationship between mushroom consumption and breast cancer risk".
For a long time, scientists have appreciated the antioxidant effect of fresh produce such as vegetables and fruit. Eating plenty of high anti-oxidant foods seems to protect you from future disease. In one study of 30 common vegetables, mushrooms were placed in the top 5 highest antioxidant levels when compared to vegetables (Pellegrini 2003; Savoie 2008). Many of studies have focused on exotic mushrooms, however studies show that white button mushrooms enhanced the action of Natural Killer Cells and other immune responses in mice (Wu 2007; Xu 2012). Other reports have shown that mushroom extracts given to mice decreased inflammation, assist gut bacteria to resolve infection, and increased the anti-cancer immune response (Yu 2009; Kuvibidila 2010, Varshney 2013).
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Adams LS, Phung S, Wu X, Ki L, Chen S. White button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) exhibits antiproliferative and proapoptotic properties and inhibits prostate tumor growth in athymic mice. Nutrition and Cancer 2008; 60 (6): 744-756Chen S. Anti-cancer activities of white button mushrooms. Mushroom Science XVI 2004: 25-29
Chen S, Oh S-R, Phung S, Hur G, Ye JJ, Kwok SL, Shrode GE, Belury M, Adams SL, Williams D. Anti-aromatase activity of phytochemicals in white button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus). Cancer Research 2006; 66 (24): 12026-12034
Grube BJ, Eng ET, Kao YC, Kwon A, Chen S. White button mushroom phytochemicals inhibit aromatase activity and breast cancer proliferation. Journal of Nutrition 2001; 131: 3288-3293
Hong SA, Kim K, Nam SJ, Kong G, Kim MK. A case-control study on the dietary intake of mushrooms and breast cancer risk among Korean women. International Journal of Cancer 2008; 122: 919-923
Jeong SC, Koyyalamudi SR, Jeong YT, Song CH, Pang G. Macrophage immunomodulating and antitumor activities of polysaccharides isolated from Agaricus bisporus white button mushrooms. Journal of Medicinal Food 2012; 15 (1): 58-65
Martin KR, Brophy SK. Commonly consumed and specialty dietary mushrooms reduce cellular proliferation in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. Experimental Biology & Medicine 2010; 235: 1306-1314
Shin A, Kim J, Lim SY, Kim G, Sung MK, Lee ES, Ro J. Dietary mushroom intake and the risk of breast cancer based on hormone receptor status. Nutrition & Cancer 2010; 62 (4): 476-483
Zhang M, Huang J, Xie X, Holman CDJ. Dietary intakes of mushrooms and green tea combine to reduce the risk of breast cancer in Chinese women. Int J Cancer 2009; 124: 1404-1408