Luckily, there are things men can do to help lower their odds of being one of them…

As is the case with most disease, diet is an essential component of any prostate cancer prevention plan. Specific foods have been the subject of research on the potential to protect against prostate cancer.

Among them, mushrooms stand out. A study that followed almost 36,500 men for an average of over 13 years revealed that mushrooms could be a game-changer in the fight against prostate cancer.

Now, further research has given us a more detailed glimpse into exactly how mushrooms might affect prostate cancer…

Mushrooms influence the immune system

Researchers at City of Hope sought to determine why taking a white button mushroom supplement shows promise in slowing or even preventing prostate cancer from worsening. Researchers there focused on data from laboratory preclinical studies and a Phase II clinical trial that studied food as medicine.

They found that taking white button mushroom supplements reduces a class of immune cells called myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). These MDSCs have been linked to cancer development and spread.

The researchers discovered that the administration of white button mushroom extract in mice significantly delayed the growth of tumors and extended survival of the mice. It also improved T cell immune response by reducing MDSC levels, meaning it improved the immune system’s ability to kill cancer cells.

The scientists then profiled blood draws from some of the men participating in the Phase II trial. The men were under active surveillance as they took white button mushroom supplements.

After three months of white button mushroom treatment, the researchers found there were fewer tumor-creating MDSCs and more antitumor T and natural killer cells. This suggests white button mushrooms shore up anticancer immune defense and slow cancer growth.

The bottom line: the medicinal use of white button mushrooms appears to reduce the type of cells that weaken the immune system and allow prostate cancer to spread.

Food as medicine: a burgeoning field of research

The researchers are now focusing on whether the reduction in MDSCs is linked with improved clinical outcomes in patients with prostate cancer.

Dr. Xiaoqiang Wang, a City of Hope staff scientist and first author of the study cautions against self-prescribing supplements without seeking professional guidance.

“Some people are buying mushroom products or extract online, but these are not FDA-approved,” Wang says. “That said, it couldn’t hurt if people wanted to add more fresh white button mushrooms to their everyday diet.”

White button mushrooms aren’t the only food City of Hope researchers are investigating for their potential anticancer properties. Others include grape seed extract, pomegranate, blueberries and ripe purple berries called Jamun.

It’s encouraging that a large cancer center such as City of Hope studies these foods for their medicinal properties. The researchers note that the field of integrative oncology is growing in popularity as people become more health-conscious and aware of the benefits of holistic cancer care.

“We’re finding that plant-derived substances may one day be used to support traditional cancer treatment and prevention practices,” says Dr. Shiuan Chen, a professor and chair of the Department of Cancer Biology and Molecular Medicine at Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope and senior author of the mushroom study.

“This study suggests that ‘food as medicine’ treatments could eventually become normal, evidence-based cancer care that is recommended for everyone touched by cancer.”

If you decide to add mushrooms to your diet as a potential prostate cancer preventive, keep in mind that the way you cook them could affect their disease-fighting properties.

Research shows that grilling or microwaving your mushrooms are the best cooking methods for maintaining their health potency, mainly because they will give you more disease-fighting antioxidants.

Sources:

City of Hope researchers discover why taking a mushroom supplement slows or prevents prostate cancer from getting worse — EurekAlert!

Reduction of myeloid-derived suppressor cells in prostate cancer murine models and patients following white button mushroom treatment — Clinical and Translational Medicine

The post The supplement that kept prostate cancer from worsening appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

They were a huge part of the drug culture of the 1960s and were especially known for psychedelic or hallucinogenic effects.

Who would have thought that the same chemical that produced powerful hallucinations might one day be found to help you live a longer and healthier life?

Not me, that’s for sure.

But ongoing research is showing this to be the case.

“Magic mushrooms” might just be the next weapon in the ongoing effort not just to live longer but to ensure those extra years are healthy ones…

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Psilocybin reduces oxidative stress and slows aging

“This study provides strong preclinical evidence that psilocybin may contribute to healthier aging — not just a longer lifespan, but a better quality of life in later years,” says Dr. Ali John Zarrabi, co-investigator of a study at Emory University in Atlanta.

Psilocybin is the active compound found in psychedelic mushrooms. When it is consumed, it forms a metabolite called psilocin.

Emory University researchers dosed 19-month-old mice — an age that in human years would correspond to between 60 and 65 — with psilocybin doses that ranged from 5mg to 15 mg over a 10-month period.

