The article referred to six kinds of mushrooms. What were the six kinds?
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@Eleanor H.
Golden, Shitake, Oyster, and white button as well as dried and canned, according to another article I read.
Does it work if the mushrooms are layered onto a pizza, along with some pepperoni? I'm in ...
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In another study researchers at Tallstories University found that eating rose petals soup twice a week guarantees immortality. The findings are supported by over 2 million death records from 16 developed countries. There was no recorded death of individuals who ate rose petals soup.
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What about Queluds?
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Talk about anecdotal evidence!
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My personal experience supports the health benefits of Shitake and Oyster mushrooms boosting the immune system. I followed a Chinese recipe for soup that works every time we feel a cold coming on.
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@Fred Finkelstein
Would you share the soup recipe?
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This comment is slightlytangential to the topic but my sister, who lives in France hold me that she andmany other people are very cautious about the source of the mushrooms they eat. As I recall she said mushrooms had a special facility for absorbing chemicals or other toxins from the ground, and many people were concerned about the lingering effects of the Chernobyl disaster on the soil where mushrooms are grown.
Is this true? I’d like to know more about it.
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There are some obvious potential issues here (how many regressions did they run to find an association between something? The observational study vs. randomized problem), but one thing strikes me:
If you can *remember* you had the mushrooms, it's likely that your cognitive memory issues are less than if you *didn't* remember. In essence, the study found the (somewhat unsurprising) result that the ability to remember correlates strongly with the ability to remember.
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@DAVID
If one eats a food item regularly, it shouldn't be a problem to remember that you eat that food. And the study would have begun with everyone being cognitively intact. So, I suspect your concern doesn't apply here, based on the limited information we have about the study, but because of the latter, I can't be certain.
Which mushrooms were eaten in the study?
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@Jacquie Found it: Six commonly consumed mushrooms in Singapore were referenced in the study. They were golden, oyster, shiitake and white button mushrooms, as well as dried and canned mushrooms. However, it is likely that other mushrooms not referenced would also have beneficial effects.
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Since the study was on Chinese people I would guess that shitake mushrooms were heavily consumed. They are very common in China and cheaper than in the U.S. Since returning from living in China I buy dried shitake at a large Asian supermarket in San Diego. I soak them first and then steam with other vegetables and they are delicious.
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From reading this article, this does not sound like a randomized controlled study but like an observational study. And one in which the variables under scrutiny were many. Studies of this kind are useful to find new potential effects. They must not be treated as if they find new factual knowledge because the effects observed might very well occur purely by chance. This probability increases with the number of variables studied, which seem to be numerous in this study (meat, vegetables, favourite brand of car, ...).
So: nice study as a baseline for further research. Absolutely not a strong indicator for eating more mushrooms.
Related XKCD comic: https://www.xkcd.com/882/
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[email protected]
While I agree about the preliminary nature of the study, eating mushrooms won't hurt anyone...they're low calorie, relatively inexpensive and bland tasting.
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@Matthias
Just today I was talking with a graduate student.
I told her that it was important for everyone to study science. Yes, we are overwhelmed with information today. But usually, there are just a few important concepts that make the whole course worthwhile. And a good teacher will identify those important concepts for you.
For example, one of the important concepts you get in a social science course is that association is not causation. Another important concept is an understanding of randomized, controlled trials.
She didn't believe that anyone could be so stupid as to confuse association with causation.
I said, oh, yes, even people who write medical articles for newspapers and magazines make that mistake. For example, read the New York Times. I guarantee you that within a week, you'll see a medical story that confuses association with causation.
Thank you, Nicholas Bakalar, for giving me such quick service.
P.S. I second that XKCD comic.
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Since the study was done in Singapore, we can probably surmise that dried Chinese mushrooms were used, probably also fresh shiitake, maitake, and oyster mushrooms. Probably not raw, as raw mushrooms aren't much of a thing in Chinese cuisine. May as well make something tasty while you're at it, like this mushroom lasagne: http://useful-delicious.com/2019/02/24/white-mushroom-lasagna/
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Raw mushrooms contain agaratine, a carcinogenic compound.
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@Catherine, you are correct. " Mushrooms have all sorts of amazing health benefits, but eat them cooked." https://nutritionfacts.org/video/toxins-in-raw-mushrooms/
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This is a useful study, but I think it should include a word of caution about eating raw mushrooms because they can contain potential toxins.
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Soon to appear on supplement aisles everywhere: capsules of enoki and shitaki concentrate. How do I invest in this next fad? I’ll need to because these mushrooms, which I eat often, are going to get expensive.
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@GiGi
They've been out there a while, altho' there's been more of an obsession with maitake (AKA Hen-of the--woods)
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What were the 6 types of mushrooms? The NYT article does not list them and the linkout to the article only provides a free abstract, which doesn't list the types either.
Anyway, I have been adding a mushroom or two to my salad (usually the common white type found in most supermarkets) nightly for many years. Hopefully this will actually help.
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@Joseph
It is amazing how many articles are hidden behind paywalls when the research is largely funded by US and other governments.
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@rogerT
Probably less to do with nefarious motives and more with sloppy journalism.
But a good question, considering that the fungi are an entire kingdom. It's just as silly as saying that plant are good for you. Lots of plants out there...
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@rogerT
Can't you get it on sci-hub?