Health Check Ep 8: Can munching on half a plate of mushrooms a week slow mental decline?

9:46 mins

Synopsis: In this fortnightly podcast series on Wednesdays, The Straits Times guides you to healthier living and debunks the myths with expert guests.

ST correspondent Joyce Teo and podcasting head Ernest Luis host two experts from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore to discuss the results of the six-year study they had conducted on more than 600 Singaporeans aged 60 and above, to see the relation between consuming mushrooms and mental decline.

The study's principal investigator, Assistant Professor Feng Lei, who is from NUS' Department of Psychological Medicine, and Dr Irwin Cheah - a senior research fellow at the NUS Department of Biochemistry - are asked the following questions:

1. Can consuming more than two portions (300g or half a plate) of mushrooms each week, reduce the risk of having mild cognitive impairment?

2. It can help with Alzheimer's, but how about Parkinson's disease? 

3. The study focused on six types of mushrooms commonly eaten in Singapore. How about others like portobello? 

Mushrooms contain high levels of a compound known as ergothioneine. The compound acts as an antioxidant and an anti-inflammatory agent, and can protect brain cells from damage.

Produced by: Joyce Teo and Ernest Luis

Edited by: Adam Azlee

Follow more Health Check podcasts and rate us on:

Spotify: http://str.sg/oeGY 

Apple Podcasts: http://str.sg/oeXP 

Google Podcasts: http://str.sg/oeLN 

Playlist: https://str.sg/Jw7R 

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts 

Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.