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What’s next for mushrooms? The promising research you need to know about
Written byAmy Bonifas
Reviewed byMadalena Vieira Costa
From early research exploring what mushrooms can do for insomnia and cancer treatment side effects, we ask a nutritionist whether functional and medicinal mushrooms can really support people’s health
Summary
1Can mushrooms improve mental health?
Lion’s mane is one of the most promising functional mushrooms...
2What about mushrooms and menopause?
Mushrooms might help with a spectrum of women’s health symptoms...
3Do mushrooms support gut health?
All mushrooms are high in fibre – one of the key foods linked to good gut health...
The Western world is only just starting to wake up to the potential of mushrooms. but they’ve long been integral in traditional Chinese medicine. Though trials and studies are still in the early stages, the results are promising.
From the potential benefits of lion’s mane mushrooms to reishi mushrooms, here’s nutritionist Madalena Vieira Costa's pick of the crop when it comes to the newest and most exciting research.
1. Mushrooms and mental health
According to Madalena, lion’s mane is one of the most promising functional mushrooms.
One recent pilot study with 41 healthy young adults found that taking 1.8g of lion’s mane for 28 days helped reduce their perceived stress levels.1 However, it's very important further research in larger sample sizes is conducted before drawing conclusions. These initial findings encourage scientists to investigate the potential of lion's mane for stress.
“Reishi mushrooms might have an impact on the central nervous system, though more research is needed”
It may also help to ease depression symptoms. A recent review looking at research from mouse models (pre-clinical trials) and small clinical trials suggested lion’s mane might have antidepressant-like qualities.2 Researchers think this might be because it helps reduce the loss of nerve growth caused by stressful situations and minimises inflammation linked to depression. The mechanisms and the potential effects are still in the early stages and require deeper investigation.2
“Reishi is considered to be a calming mushroom and might have an impact on the central nervous system,” explains Madalena. A study on mice found that reishi extract had a calming effect on the nervous system and helped to reduce signs of stress. However, more human trials need to be done in this area.3
2. Mushrooms and cancer treatment
Here are three areas of relevant research:
A 2021 review looking at mushrooms as a form of cancer treatment found that 92 species of mushrooms showed promising anticancer effects. They also found that breast cancer seemed to be the most responsive, with 61 types of mushrooms reducing the cancer cells’ growth.4
One study analysed as part of the review involved feeding lion’s mane to mice with colon tumours. They found that it reduced the likelihood of cancer cells spreading to the lungs by 66% and reduced the size of tumours that had already spread there by 50%.5
A Cochrane review found that patients who were given reishi alongside chemo or radiotherapy were more likely to respond positively compared to patients who received treatment alone. Researchers noted that reishi increased the activity of immune cells, but they also stated that the trials had limitations and called for more high-quality research.6
Please speak to your doctor if you have cancer or are undergoing cancer treatment.
A large 2023 review looked at nine studies investigating the benefits of shiitake, turkey tail and scaly wood mushrooms in treating symptoms, medication side effects and survival outcomes in people with gastric, breast and colon cancer.7
Findings across the board suggest they may help maintain immune function and improve quality of life in patients with certain cancers, decrease chemo-induced side effects like diarrhoea and vomiting, and prolong overall survival. They concluded that more research with larger patient samples is needed to determine the optimum dosage of mushrooms.
“They’re rich in B vitamins, which can provide hormonal balance support”
3. Mushrooms and menopause
“Women can struggle with different things at different stages of life, especially during perimenopause and menopause,” says Madelena. Just plain old mushrooms might help with a spectrum of women’s health symptoms.
“They’re rich in B vitamins, which can provide hormonal balance support. Some women might also put on weight around this time, and mushrooms are great as they’re low in calories but high in fibre, meaning they can help to fill you up.”
Even better, there’s early research to suggest that functional mushrooms might help to ease some of the mental health-related symptoms of menopause. A 2018 study in rats discovered that lion’s mane can enhance nerve growth factor (NGF), a protein that helps to improve mental clarity and focus – potentially helpful for pesky bouts of brain fog. It encourages researchers to conduct clinical trials in humans to see if we would be impacted in the same way.8
One older study found that women who ate cookies with 0.5g of powdered lion’s mane for four weeks reported feeling less anxious and irritated and saw improved menopause scores overall than those who ate placebo cookies.9 Finally, there’s evidence in animal research that the phytoestrogens found in cordyceps mushrooms can potentially help prevent bone loss related to estrogen decline that happens during menopause.10
4. Mushrooms and neurodegenerative diseases
Treatments for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases are improving slowly, but there’s a huge need for drugs with fewer adverse side effects and higher effectiveness. So, could mushrooms be the answer? Though exciting early research is starting to grow, currently, it’s still in its infancy.
Please speak to your doctor if you have these conditions to get the appropriate treatment.
5. Mushrooms and insomnia
“In traditional Asian medicine, reishi mushrooms have long been used as a calming and sleep-promoting agent,” says Madalena. “Some early research has shown that it might help to combat insomnia due to its impact on the central nervous system.”11
A study on mice investigating reishi’s link with better sleep found reishi-enriched gut bacteria correlated with longer sleeping time and higher levels of the sleep-promoting neurotransmitter serotonin, suggesting that mushrooms may improve sleep via their gut health benefits. Though, large clinical trials in humans are needed to confirm these benefits.12
6. Mushrooms and gut health
All mushrooms are high in fibre – one of the key foods linked to good gut health.13 A 2023 study investigated the benefits of mushroom dietary fibre on the gut’s microbiome and found that it acts as a prebiotic – which feeds your good gut bacteria – and can help with digestion.14
“A study found that lion’s mane extract encouraged antioxidant enzymes in rats – though more human studies are needed”
“Lion’s mane, in particular, might have an anti-inflammatory effect on the stomach,” explains Madalena. One study on rats found that 5g of lion’s mane extract helped protect ulcers and the gut wall by encouraging the production of antioxidant enzymes – though, of course, humans could be another matter.15
The final say
The research into functional mushrooms is promising but limited. More human research with large participant sizes is needed before we can draw confident conclusions about their cancer-reducing and brain health benefits.
