Shiitake mushrooms
IN PHOTO: A woman packs shiitake mushrooms at the Anzai family farm near Fukushima, northern Japan April 5, 2011. The Anzai family grows their mushrooms indoors, as a way to reduce the contact with high levels of airborne radiation produced by the Fukushima nuclear plant 60 kilometres (37 miles) away. The operator of Japan's nuclear power plant that has been crippled after an earthquake and tsunami, started paying "condolence money" on Tuesday to victims of the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl while it kept pouring radioactive water into the sea. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Intake of mushrooms can help boost immunity, a new study suggests. A research team from the University of Florida, or UF, found that people given shiitake mushrooms to cook and eat every day for four weeks showed an improved immune system.

The research team headed by Sue Percival, professor from the UF Food Science and Human Nutrition and faculty member from the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, conducted the 2011 study by initially giving a four-week supply of dry shiitake mushrooms to 52 healthy participants aged 21-41 years. They cleaned and cooked the mushrooms before eating a serving, which weighs 4 ounces. The participants did this every day for four weeks.

The participants were chosen based on the following pre-experiment criteria: must not be a vegan and must not have drunk tea, probiotics and antioxidants. During the study, they were also instructed not to drink more than 14 glasses of alcoholic drinks in a week or consume fruits and vegetables exceeding seven servings per day. The rationale behind the pre-experiment criteria was that the authors would not want to test people who had taken immune-boosting substances and thus already have a strong immune system. Conversely, alcohol could inibit the action of the immune system, distorting the results.

Before the study subjects came to the Gainesville campus for the experiment, blood tests were performed to obtain baseline data. After the four-week period, new blood samples were drawn and were compared with the initial results. It was found that the participants showed an enhanced gamma delta T-cells and decreased inflammatory proteins.

"If you eat a shiitake mushroom every day, you could see changes in their immune system that are beneficial," said Percival. "We're enhancing the immune system, but we're also reducing the inflammation that the immune system produces."

To contact the writer, email: rinadoctor00@gmail.com.

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