Health and Nutrition: The Mushroom Connection

Health and Nutrition:
The Mushroom Connection

A recent review by Professor Barry Halliwell and Dr Irwin Cheah explored the diet-derived compound ergothioneine (ET), commonly found in mushrooms and tempeh, and its impact on human health.

Since it was first discovered more than a century ago, researchers have suggested its positive impact on our health. The report explored how exactly this compound may be play a protective role for our brain function and other age-related diseases [1].

Low Blood ET levels is associated with diseases

The paper reported past findings that find low ET levels are associated with various diseases.

ET levels in Singapore Older adults

The study done in NUS with 663 Elderly Singaporeans found that patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) had lower blood ET levels compared to cognitively normal subjects of the same age [2]. MCI is an early indication of dementia.

A later study found that low ET levels are associated with dementia. Lower levels of ET were observed as the extent of cognitive impairment decline further into dementia [3][4].

As shown in Figure 1, there is a very significant stepwise decline in ET levels in those with cognitive impairment with no dementia (CIND), dementia, and individuals with no cognitive impairment (NCI) [3].

More important to note, cognitively normal participants with low ET levels showed a faster rate of cognitive decline on 1-5 years follow-up [4]. This finding suggests that low ET levels can predict a faster decline in brain function. Low ET is in orange in Figure 2 below.

Low ET and other age-related diseases

The study done in Singapore found that low ET levels were also associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), an eye-disease that blurs your vision [5][6].

As reported in the review [1], studies from other populations also reported associations with frailty, chronic renal (kidney) disease, and cardiovascular diseases.

Neuroprotection from ET

The review [1] presents evidence that ergothioneine can protect the brain cells against toxins and may be important in brain regeneration and remodeling.

In cell and animal models, ET has also been shown to act as a protective factor against dementia, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, depression, spinal muscular atrophy.

So, what foods should I eat?

You can easily incorporate more ergothioneine (ET) into your diet. ET can be found in many local foods as can be seen in the table below, notably mushrooms and tempeh.

References

Halliwell, B., & Cheah, I. (2024). Are age-related neurodegenerative diseases caused by a lack of the diet-derived compound ergothioneine? Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 217, 60–67.
Cheah IK, Feng L, Tang RMY, Lim, KHM, Halliwell B. (2016) Ergothioneine levels in an elderly population decrease with age and incidence of cognitive decline; a risk factor for neurodegeneration? Biophys. Res. Commun. 478, 162-7.
Wu, LY, Cheah IK, …. Chen C, Halliwell B. Lai M, (2021) Low plasma ergothioneine levels are associated with neurodegeneration and cerebrovascular disease in dementia. Free Radic Biol Med, 177, 201-211.
Wu LY, Cheuk NK, Cheah IK, …. Chen C, Halliwell B, Lai M. (2022) Low plasma ergothioneine predicts cognitive and functional decline in an elderly cohort attending memory clinics. Antioxidants 11, 1717.
Halliwell B, Tang RMY, Cheah IK. (2022) Diet-derived antioxidants: The special case of ergothioneine. Rev. Food Sci. Tech. 14, 323-345
Halliwell B, Cheah I. (2024) Are age-related neurodegenerative diseases caused by a lack of the diet-derived compound ergothioneine? Free Radic. Biol. Med. 217, 60-67