However, with over 2,000 edible species of mushrooms, each with its own unique combination of beneficial polysaccharides, antioxidants and other nutrients, researchers are likely onto something and will continue to investigate.16
For now, the potential benefits of mushrooms could be enough to earn them a place on your plate. “They’re one of the best dietary sources of vitamin D, contain a variety of antioxidants and are rich in B vitamins, selenium, potassium and fibre,” says Madalena. That’s more than reason enough to dig in.
1. Docherty S, Doughty FL, Smith EF. The Acute and Chronic Effects of Lion’s Mane Mushroom Supplementation on Cognitive Function, Stress and Mood in Young Adults: A Double-Blind, Parallel Groups, Pilot Study. Nutrients. 2023 Nov 20;15(22):4842–2.
2. Chong PS, Fung ML, Wong KH, Lim LW. Therapeutic Potential of Hericium erinaceus for Depressive Disorder. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2019 Dec 25;21(1):163.
3. Hossen SMM, Islam MJ, Hossain MdR, Barua A, Uddin MdG, Emon NU. CNS anti-depressant, anxiolytic and analgesic effects of Ganoderma applanatum (mushroom) along with ligand-receptor binding screening provide new insights: Multi-disciplinary approaches. Biochemistry and Biophysics Reports. 2021 Sep;27:101062.
4. Nowakowski P, Markiewicz-Żukowska R, Bielecka J, Mielcarek K, Grabia M, Socha K. Treasures from the forest: Evaluation of mushroom extracts as anti-cancer agents. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy. 2021 Nov;143:112106.
5. Kim SP, Nam SH, Friedman M. Hericium erinaceus (Lion’s Mane) Mushroom Extracts Inhibit Metastasis of Cancer Cells to the Lung in CT-26 Colon Cancer-Transplanted Mice. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2013 May 13;61(20):4898–904.
6. Santesso N, Wieland LS. A summary of a Cochrane review: Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi mushroom) for the treatment of cancer. European Journal of Integrative Medicine. 2016 Oct;8(5):619–20.
7. Dan A, Swain R, Belonce S, Jacobs RJ. Therapeutic Effects of Medicinal Mushrooms on Gastric, Breast, and Colorectal Cancer: A Scoping Review. Cureus [Internet]. 2023 Apr 14; Available from: https://assets.cureus.com/uploads/review_article/pdf/148546/20230414-26751-gqtovx.pdf
8. Li I-Chen, Lee LY, Tzeng TT, Chen WP, Chen YP, Shiao YJ, et al. Neurohealth Properties ofHericium erinaceusMycelia Enriched with Erinacines. Behavioural Neurology. 2018;2018:1–10.
9. Nagano M, Shimizu K, Kondo R, Hayashi C, Sato D, Kitagawa K, et al. Reduction of depression and anxiety by 4 weeks Hericium erinaceus intake. Biomedical research (Tokyo, Japan) [Internet]. 2010;31(4):231–7. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20834180
10. Zhang D, Wang Z, Qi W, Zhao G. The effects of Cordyceps sinensis phytoestrogen on estrogen deficiency-induced osteoporosis in Ovariectomized rats. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2014 Dec;14(1).
11. Qiu Y, Mao ZJ, Ruan YP, Zhang X. Exploration of the anti-insomnia mechanism of Ganoderma by central-peripheral multi-level interaction network analysis. BMC Microbiology [Internet]. 2021 Oct 29;21(1). Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8555286/
12. Yao C, Wang Z, Jiang H, Yan R, Huang Q, Wang Y, et al. Ganoderma lucidum promotes sleep through a gut microbiota-dependent and serotonin-involved pathway in mice. Scientific Reports. 2021 Jul 1;11(1).
13. Fu J, Zheng Y, Gao Y, Xu W. Dietary Fiber Intake and Gut Microbiota in Human Health. Microorganisms [Internet]. 2022 Dec 18;10(12):2507. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9787832/
14. Yu C, Dong Q, Chen M, Zhao R, Zha L, Zhao Y, et al. The Effect of Mushroom Dietary Fiber on the Gut Microbiota and Related Health Benefits: A Review. Journal of Fungi [Internet]. 2023 Oct 1 [cited 2023 Nov 8];9(10):1028. Available from: https://www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/9/10/1028
15. Wong JY, Abdulla MA, Raman J, Phan CW, Kuppusamy UR, Golbabapour S, et al. Gastroprotective Effects of Lion’s Mane MushroomHericium erinaceus(Bull.:Fr.) Pers. (Aphyllophoromycetideae) Extract against Ethanol-Induced Ulcer in Rats. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2013;2013:1–9.
16. Anusiya G, Gowthama Prabu U, Yamini NV, Sivarajasekar N, Rambabu K, Bharath G, et al. A review of the therapeutic and biological effects of edible and wild mushrooms. Bioengineered. 2021 Dec 7;12(2):11239–68.
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