The treated mice lived 30% longer than untreated mice and also experienced better aging — including healthier physical traits like better fur condition and hair regrowth.

Psilocybin is known for its psychological effects, especially in regard to relieving depression and boosting the feel-good hormone, serotonin. But this research indicates that it also targets several key biological markers of aging, including reducing oxidative stress, enhancing DNA mechanisms and maintaining telomere length.

According to the researchers, these underlying cellular processes play a critical role in both aging and disease onset.

How do we explain this?

“Most cells in the body express serotonin receptors, and this study opens a new frontier for how psilocybin could influence systemic aging processes, particularly when administered later in life,” says Louise Hecker, PhD, senior author of the study and former associate professor at Emory University, where the work began and was funded.

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Not a fan of shrooms? You have choices

Dr. Zarrabi emphasized the importance of further research in older adults, as well as the well-documented overlap between physical and mental health.

“My hope is also that if psilocybin-assisted therapy is approved as an intervention for depression by the FDA in 2027, then having a better quality of life would also translate into a longer, healthier life.”

But until then, how do we increase our chances of living a long and healthy life?

For starters, just move. Switching to an active lifestyle at any point in adulthood has been shown to extend lifespan. And you control the dial on effort and benefits. The plan you’ll stick to is the one that will bring you results.

Eat the rainbow. This term was coined for a good reason: Colorful foods are rich in flavonoids that are linked to a disease-free, longer life.

Avoid foods that send aging into overdrive. Certain foods accelerate aging. You’ll find which ones here.

Take advantage of shortcuts that research shows can have a powerful effect on aging, including:

• Coffee: the healthy aging secret under our noses
• The vitamin that slowed biological aging 3 years
• Conquer inflammation, the link between unhealthy aging and a shorter lifespan

Lastly, just in case you need more convincing about the importance of movement, here’s a list of 40 things that can go wrong with your body and health if you don’t exercise at all.

Dr. Jesus Peteiro, the author of a 2019 Spanish study on exercise capacity (how long and how hard you can work out), sums it up for us: “Exercise as much as you can. Fitness protects against death from any cause.”

Sources:

Natural Compound Found in Mushrooms Delays Aging and Extends Lifespan, Study Suggests — SciTech Daily

Psilocybin treatment extends cellular lifespan and improves survival of aged mice — Nature Partner Journals’ Aging

The post The magic mushroom secret for slower aging, longer life appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But should we be worried about this fungus among us? Could the future of humanity be in the hands of a zombifying fungus?

While cordyceps is quite adept at “infecting” specific bugs in a gruesome way — attaching spores that grow tendrils throughout a host’s body and hijacking it to travel and distribute more fungus spores — you should know what it does to humans…

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Cordyceps’ history with (hopefully not the last of) us

There are hundreds of medicinal mushroom species. There are around 600 species of cordyceps alone.

But cordyceps, though commonly referred to as a mushroom, is technically not one…

Because of that parasitic habit of growing on insects, they are considered entomopathogenic fungi. Don’t get hung up on the technicalities, though — cordyceps has a long history with humans as a healing, functional food.

Mushrooms are rich sources of unique health-promoting compounds and have been used in Chinese medicine and other traditional healing systems for thousands of years. Cordyceps is near the top.

One family of carbohydrates found in mushrooms is beta-glucans, which have a particular affinity for immune cells. They stimulate macrophages, lymphocytes, T-cells and Natural Killer cells. They are primarily focused on our innate immunity, the immune system’s first responders.

But mushrooms do more than boost your immunity; they “train” immune cells to respond appropriately to pathogens, toxins, cancerous cells and other dangers. Medicinal mushrooms are unique to this purpose, as they boost immunity and help calm an overactive autoimmune response. This can be pretty helpful when addressing autoimmune conditions.

Cordyceps are specifically reported to enrich the bone marrow. They also have demonstrated anti-tumor activity.

Like reishi, cordyceps support athletic performance, increasing cellular energy production and oxygen utilization. One study found that cordyceps improved endurance in older people.

In addition to boosting mitochondrial function and oxygen utilization, cordyceps help detoxify the body and support the adrenals.

They also promote healthy heart function by reducing LDL (bad cholesterol) and increasing HDL (the good variety).

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Should you be worried about becoming cordyceps spawn?

