02/15/2024
I better start eating more mushrooms. Read on to learn more. ✨
Of more than a hundred compounds measured in the bloodstreams of thousands of individuals, the one most associated with the lowest rates of disease and death was an amino acid called ergothioneine. Higher blood levels were associated with lower risk of heart disease, stroke, and death from all causes put together over a period of more than 20 years.
Ergothioneine was discovered more than a century ago, but it was ignored until recently, when researchers found that humans have a highly specific transporter protein in our bodies specifically designed to pull ergothioneine out of food and into body tissue.
What are the best dietary sources of ergothioneine? It isn’t made by plants or animals––only fungi, like mushrooms and certain soil bacteria. Plants can suck some up from the soil and animals who eat the plants can similarly benefit, but the highest levels by far have been reported in mushrooms. Mushrooms and tempeh—a fungi-fermented soybean cake—are the only concentrated dietary sources. As mushrooms go, shiitake and oyster mushrooms have higher levels than white button mushrooms. However, just eating a cup a day of ordinary white mushrooms can double ergothioneine concentrations in the blood.
Mushroom consumption is associated with a lower risk of cancer, driven mainly by lower breast cancer rates, as well as a lower risk of dying prematurely from all causes put together. Interventional trials have found, for example, that eating just a few mushrooms a day can improve immune function.
How Not to Age is out now! Borrow a copy from your local library or order one today: https://see.nf/HNTABook
Watch the video “Dietary Sources of the ‘Longevity Vitamin’ Ergothioneine” at https://see.nf/ergo to learn more.
