An all-encompassing investigation of people who are eating mushrooms has proposed they have lower chances of developing depression.
As specified in a ScienceAlert report, the link remains a mystery and for now, the researchers said the data need to be interpreted with a warning.
More so, there's always a chance the results were mere association, specifically since eating more mushrooms did not appear to lower the chances of suffering from depression any further.
That said, this is among the first large observational research on general consumption of mushrooms and depression.
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Possible Benefits of Eating Mushrooms
The intensive study comprises both diet and mental health data of over 24,000 adults throughout the United States between2005 and 2016.
The findings do not differentiate between different mushroom types, although they are consistent with numerous tiny clinical tests on mane mushrooms of the lion, which found eating specific types of fungi can help lessen depression and anxiety.
The analysis is adding to the growing list of probable health benefits of eating mushrooms, the Pennsylvania State University public health scientist Joshua Muscat said.
What's particularly about some mushrooms that are making them good for the health remains a puzzle. While button mushrooms or Agaricus bisporus are the most typically eaten fungi in the US and are rich in potassium, which is thought to help reduce anxiety.
Other edible mushrooms such as mane are known to have specific neurotrophic factors connected to brain health, as well as anti-inflammatory agents, which are believed to help alleviate depression symptoms.
'Ergothioneine'
Nutrition science is a tricky business, though. Mushrooms are playing host to various vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that could be contributors to their apparent antidepressant impacts.
Teasing out which influences are at play will need a whole lot more clinical, molecular, and epidemiological research.
Nonetheless, there is a powerful antioxidant identified as "ergothioneine," as detailed in the WebMD site, had mushrooms that researchers are said to have their eye on.
As this report specified, humans can only acquire it through diet, and mushrooms have it in the highest concentrations of any fresh food consumed.
Link Between Mushrooms and Mental Health
In recent animal models, such an antioxidant has been discovered to cross the bloodstream barrier, separating the brain from the other parts of the body, hinting that ergothioneine could have some impact on neurological health.
Meanwhile, other animal models have hinted that antioxidants are playing a vital role in gut health, as well, where there are neurons that can affect a person's mood, as well.
The observed link between consumption of mushrooms and lower chances of developing depression was independent of other mystifying factors such as economic status, self-reported disease, social status, lifestyle risk factors, and use of medication.
The people most likely to consume mushrooms were non-Hispanic white women, college-educated, authors, of the study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders explained.
Clearly, the researchers said, there is still a lot unknown about the connection between mental health and mushrooms. However, given frequent the relationship keeps popping in research, it is worth discovering more.
Such findings, the authors concluded, highlight the possible clinical and public health importance of consuming mushrooms as a means of alleviating and preventing illnesses.
Related information about mushrooms and mental health is shown on AtlanticLIVE's YouTube video below:
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