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Eating mushrooms may cut your chances of dementia in half: Study

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Replies

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,843 Member
    I'm screwed.

    I'm very concerned about dementia, but... I don't want to eat mushrooms. Especially if they'll prevent dementia, actually. Think about it- that means not only will you have eaten mushrooms, you'll remember having eaten them. Ack.

    You know, learning additional languages is also supposed to have a protective effect against dementia. Can we do that instead?

    I've been having a blast these last two weeks learning Spanish with DuoLingo. I'm on the free version. I talk to my cat in Spanish.

    @estherdragonbat is also learning a language and talks to her cat (?) in Welsh.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,285 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I'm screwed.

    I'm very concerned about dementia, but... I don't want to eat mushrooms. Especially if they'll prevent dementia, actually. Think about it- that means not only will you have eaten mushrooms, you'll remember having eaten them. Ack.

    You know, learning additional languages is also supposed to have a protective effect against dementia. Can we do that instead?

    I've been having a blast these last two weeks learning Spanish with DuoLingo. I'm on the free version. I talk to my cat in Spanish.

    @estherdragonbat is also learning a language and talks to her cat (?) in Welsh.

    Just a couple of select phrases.

    ajn4a9yoee0b.jpg

    More than that and he wonders what I'm smoking...
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,070 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I'm screwed.

    I'm very concerned about dementia, but... I don't want to eat mushrooms. Especially if they'll prevent dementia, actually. Think about it- that means not only will you have eaten mushrooms, you'll remember having eaten them. Ack.

    You know, learning additional languages is also supposed to have a protective effect against dementia. Can we do that instead?

    I've been having a blast these last two weeks learning Spanish with DuoLingo. I'm on the free version. I talk to my cat in Spanish.

    @estherdragonbat is also learning a language and talks to her cat (?) in Welsh.

    Just a couple of select phrases.

    ajn4a9yoee0b.jpg

    More than that and he wonders what I'm smoking...

    He’s absolutely beautiful!
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,285 Member
    Thanks! He was living on the street for at least four years before he decided we were his new family. (I started feeding him about six years ago; he worked on us to let him move in for about a year, and he's been with us a little over a year, now.)
  • talkinghead86
    talkinghead86 Posts: 66 Member
    mbaker566 wrote: »
    mbaker566 wrote: »
    i don't do mushrooms. i want to. but i just not a fan of taste and/or texture
    but i like cooking and so many wonderful dishes include mushrooms

    one more reason for me to try to acclimate my tastebuds if this study and studies like it continue to support the idea

    Mushrooms have a taste?

    slimy and weird

    (not sure if you're a fan of eggs) but try them in omelets or scrambled with spinach and feta cheese.....soooo good
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    I adore sauteed or otherwise cooked mushrooms, but can't deal with them raw.
  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,514 Member
    I'm sceptical

    My mother did alot of the things considered to be helpful in fighting against dementia....... Still ended up with it in her 40's

    I eat plenty of mushrooms but because I like them not for any magical properties
  • icemom011
    icemom011 Posts: 999 Member
    Thanks! He was living on the street for at least four years before he decided we were his new family. (I started feeding him about six years ago; he worked on us to let him move in for about a year, and he's been with us a little over a year, now.)

    I knew he was a stray at some point because of the clipped ear. We have two of those, plus two other rescues. He's so cute!
  • SeattleBebop1
    SeattleBebop1 Posts: 26 Member
    edited April 2019
    I wish I didn't loathe mushrooms, especially as you can forage a lot of good ones around here. I try them every now and then, but ugh. I do like most fruits & veggies quite a lot, though. I'm hoping the (imported) Japanese green tea I drink will be enough; green tea is a "superfood" with some actual data backing up its benefits (no sugar, of course, only silly Americans put sugar in green tea). :edit: I also like matcha too (again, NO sugar).
  • texasredreb
    texasredreb Posts: 541 Member
    I see mushrooms all the time as an option on Imperfect Produce. I'm going to order a couple of different types next time and every time they have them. I love mushrooms, and so hope there is some validity to this study. My mother had early on-set Alzheimer's and my dad has some form of dementia.
  • cavefallss
    cavefallss Posts: 39 Member
    i love them. i eat them in stir fry, salads, pizzas, wraps etc or on toast with avocado yum 😍
  • RunsWithDogsWI
    RunsWithDogsWI Posts: 31 Member
    I eat mushrooms but you can't deny they taste like fluffy, mossy dirt.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,717 Member
    I eat mushrooms but you can't deny they taste like fluffy, mossy dirt.

