To Your Health
September, 2020 (Vol. 14, Issue 09) |
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Why Men Should Put Mushrooms on Their Pizza (and Everything Else)
By Editorial Staff
One simple reason: So don't get prostate cancer.
If you live long enough, most men start to develop this slow-growing cancer, so preventing it – or at least holding it off for as long as possible – is critical.
Enter the mushroom and a large, long-term study that suggests regular consumption of this friendly fungus reduces prostate cancer compared to consuming it less or never.
Published in the International Journal of Cancer, the study included more than 36,000 men ages 40-79 who were tracked for between 13 and 25 years to evaluate how their dietary habits (specifically mushroom consumption) impacted whether or not they developed prostate cancer. All men filled out a questionnaire regarding dietary and other lifestyle choices, including mushroom intake; long-term follow-up showed regular consumption (1-2 times a week) reduced prostate cancer risk compared to lower consumption (less than once per week). Men who ate mushrooms more frequently (three or more times weekly) had an even greater risk reduction compared to men in the lowest consumption group.
Now, you might be thinking, what about other potential dietary influences on prostate cancer? Were they evaluated? Indeed they were, but researchers determined that mushroom consumption reduced prostate cancer risk regardless of how much / how little fruit and vegetables, meat or dairy participants consumed (which reduce / increase prostate cancer risk, respectively). In other words, more mushrooms made the difference!
