Super Immunity (11 page)

Consuming mushrooms regularly is associated with a significantly decreased risk of breast cancer in both pre-and postmenopausal women. Amazingly, frequent consumption of mushrooms can decrease the incidence of breast cancer by up to 60 to 70 percent! In one recent study, women who ate at least 10 grams of fresh mushrooms each day (equivalent to just one small mushroom) had a 64 percent decreased risk of breast cancer. Even more dramatic protection was gained by women who ate 10 grams of mushrooms and consumed green compounds from green tea daily—an 89 percent decrease in risk for premenopausal women and 82 percent for postmenopausal women.
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Similar associations were observed in studies on stomach and colorectal cancers.
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Hard to believe, isn't it? Why doesn't
every
woman know the protective effects that mushrooms have against breast cancer? The combination of mushrooms and greens is a powerful anticancer cocktail.

Mushrooms fight breast cancer in many ways. They contain compounds called “aromatase inhibitors” that help the body reduce the level of estrogen and prevent estrogen from stimulating breast tissue.
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Aromatase (sometimes called “estrogen synthase”) is an enzyme that produces estrogen and is responsible for regulating estrogen levels in the body. Since estrogen plays an important role in the development of breast cancer, suppression of aromatase activity is protective. Excessive expression of the aromatase enzyme in breast tumors is thought to contribute to the progression of breast cancers by elevating estrogen levels in the surrounding area.
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There are currently drugs used as therapies for certain cancers that inhibit aromatase activity.
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But dietary aromatase inhibitors are an effective lifetime preventive strategy that will dampen estrogen levels, reducing breast cancer risk. Several varieties of mushrooms have been tested for their anti-aromatase activity. This is how they ranked:

• High anti-aromatase activity: white button, white stuffing, cremini, portobello, reishi, maitake

• Mild anti-aromatase activity: shiitake, chanterelle, baby button

• Little or no anti-aromatase activity: oyster, wood ear
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Regardless of anti-aromatase activity, the beneficial anti–breast cancer action in mushrooms was found in all species of mushrooms tested and was heat-stable, meaning that it continued to be effective even after the mushrooms were cooked. The most common and least expensive mushrooms—white button mushrooms—showed these strong benefits. If that's not enough great news about mushrooms, there's more.

Mushrooms promote the body's production and maturation of dendritic cells and improve their antigen-presenting function.
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Let's take that apart. Dendritic cells are tree-shaped immune cells that are scattered throughout the body in their immature or deactivated form. When activated, they trap and process what they recognize as enemy material, presenting it to other immune cells to remove or kill the threat. In other words, they capture microbial pathogens and abnormal cells so that other immune cells can destroy them.

Dendritic cells are present in tissues in contact with the external environment, such as the skin and the inner lining of the nose, lungs, stomach, and intestines. They can also be found in an immature state in the blood. Once activated and engaged, they migrate to the lymph nodes, where they interact with T cells and B cells to initiate an immune attack.

Dendritic cell functions can decrease with aging, leading to a loss of immune function. This gradual loss in dendritic function exposes us to infection and a higher risk of developing cancer as we get older. However, the ingestion of the immune-strengthening compounds derived from mushrooms and greens can prevent this age-related loss of immune function.
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Even though mushrooms have unique phytochemical compounds with a host of unique immune-strengthening effects, their ability is further enhanced when the diet contains mushrooms, onions, and green vegetables simultaneously. Not only mushrooms, but phytochemicals called “flavonoids,” found in colorful fruits, onions, and berries, as well the green-vegetable-derived isothiocyanates (ITCs), have been identified as anticarcinogens, capable of activating dendritic cells.
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Mushrooms also contain an angiogenesis inhibitor that further inhibits tumors and growth of abnormal cells, tumors, and cancers. Angiogenesis, as you may recall, means the growth of new blood vessels. Cancers, tumors, and fat secrete angiogenesis-promoting compounds that fuel their own growth; but mushrooms say no.

Angiogenesis is a complex physiological process by which new blood vessels are formed from previously existing ones. In response to an angiogenic signal, endothelial cells sprout from the original blood vessel, divide, and form tubelike structures that mature into new vessels. Angiogenesis occurs during fetal development and normal childhood growth. In adults, angiogenesis occurs only in certain specific situations, like wound healing. However, excessive (i.e., abnormal) angiogenesis contributes to several disease states, such as obesity, cancer, macular degeneration, and chronic inflammatory conditions.

In cancer development, angiogenesis is initiated when a tumor becomes large enough to need its own blood supply. The tumor signals nearby blood vessels to branch off and supply it with oxygen and nutrients, and these new vessels allow a nonthreatening microscopic tumor to grow and become invasive and dangerous. The hallmark of cancer is the rapid, uncontrolled growth and replication of cells; that is what makes cancer life-threatening. Since angiogenesis is rare in healthy adults and necessary for tumor growth, blocking angiogenesis is a strategy in cancer prevention and treatment. Several drugs have been developed that were designed to block different steps of the angiogenic process, and some of these drugs have been approved by the FDA and are currently being used as cancer therapies.
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Many plant foods contain natural angiogenesis inhibitors—especially mushrooms. Dietary angiogenesis inhibitors are now being investigated as a preventive strategy to “starve” cancers while they are still small and harmless. If our diet contains plenty of angiogenesis inhibitors, it can prevent small tumors from acquiring a blood supply and growing larger and becoming more aggressive or cancerous. This is one more way that mushrooms, onions, greens, and berries—preferably in conjunction—protect against cancer.

As a safety precaution, mushrooms should always be consumed cooked, since some studies have reported toxic effects of raw mushrooms in animal studies.
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Similarly, the growth of fat tissue is dependent on angiogenesis, and inhibition of angiogenesis through the consumption of beneficial angiogenesis-inhibiting foods inhibits fat deposition and growth.
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That means eating these super foods, with mushrooms leading the way, has the side effect of encouraging a healthy weight. That occurs not just because of the lower calorie density of such a diet, but also because of other beneficial nutrients ingested, including angiogenesis inhibitors.

Foods and nutrients that
promote
angiogenesis—and thus obesity and cancer—include white-flour based breads and sweets that raise insulin levels, and the high-fat, high-cholesterol, standard Western diet.
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These modern, unhealthy foods promote fat storage in addition to having a high-caloric density. They are a double negative, while greens, mushrooms, onions, berries, and the other foods listed above are a double positive.

The allium family of vegetables, which includes onions, garlic, leeks, shallots, chives, and scallions, adds more than just flavor to your diet; its members also add anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant compounds. Even far back in history, people were well aware that these foods had medicinal value and consumed them on a daily basis. In medieval times, for example, people recognized that onions and garlic offered immune protection and would help them get well faster in the event that they did come down with an infection. We have lost touch with using food as medicine, but the right natural foods are truly our most effective remedies.