Eating mushrooms slashes cancer risk

A new study suggests eating just one button mushroom a day could significantly reduce your risk of getting cancer.

A new study suggests adding a small amount of mushrooms to your diet could slash your risk of getting cancer.

A new analysis found eating just 18g of mushrooms a day cuts your risk of developing cancer by 45 per cent.

Scientists from Penn State University came to the findings after analysing 17 cancer studies published between 1966 and 2020, with over 19,500 participants.

Researchers found people who incorporated any variety of mushroom into their daily diet had a lower risk of cancer.

Furthermore, people who ate 18g of mushrooms, which is about ¼ to ⅛ of a cup, or one button mushroom a day, had their risk of cancer cut by 45 per cent, compared with people who do not eat mushrooms.

RELATED: Erin breaks silence after dad’s diagnosis

The study found a strong link between eating mushrooms and a reduced risk of breast cancer.

RELATED: Cruel twist after ‘mother of all surgeries’

Mushrooms, a superfood fungi, contain the amino acid ergothioneine. The study noted that shiitake, oyster, maitake and king oyster mushrooms have the highest concentration of ergothioneine, but consuming any variety will lower your cancer risk.

“Mushrooms are the highest dietary source of ergothioneine, which is a unique and potent antioxidant and cellular protector,” Djibril M. Ba, a graduate student in epidemiology at Penn State College of Medicine said.

“Replenishing antioxidants in the body may help protect against oxidative stress and lower the risk of cancer.”

Mushrooms show strong potential for reducing breast cancer

A significant note made by researchers was around breast cancer – with people who regularly ate mushrooms showing a significantly reduced risk of developing the disease.

“Overall, these findings provide important evidence for the protective effects of mushrooms against cancer,” said Professor John Richie, a Penn State Cancer Institute researcher and professor of public health sciences and pharmacology, who co-authored the study.

“Future studies are needed to better pinpoint the mechanisms involved and specific cancers that may be impacted.”

The study found when it came to breast cancer, women who consumed mushrooms saw their risk of cancer reduced by 35 per cent.

A higher intake of mushrooms reduced the instances of non breast cancers by up to 20 per cent. The authors said the less dramatic reduction in risk could be due to a majority of the studies focusing on breast cancers.

“The association between higher mushroom consumption and lower risk of cancer, particularly breast cancer, may indicate a potential protective role for mushrooms in the diet,” the study authors wrote in the journal Advances in Nutrition.

The authors stressed there were variances in the studies including participants being required to remember how many mushrooms they’d consumed – this allowed for some inaccuracy.

“Overall, these findings provide important evidence for the protective effects of mushrooms against cancer,” Prof Richie said.

“Future studies are needed to better pinpoint the mechanisms involved and specific cancers that may be impacted.”