Research on mushrooms and other natural, healthy organic foods has been mostly relegated to the periphery of news publications and television news reports, but a recently-discussed medical trial has people talking about the potential of an often overlooked type of mushroom for immune system health.
The mushroom, shiitake, was the subject of a recent post from natural health researcher Ethan Evers of The Eden Prescription.
As alluded to by Evers, this particular mushroom performed incredibly well at increasing healthy immune system activity in adult humans, both men and women.
The randomized controlled trial study was published on Pub Med, and focused on the mushroom’s ability to create healthy cells for the immune system.
Shiitake Mushroom Doubles Immune Cells, Study Finds
Shiitake mushrooms grow wild throughout Asia, but are generally found everywhere except for Europe, Africa, and the polar regions of the Earth in relatively large numbers according to researcher David Hibbett.
“It’s one of the organisms that we humans have domesticated and brought all over the world,” Hibbett said according to a report from Clark University.
The health benefits of shiitake aren’t well known, but research like the study above is shining light on its incredible capacity for building up the immune system.
According to Evers, health adults who took just 10 grams of shiitake saw a doubling of NK (natural killer) immune cells, along with a 60% increase in gamma T lymphocytes after just one month of eating the serving size of dried shiitake mushrooms consistently.
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The trial was conducted in the United States on both men and women, and found that the subjects’ immune system cells also showcased anti-inflammatory markers and had a “greater activation response,” Evers wrote on his Facebook page.
Photo via Clark University
Mushrooms are rich in beta-glucans, he continued, a type of complex sugar that helps to boost immune system health.
The beta-glucans in mushrooms have a unique “branching structure” that makes them especially useful for immune system health, Evers continued.
An estimated 10,000 tons of shiitake mushrooms are consumed worldwide, most often in culinary applications.
But the latest research suggests that the health benefits of this dark brown, highly complex and immune system supporting mushroom are still widely misunderstood, and perhaps not utilized nearly enough for human health.
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About Nick Meyer
