Eating Mushrooms Could Counteract Advanced Glycation End Products

Preliminary research published in the Journal of Biomedicine assessed how food intake could protect against advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and related pathologies. According to the authors, is a relatively unexplored area. 

Since AGEs accumulate over time, an elderly population was deemed best suited for assessing the long-term accumulation of AGEs. Thirty-nine subjects (19 men and 20 women; mean age = 76.6 years) in good health completed questionnaires about their intake of cereal, rice, noodles, bread, mushrooms, vegetables, seaweed, confectionaries, etc. (see article for complete list). The AGEs of all subjects were then measured in the skin of their upper arm by an AGE-reading device based on autofluorescence (AF).

Of the foods assessed, only the mushroom showed a significant relationship to AGEs; an inverse correlation between mushroom intake and skin AF was observed in this population. The authors hope the current findings stimulate further investigation but acknowledge this is based on preliminary data in a small study. The particular type of mushroom and/or its method(s) of preparation also were not noted.

This study is but one example of how nutrition and cosmetics cross paths. And we will most likely see more, especially with market analysts projecting the nutricosmetics market will expand to $7.4 billion by 2020.

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