Mushrooms and Cognitive Function - Something healthy in the English Breakfast!

Breakfast overlooking the river Thames

The more typical English Breakfast

If you happen to stay at a very nice hotel in London, the best meal to have is breakfast and after that comes tea.  The other meals are unlikely to feature much memorable English food.

Whether it is the five-star Savoy, overlooking the river Thames, or the Travelodge by the station, mushrooms will be on the menu. 

The movers and shakers actually get up early and have their power meetings over breakfast at the Savoy. This is not so expensive and a good way to experience British cuisine, served in a much more spacious environment than most restaurants.  Scotland contributes its porridge and black pudding, kippers might be on offer, but there will be mushrooms, a regular part of even the humblest hotel’s English breakfast.

Mushrooms may 'reduce the risk of mild brain decline' 

Eating mushrooms more than twice a week could prevent memory and language problems occurring in the over-60s, research from Singapore suggests.

A unique antioxidant present in mushrooms could have a protective effect on the brain, the study found.

The more mushrooms people ate, the better they performed in tests of thinking and processing. The researchers point to the fact that mushrooms are one of the richest dietary sources of ergothioneine - an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory which humans are unable to make on their own.

Mushrooms also contain other important nutrients and minerals such as vitamin D, selenium and spermidine, which protect neurons from damage. 

The Association between Mushroom Consumption and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study in Singapore

We examined the cross-sectional association between mushroom intake and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) using data from 663 participants aged 60 and above from the Diet and Healthy Aging (DaHA) study in Singapore. Compared with participants who consumed mushrooms less than once per week, participants who consumed mushrooms >2 portions per week had reduced odds of having MCI (odds ratio = 0.43, 95% CI 0.23–0.78, p = 0.006) and this association was independent of age, gender, education, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, physical activities, and social activities. Our cross-sectional data support the potential role of mushrooms and their bioactive compounds in delaying neurodegeneration.

Fig. 1. Functional dependence of mild cognitive impairment on mushroom consumption (treated as continuous variable): the solid curve is estimated via the smoothing spline approach. Adjusted for age, gender, education, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, hypertension, diabetes, heart diseases, stroke, physical activities, social activities.

Using data from the Diet and Healthy Aging Study in Singapore, we found that mushroom consumption was associated with reduced odds of having MCI. The reduction was significant for participants who consumed greater than 2 portions of mushrooms per week

The observed correlation between mushrooms and reduced odds of MCI in our study sample is biologically plausible. Certain components in mushrooms, such as hericenones, erinacines, scabronines and dictyophorines may promote the synthesis of nerve growth factors. Bioactive compounds in mushrooms may also protect brain from neurodegeneration by inhibiting production of amyloid- and phosphorylated tau, and acetylcholinesterase. Mushrooms are also one of the richest dietary sources of ergothioneine (ET). ET, a thione-derivative of histidine is an unique putative antioxidant and cytoprotective compound. While humans are unable to synthesize ET, it can be readily absorbed from diet (main source is mushrooms) and actively accumulated in the body and the brain via a specific transporter, OCTN1. Our recent study in elderly Singaporeans revealed that plasma levels of ET in participants with MCI were significantly lower than age-matched healthy individuals, leading us to believe that a deficiency in ET may be a risk factor for neurodegeneration, and increase ET intake through mushroom consumption might possibly promote cognitive health.

In summary, using community-based data in Singapore, we found that mushroom consumption was associated with reduced odds of MCI. Based on current evidence, we propose that mushroom consumption could be a potential preventive measure to slow cognitive decline and neurodegeneration in aging.

Conclusions

Studying all possible forms of cognitive impairment is interesting if you want to understand autism. 

Mushroom would appear to have a similar scale of potential benefit in MCI (mild cognitive impairment) to cocoa flavanols, which have been commercialized as a therapy by Mars. 

We did see previously how one specific type of mushroom (Lion’s Mane) has a particular effect of raising levels of NGF (nerve growth factor).  Oyster mushrooms produce Lovastatin.

Mushroom contain spermidine and so will improve autophagy, the intracellular garbage collection service that is impaired in many neurological conditions.

Eat mushrooms.