早在2019年，一篇刊登在国际杂志International Journal of Cancer上题为"Mushroom consumption and incident risk of prostate cancer in Japan： A pooled analysis of the Miyagi Cohort Study and the Ohsaki Cohort Study"的研究报告，来自日本东北大学公共卫生学院的研究人员通过研究发现，吃蘑菇或能帮助降低个体患前列腺癌的风险。
So, can eating more mushrooms really reduce the risk of prostate cancer in men? How does it work?
Mushrooms are rich in minerals such as iron, potassium, calcium, and copper, and moderate consumption has the effect of supplementing nutrition. The protein content is twice that of cabbage and potatoes, four times that of tomatoes and carrots, and lecithin can prevent the accumulation of cholesterol in the human body, and the sugar, glucose and mold sugar contained in mushrooms can greatly improve its nutrition. For a long time, mushrooms have been claimed to have anti-cancer, antihypertensive, hypolipidemic, anti-inflammatory, qi regulating and appetizing effects.
Mushrooms are the ingredient with the highest content of ergothioneine, and it is a potent antioxidant and cytoprotectant that can effectively stop oxidative stress in cells, thereby reducing cancer risk. According to the data, people who consumed 18 grams of mushrooms per day had a 45% lower risk of cancer than those who did not.
The researchers conducted a study on middle-aged and elderly men in Japan and recruited 36,499 men between the ages of 40-79 to join the Miyagi Prefecture cohort study in 1990 and the Osaka cohort study in 1994, the average follow-up time of the participants was 13.2 years, and in the course of the study, 3.3% of the participants developed prostate cancer, compared with participants who consumed mushrooms less than once a week, the risk of prostate cancer in participants who consumed mushrooms 1-2 times a week was 8%. Participants who consumed mushrooms three or more times a week had a 17% lower risk of prostate cancer. It can be seen that there is a certain negative correlation between eating mushrooms and an individual's risk of developing prostate cancer, and eating mushrooms regularly may help prevent prostate cancer in men.
According to statistics, in 2018, there were nearly 1.3 million new cases of prostate cancer and 359,000 deaths in the world, accounting for 13.5% of the incidence of male malignant tumors, ranking second. It accounts for 6.7% of the mortality rate of malignant tumors in men. It can be said that the incidence of prostate cancer is extremely high in elderly men, and the incidence of the disease metastasizes at the level before the age of 50, and gradually increases with age.80% of cases occur in men over 65 years old. It is urgent to pay attention to men's health and prevent prostate cancer.
In addition, the fungal polysaccharides in mushrooms can regulate the human immune system through multiple pathways, enhance immunity, and also enhance the anti-cancer and anti-cancer effects.