Neurology

Data on Mushrooms and Dementia | Visualized Health

Reviewed by The Clinical Committee

March 15, 2019

  • A new study links mushroom consumption with a reduced cognitive impairment risk

  • While the study only demonstrates a correlation, the results add to a body of evidence showing the importance of diet in dementia prevention.

  • Mushrooms, Vegetables, and a Mediterranean Diet have all been linked to better cognition in the elderly.

The humble mushroom may reduce your risk of mild cognitive impairment.

Dementia, including Alzheimer's Disease, is an incredibly complex condition. We do not fully understand what causes it, nor do we know all the risk factors.

Unfortunately, we also cannot reverse it. Dementia remains one of the biggest incurable disease in medicine.

Recent research has shown that diet is correlated with dementia, showing that it may be possible to significantly reduce your odds of getting it by eating well.

Data on Mushrooms and Cognitive Impairment

data on mushrooms dementia cognitive impairment

A new study out of Singapore has linked mushroom consumption to a lower risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment have more memory or cognition problems than typical elderly individuals, but do not have the symptoms necessary for a dementia diagnosis. Many, but not all, patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment will develop dementia.

Researchers in this study followed 663 Singaporeans aged 60 and older to see how diet affects aging. They found that participants who ate more mushrooms had a lower risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Researchers adjusted results to control for age, gender, education, smoking status, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and consumptions of meat and vegetables.

Even with these adjustments, researchers found that those who ate 3 or more servings of mushrooms weekly had about half the risk of mild cognitive impairment compared to those who did not regularly eat mushrooms. This was statistically significant.

Those who ate 1-2 servings of mushrooms per week had a non-significantly lower risk.

The size of the effect and the number of factors controlled for adds to the strength of the study.

However, as with all observational studies, the study only shows a correlation rather than causation.

We see good evidence that individuals who eat mushrooms also have a lower rate of mild cognitive impairment. But, we do not know for sure that it's the mushrooms causing it. It is possible that mushroom-lovers also have great lifestyles protecting them from cognitive impairment.

Source: The Association between Mushroom Consumption and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study in Singapore.

Mushrooms vs Vegetables for Cognitive Performance

data on mushrooms vs vegetables for cognitive performance

These data were consistent with a Norwegian study looking at plant food and cognitive performance. Researchers asked 2,031 elderly Norwegians about their diets and then performed extensive cognitive testing to see how diet affects cognitive performance in the elderly.

The found that all plant-based foods, except for white bread, were associated with better cognitive performance in the elderly.

In the data above, they show the relationship between cognitive performance and the amount of mushrooms and vegetables you eat in a day.

The more mushrooms or vegetables an individual ate, the higher their odds of performing better on a cognitive test.

Source: Cognitive performance among the elderly in relation to the intake of plant foods. The Hordaland Health Study.

Mediterranean Diet + Alzheimer's Dementia

Mediterranean Diet and Alzheimer's Disease Risk

The Mediterranean Diet is another diet linked to a lower risk of dementia. In a study of 2,258 New Yorkers, researchers found that individuals who strongly adhered to a Mediterranean Diet had a significantly lower risk of Alzheimer's Disease.

Researchers estimated the difference to be around 40%. Individuals who had some adherence to the Mediterranean Diet had a non-significantly lower risk.

Mediterranean Diet and Mushrooms for Dementia

As you can see in the comparison above, both the Mediterranean Diet and Mushrooms show similar results when it comes to Dementia in the elderly.

Source: Mediterranean Diet and Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease

Questions on #antioxidants
Can antioxidants protect your vision?Can antioxidants supercharge your brain power?Can taking antioxidants protect you against cancer?
Explore More
thumbnail for covid-depression
thumbnail for nap-heart
thumbnail for honey-cough
thumbnail for chemotherapy-social
thumbnail for sleep-disparity
thumbnail for covid-eatingdisorder
thumbnail for caffeine-pregnancy
thumbnail for eczema-bone
thumbnail for breastfeeding-diabetes
thumbnail for schizophrenia-autoimmune
thumbnail for gender-ami
thumbnail for ptsd-ovarian
thumbnail for vaccine-distrust
thumbnail for covid-heartattack
thumbnail for covid-eye
thumbnail for heat-health
thumbnail for sleepstroke-disparity
thumbnail for coffee-depression
thumbnail for cannabis-depression
thumbnail for music-surgery
thumbnail for bath-heart
thumbnail for diabetes-mental
thumbnail for coffee-filter