Health Viewpoints
People get a little weird about mushrooms. That’s probably because mushrooms are very weird. The more you learn about them, the more alien they become.
We can’t help but think of mushrooms as plants, even though biologists will sometimes argue mushrooms have more in common with animals. That’s largely because plants eat sunlight and soil while mushrooms eat plants.
Mushrooms are nature’s decomposers. They break down dead organic matter and do weird things underground, like shuttling around nutrients to feed their favored plants and acting as a kind of communication network for the forest.
That’s interesting but not super relevant for a health article. What’s important to know is that mushrooms are very distinct from plants and produce unique compounds as a result.
“Medicinal mushrooms have captured the attention of researchers, health enthusiasts, and medical practitioners because of their taste and remarkable therapeutic potential,”
notes Epoch Times writer Allison DeMajistre.
The great thing is that there are
many different kinds of mushrooms with a variety of health-promoting benefits.
Some, like
the mighty agarikon, have antibacterial, antiviral, and
antimicrobial effects that can take on multi-drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis. Others,
like lion’s mane, appear to boost nerve growth and improve memory. And nearly all of them
contain beta-glucans that can improve immune function and help treat insulin resistance, obesity, and more.
The brain-protecting aspect of mushrooms is of particular interest amid the rise in neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s.
“A
2019 study conducted on a six-year follow-up survey on 663 elderly people over the age of 60 published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease found that compared with participants who consumed less than one serving (150 grams or 5.3 ounces) of mushrooms a week, participants who consumed more than two servings of mushrooms a week had a 43 percent lower risk of developing mild cognitive impairment,”
writes Anne Lee and Naiwen Hu.
If you typically only eat the common button mushroom, you can start expanding your fungal familiarity by eating some shiitake mushrooms, the second most widely grown mushroom in the world. These savory fungi go well with anything—including a healthy, long life.
Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Epoch Health welcomes professional discussion and friendly debate. To submit an opinion piece, please follow these guidelines and submit through our form here. 
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