Mushroom medicine
EATING white button mushrooms daily can act as a prebiotic by improving microbial community in the gut, which could then improve the regulation of glucose in the liver, a finding that could one day pave way for new diabetes treatments.
In the study, feeding white button mushrooms to mice changed the composition of gut microbes, or microbiota, to produce more fatty acids, specifically propionate from succinate, according to Margherita T Cantorna, a professor at Pennsylvania State University in the US.
Previous research has shown that succinate and propionate can change the expression of genes needed to manage glucose production, she said.
“Managing glucose better has implications for diabetes as well as other metabolic diseases,” Cantorna noted.
The study, reported in the Journal of Functional Foods, used two types of mice who were fed a daily serving size of the mushrooms. One group had microbiota, the other were germfree. Consuming the mushrooms set off a chain reaction among the gut bacteria, expanding the population of prevotella – a bacteria that produces propionate and succinate.
These acids can change the expression of genes that are key to the production of glucose and the mushrooms serve as a prebiotic, which feeds beneficial bacteria in the gut.
“Almost any change you make to the diet changes the microbiota,” Cantorna said – IANS