In a recent Nature paper, Dr. Jim Kronstad, a professor and microbiologist at UBC’s Michael Smith Laboratories, and co-authors, highlight a warming climate as a potential contributor to the spread of harmful fungi like Coccidioides, which causes valley fever, and the current rise of Candida auris, which infects hospitalized patients and is resistant to available antifungal drugs.

The authors also noted the discovery of a new fungus last year, Rhodosporidiobolus fluvialis — in humans — previously found only in soil.

R. fluvialis was discovered in the blood of two unrelated patients with serious underlying health conditions. One patient was a 61-year-old who died in an ICU in Nanjing in 2013. The other patient was an 85-year-old who died in 2016 after being treated in an ICU in Tianjin. The report doesn’t note whether the fungal infection directly contributed to the patients’ deaths or if they just happened to be infected at the time.

These are undoubtedly isolated cases. And so far, cordyceps is keeping its distance from humans.

As Dr. Kronstad says, “Fungi are super important, it’s phenomenal what they’ve done for humans.”

Using Cordyceps

Cordyceps, since they grow like slim tendrils, are often used more efficiently as a powder, which is popularly used in supplements and teas.

You can take the tendrils, referred to as “fruited bodies,” and boil them in water to make cordyceps tea. But just knowing those tendrils fruited out of an insect body is enough to turn me off of that idea.

Sources:

The new season of The Last of Us has a spore-ting chance at realism — Science Daily

The Last of Us Season 2: A Q&A with Dr. Jim Kronstad about fungal infections and climate change — The University of British Columbia

Unusual ways to boost your energy — Easy Health Options

New fungal infection discovered in China — Live Science

The post Cordyceps: Superfood or Brain-hijacking ‘zombie’ fungus appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But for thousands of years, medicinal mushrooms have been used for tumor therapy in traditional Chinese medicine.

It’s a process that modern science calls fungotherapy.

One of the most important of acinal mushrooms is the Ganoderma lucidum — more commonly known as the reishi mushroom.

Over the years, it’s demonstrated health benefits ranging from fending off fatigue and restoring gut health to guarding against diabetes and improving autoimmune disorders.

Perhaps most importantly, studies have shown that reishi mushrooms can block both cancer spread and invasion of healthy tissues.

But researchers didn’t know exactly what was behind its powerful effect.

That’s all changed thanks to researchers at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, who have found the missing link in how acids in the mushroom alter cancer’s ability to satisfy its sweet tooth…

Cutting off cancer’s fuel halts its growth

The scientists specifically looked at the action of Ganoderic acid A (GAA), a bioactive compound extracted from reishi known for its potential anticancer and antidiabetic effects.

They wanted to see how it might impact two glucose transporters, GLUT1 and GLUT3, which are produced in higher amounts by cancer cells that rely on them to provide the “sugar fuel” fix they need to grow.

They found that GAA binds to the glucose transporters, ultimately blocking the uptake of sugar. In a subsequent experiment, they saw GAA significantly reduced glucose uptake in human lung cancer cells.

That’s not entirely surprising since previous research indicates reishi mushrooms reduce blood sugar by increasing insulin release.

According to the researchers, this discovery suggests that GAA could be used to ‘starve’ cancer cells by cutting off their sugar supply, offering a new way to slow cancer growth without being toxic to healthy cells. It also indicates that GAA could be developed into a novel therapeutic option, particularly for cancers with high GLUT expression.

Medicinal mushrooms in cancer therapy

Mushrooms, and especially mushroom powders, have become very popular. You can even find coffee blends that include mushrooms.

And of course, if you like mushrooms, you’ve probably enjoyed them in a stir fry or cooked up in olive oil or butter. Anyone, even cancer patients, can enjoy eating mushrooms.

But according to the experts at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, if you’re being treated for cancer, there are some things you need to know…

As they point out, medicinal mushrooms are not ordinary mushrooms. They can strengthen the immune system and decrease inflammatory compounds which is very helpful to cancer patients. Some studies have shown that they can help cancer patients live longer.

According to Santhosshi Narayanan, M.D., a physician in MD Anderson’s Integrative Medicine Center, “One study showed that when people took mushrooms, they were able to tolerate more rounds chemotherapy treatment, probably because they have fewer side effects, and thereby it might have indirectly improved their survival.”

