Consumption of natural products has a positive effect on human health. This is understandable – vitamins, minerals and other nutrients reliably protect the body from many diseases.
Inna Foundation staff studied the results of a study on human consumption of mushrooms at risk of cancer. An article with interesting findings was recently published in the scientific journal Advances in Nutrition.
Milton S. Hershey Medical Center (Pennsylvania, USA) conducted a global analysis of the data to study the relationship between mushroom consumption and cancer risk. The MEDLINE system, the Web of Science and the Cochrane Library analyzed the results of research on fungal consumption and cancer. The period was from January 1, 1966 to October 31, 2020.
A total of 17 studies (6 cohort and 11 case-control studies) were conducted, in which 20,797 cases of cancer were analyzed. A meta-analysis showed a significant inverse relationship between increased mushroom consumption and low risk of cancer. According to the study, people who ate 18 grams of mushrooms a day had a 45% lower risk of developing cancer than those who did not eat mushrooms. Dose-response analysis showed that an increase in mushroom consumption of 10 g / day was associated with a 17% reduction in cancer risk.
Researchers have noted the strong protective functions of fungi against cancers such as breast cancer.. People who ate mushrooms regularly had a much lower risk of developing such cancer.
Probably the protective functions of fungi are related to the content of ergothionein (a natural amino acid). This antioxidant effectively protects healthy cells from the risk of malignancies. In addition, mushrooms contain vitamins B and C, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, iron, nicotinic and folic acid.
“In general, these findings are important evidence of the protective effect of mushrooms against cancer. Further research is needed to more accurately determine the mechanisms of action of fungi on specific cancers, “- said the researchers.
