Mushroom Council Nutrition Research Update.

The results suggest that substituting White button mushrooms for traditional meat entrees provides a well-accepted, lower calorie alternative to meat without compromising palatability or feelings of satiety. There were significant reductions in total calories (379), fat and protein with the mushroom entrees. The protein content remained within the RDA range. There was modest compensation (27 percent), which is consistent with other studies on satiety and compensation. With a caloric difference of 379 a day and with compensation at 27 percent, consumers could potentially lose about 29 pounds over a year by substituting mushrooms for meat in one meal each day. Consumed over a longer period of time, entrees made with mushrooms instead of meat may be a useful adjunct for weight control, and may aid in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease through the reduction in total fat and saturated fat intake. It is important to extend the research to a randomized, controlled clinical trial in a non-laboratory setting to demonstrate longer-term weight control and cardiovascular health benefits.

IMPLICATIONS

This research adds to the growing body of scientific evidence linking mushrooms to overall health, including the maintenance of a healthy immune system and having potential for weight management through substitution for higher calorie/fat ingredients and foods. Additional research is needed to replicate preliminary findings, to investigate effects in different models of immune function, and to determine mechanisms involved.

For example, mushrooms' polysaccharides such as beta-glucan have been investigated and linked to immune function when injected (direct access to the bloodstream) or used in cell-based experiments. However, when fed to animals (and humans), these polysaccharides (as dietary fiber) are not digested and therefore cannot be absorbed through the intestines to have a systemic effect on the immune system or other health outcomes. Therefore, are there other constituents (vitamins, minerals or bioactive compounds) in mushrooms that enhance immunity, or do the polysaccharides exert their effect through the gastrointestinal tract by interacting with gut microorganisms? Research is needed to help answer some of these intriguing questions.

Mary Jo Feeney, MS, RD, FADA

Mushroom Council Nutrition

Research Coordinator

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MUSHROOM COUNCIL: Nutrition Advisory Panel

Raymond Chang, MD, Medical Director, Meridian Medical Group, New York, NY

Shiuan Chen, Ph.D., Professor and Director, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, Duarte, CA

Johanna Dwyer, D. Sc, RD, Director, Frances Stern Nutrition Center, and Professor, Tufts University, Boston, MA

Clare Hasler, Ph.D., MBA, Executive Director, Robert Mondavi Center for Wine and Food Science, University of California, Davis

John Milner, Ph.D., National Cancer Institute, Washington, DC. Dr. Milner participates on the panel as a scientist not as an official representative of the NCI.

Mark Wach, Ph.D., VP & Director of Research, Sylvan Inc., Kittanning, PA

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The Immune System Background (1)

The immune system provides resistance to or recovery from infection or inflammation and is amazingly complex. The immune system is a network of cells, tissues and organs that work together to defend the body against invading germs, bacteria, viruses and pa[TEXT INCOMPLETE IN ORIGINAL SOURCE]ites. Its job is to keep invading organisms out, or failing that, find and destroy them. The immune system can recognize and remember many different invading organisms and produce secretions and c[TEXT INCOMPLETE IN ORIGINAL SOURCE]s to wipe them out. It uses an elaborate communications network of cells organized into sets and subsets that pass information around. Once immune cells receive notice about an invading organism, th[TEXT INCOMPLETE IN ORIGINAL SOURCE] can undergo changes and produce powerful chemicals that allow the cells to regulate their own growth and activity and direct other cells where needed by releasing chemical messengers.

* Innate or natural immunity is inborn and provides an all-purpose defense system in response to invasion.

* Acquired or adaptive immunity develops when the body is exposed to various antigens (substances or molecules foreign to the body that are recognized by the immune system) and builds a defense that is specific to that antigen

* Dendritic cells link innate and adaptive immune responses and play a predominant role in activation of Natural Killer (NK) cells.

* Lymphocytes are small white blood cells that travel throughout the body using the blood vessels. T lymphocytes, "T Cells," mature in the thymus gland. "B-Cells" come from bone marrow.

* Phagocytes are large white blood cells that ingest microbes, cells or invading organisms.

* Neutrophils are white blood cells and a type of phagocyte.

* Natural killer cells (NK cells) are lymphocytes with granules filled with chemicals that can be used to destroy microorganisms.

* Macrophages are large immune cells found in many organs that devour invading pathogens and stimulate other immune cells.

* Monocytes are large phagocytic white cells that develop into macrophages when entering tissues.

* Cytokines are powerful chemical substances protein in nature secreted by cells that enable the body's cells to communicate with each other and coordinate an immune response. Cytokines include interferons, interleukins, and growth factors.

* Defensins chemically are proteins and include a family of potent antibiotics made within the body by neutrophils and macrophages. Defensins regulate several immune responses associated with innate and adaptive immunity.

Increased cell count and cell activity are ways of measuring enhanced immune function. Since the body has many cells involved in immune function, and since the cells generate in different organs and act in different systems (for example, in the blood stream or in a specific organ, the effect of compounds could differ in their manifestation or enhancement of immune function.

1 Adapted from Understanding the Immune System Fact Sheet. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. National Institutes of Health. http://www.niaid.nih.gov/publications/autoimmune.htm Accessed Feb. 1, 2007.