Mushrooms
From the YapSpan Longevity Wiki · Updated 2026-10-01
Mushrooms are the edible fruiting bodies of certain fungi. Common kinds include button, cremini and portobello mushrooms, shiitake, oyster and enoki. Although they are fungi rather than plants, they are usually eaten and studied as vegetables. They are low in energy and contain fiber, B vitamins, potassium and the antioxidant ergothioneine, and they can supply vitamin D when exposed to ultraviolet light.
A meta-analysis (a study that pools the results of earlier studies) of prospective cohort studies (studies that follow groups of people forward in time) with 601,893 people found that eating mushrooms was associated with 6% lower all-cause mortality (death from any cause) than eating none or little [1]. The evidence is observational, so it shows an association rather than proof of cause.
- Mushroom consumption went with a pooled risk ratio (the risk in one group relative to another) of 0.94 for all-cause mortality, or 6% lower [1].
- In the continuous NHANES survey analysed on its own, the link with all-cause mortality was not statistically significant [1].
- In NHANES III, eating one serving of mushrooms a day in place of one serving of processed or red meat was linked to 35% lower all-cause mortality [2].
- In a large Korean study, men who ate mushrooms less than once a week had 14% lower all-cause mortality than non-eaters [3].
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