    I can. Especially fresh wild morels. They taste like the paradise I haven't the virtue to deserve.
  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
    mbaker566 wrote: »
    mbaker566 wrote: »
    the renaissance fair by us has portabella burgers and butter and garlic button mushrooms and they all smell wonderful but nope. they go in my mouth and then come right back out. can't even force a swallow :disappointed:

    but that's an interesting idea about ground mushroom

    Do you have actual gagging / retching reactions to them? I had issues like as a child towards most vegetables, even something I'd call similarly low in flavor like lettuce. Overtime I just powered through it so that it took more to elicit a reaction until at this point in my life I usually have 4 to 5 servings of vegetables as part of lunch.

    depends on the day. somedays brain won't swallow. other days, the brains says the whole stomach is infected with mushrooms and a system flush is needed

    i want to like mushrooms :disappointed:


    Just to put this out there...
    I have hated both eggs and a lot of veggies since I was a kid- brussel sprouts, broccoli, the ‘yucky veggies,’ LOL. Often started gagging if I tried to eat them, they seem so disgusting.

    Got lots of advice on powering through or getting used them and they would not be so bad, etc...

    Turns out I am allergic to eggs and to the brassica family, which includes broccoli and brussel sprouts. I have since found out that for milder allergies, an intense dislike of the food is sometimes all you really notice, and mouth or gut synptoms may be all you get if you actually manage to eat it.

    So some of us ‘picky’ eaters may just have food intolerances or allergies. :-)
  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
    edited May 2019
    I really hope that they do some good followups on the study and see what is going on with it. :-)

    Couple things I hope they explore- does type of mushroom matter? Mushrooms typically esten by folks in Singapore are not necessarily the same kind as we get elsewhere.

    And also- what nutrients do they get from the mushrooms compared to others with different gut bacteria? There have been some interesting studies on gut bacteria, and I know one found that a number of Japanese seniors had gut bacteria you do not find in the USA or Europe. It broke down seaweed so they got more nutrients out of it.

    It would be fascinating to know if a population that more traditionally uses a lot of certain types of mushroom might have gut bacteria that does more to break down mushrooms too. And if that mattered- like, could they get more of the beneficial substance out of them, if that does actually help?:-)
  • GrizzledSquirrel
    GrizzledSquirrel Posts: 120 Member
    I’m amazed how ready people are to make jokes about being “forgetful” when it comes to a thread relating to dementia.

    I was going to provide examples of what you probably wouldn’t joke about when referring to other progressive and incurable diseases that destroy loved ones’ lives - like MS and cancer, but I deleted them prior to posting. Too sick.
  • ceiswyn
    ceiswyn Posts: 2,253 Member
    My cat doesn't eat mushrooms, and my cat has been diagnosed with probable senile dementia. Point proven.

    I love mushrooms in all forms nowadays, even though I detested them up until my mid-twenties. However, as a child I found them to have such a strong flavour that I could detect even the tiniest amount of mushroom in strongly flavoured dishes; nowadays I think they're mild.

    I suspect I've just lost the ability to taste whatever chemical it was I hated so much.
  • Phirrgus
    Phirrgus Posts: 1,902 Member
    I’m amazed how ready people are to make jokes about being “forgetful” when it comes to a thread relating to dementia.

    I was going to provide examples of what you probably wouldn’t joke about when referring to other progressive and incurable diseases that destroy loved ones’ lives - like MS and cancer, but I deleted them prior to posting. Too sick.

    Some folks can be a bit insensitive, sure. For others, humor is sometimes a way to deal with and process horrible events. Capturing how nuanced people can be is difficult though, so broad brushes are used..
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,070 Member
    ceiswyn wrote: »
    My cat doesn't eat mushrooms, and my cat has been diagnosed with probable senile dementia. Point proven.

    I love mushrooms in all forms nowadays, even though I detested them up until my mid-twenties. However, as a child I found them to have such a strong flavour that I could detect even the tiniest amount of mushroom in strongly flavoured dishes; nowadays I think they're mild.

    I suspect I've just lost the ability to taste whatever chemical it was I hated so much.

    We recently had to put our 15yr old dog down due to dementia. Just like with people, it's terrible to watch your beloved pet suffer mentally as well. At the end, his anxiety was so bad none of us were sleeping and he was shaking so hard the whole bed would move. This is slightly off topic, but a lot of people are not aware that there are hospice services for elderly animals. Ours was a godsend. Having someone come to the house, instead of taking him to a vet was worth every penny (and it really wasn't much more expensive than normal vet).