Research at the University of Florida shows that natural chemicals in shiitake mushrooms can increase your immune system’s vigilance against infectious disease and keep the system from over-reacting and causing damaging inflammatory attacks on the body’s organs.
Shiitakes are tiny morsels, but they pack an outsized immunity benefit, says researcher Sue Percival who teaches food science and human nutrition: “If you eat a shiitake mushroom every day, you could see changes in the immune system that are beneficial. We’re enhancing the immune system, but we’re also reducing the inflammation that the immune system produces.”
In her study, Percival analyzed the immune benefits of a daily shiitake mushroom on people who were were restricted in the amount of other beneficial fruits and vegetables they were allowed to consume. Percival wanted a clear picture of how shiitakes benefit health and didn’t want phytochemicals from other plant foods to obscure the mushroom’s effects. Participants weren’t allowed to take antioxidant supplements either. And no vegetarians were allowed to be in the study.
The results were impressive. Gamma delta T-cells, immune cells that protect cell membranes from infection, were found to be functioning better. Plus, proteins that can set off inflammation were reduced.
In your own adventures with shiitakes, you can enjoy even more benefits by eating them with other foods like broccoli and kale that are high in disease-fighting substances. The synergistic effects among these foods are more powerfully health-boosting than anything you can get from a pill or drug.
For example I like to dice up shiitake and carrots, and add thyme and garlic to my quinoa to make a kind of a gluten-free pilaf. Very tasty and immune-boosting, too.
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