A few other fungi considered to be medicinal mushrooms include:

• Cordyceps mushrooms – These mushrooms demonstrate the power to enhance the activities of macrophages, phagocytes and natural killer cells, acting as anti-tumor agents.
• Lion’s mane – According to the Cleveland Clinic, the unique nutrients in lion’s mane mushrooms “may help fight off cancer cells and slow the spread of certain types of cancer.”
• Chaga mushroom – The results of one study showed that using a chaga supplement reduced tumor size by 60%. Additional research pointed to the mushroom’s ability to help prevent the growth of cancer cells in the liver.

Finally, it’s important to note that using mushrooms in addition to cancer treatment may be advantageous but should be approached with guidance.

“Mushrooms contain potent biological compounds and will behave like drugs, so treat them like a medication,” says Dr. Narayanan. “Have an open conversation with your care team about the pros and cons, as well as the limitations of the research we have.”

Sources:

Starving cancer cells: Researchers unveil new function of ganoderic acid — EurekAlert!

Can mushrooms help during cancer treatment? — MD Anderson Cancer Center

Anti-diabetic effects of Ganoderma lucidum — Phytochemistry

Chaga Mushroom Health Benefits — Cleveland Clinic

Health Benefits of Lion’s Mane Mushrooms — Cleveland Clinic

The post How a mushroom with anti-diabetic properties starves cancer appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

And, that isn’t even taking into account the risks that come with surgery for prostate cancer, including urinary or fecal incontinence, infections, and even erectile dysfunction.

It’s no wonder that when it comes time to get a prostate exam, many men would rather just skip it than face the worry.

But, there is good news…

Instead of just hoping you never get prostate cancer, a new study has found something you can actually do that could help lower your risks of ever receiving that diagnosis, and it’s simple and even tasty.

I’ll take a side of mushrooms, please

The research, published in the International Journal of Cancer has found that eating mushrooms on a regular basis could be key to avoiding prostate cancer. After evaluating almost 36,500 men between the ages of 40 and 79 for an average of over 13 years, the team discovered an inverse relationship between mushroom consumption and the development of prostate cancer.

In fact, compared with mushroom consumption of less than once per week, eating the fungi once or twice a week was associated with an 8 percent lower risk of prostate cancer. Even better, eating them three or more times per week was associated with a whopping 17 percent lower risk.

So, the next time you order a steak, you might want to ask for a side of mushrooms for your prostate.

Now, there were some limitations to the study that you should be aware of.

“Since information on mushroom species was not collected, it is difficult to know which specific mushroom(s) contributed to our findings. Also, the mechanism of the beneficial effects of mushrooms on prostate cancer remains uncertain,” said lead author Shu Zhang, Ph.D., of the Tohoku University School of Public Health, in Japan.

But, I think I can help with those too…

Mushroom basics

You see, there has been a huge amount of scientific research on the lowly little mushroom and most of it has come down to this…

Mushrooms possess massive power to boost your immune system and fight off cancer thanks to natural compounds known as beta-glucans. These compounds interact with your lymphocytes, T-cells, and even your natural killer cells (tumor-fighting cells). And, certain types of mushrooms are known for their ability to train your immune system, so it’s perfectly positioned to fight.

So, even though the researchers couldn’t provide a list, the following should be a great place to start:

#1 — Phellinus linteus

An exotic-sounding mushroom, Phellinus linteus, was found by researchers at Boston University to work in tandem with chemotherapy drugs to kill substantially more cancer cells than the drugs alone.

#2 — Reishi

Studies have shown that reishi mushrooms can block both cancer spread and invasion of healthy tissues.

#3 — Cordyceps mushrooms

These mushrooms demonstrate the power to enhance the activities of macrophages, phagocytes and natural killer cells, acting as anti-tumor agents.

#4 — Coriolus mushrooms

According to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Coriolus mushrooms may have immunostimulant and anti-tumor properties based on scientific studies.

So, if you want to eat for optimal prostate health, these types of mushrooms would be a great place to start. But, there is one more thing…

You don’t want to cook all of their cancer-fighting power right out of them so be sure to check out this guide to maintaining the nutritional magic of mushrooms from my colleague Joyce Hollman.

Sources:

Prostate Cancer Survival Rates — Prostate Cancer Foundation

Prostatectomy — Mayo Clinic

Eating mushrooms may help lower prostate cancer risk — EurekAlert!

Why Men Need Mushrooms — Easy Health Options®

10+ ways mushrooms protect your body like nothing else — Easy Health Options^®

Coriolus Versicolor — Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

The post 13-year study shows this food fights prostate cancer appeared first on Easy Health Options®.