As more time passes, researchers everywhere are getting more and more excited about mushrooms. Just take a glance at the news—it seems like new stories about mushrooms (and their potential to help people) are popping up every day.
Discoveries regarding the compound’s potential to treat a variety of neurological ailments, coupled with ever-increasing societal acceptance of specials-as-medicine, have lead to more and more researchers in the medical, psychological, and neurological fields becoming interested in finding out more about this powerful, natural substance.
But can it help treat obesity?
Some researchers think so—read on to learn more.
Why Researching Mushrooms as an Obesity Treatment is So Important
As you likely already know if you’re a regular reader of the Quality Spores blog, mushrooms have shown promise as a potential treatment for a large variety of common ailments and problems, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), treatment-resistant depression, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), addiction to substances such as nicotine, alcohol, and others, as well as a potential treatment for anxiety during end-of-life palliative care.
If mushrooms show promise in all of these areas, researchers reason, it may show promise in the fight against obesity—a particularly prominent issue in the United States and other western countries like the United Kingdom and Australia.
What Researchers Know so Far About Mushrooms for Obesity – and What the Next Steps Might Be
As evidence mounts suggesting that mushrooms may be a potential treatment for addiction, researchers believe that it may help those who struggle with food cravings. A study published last year in the Journal of Psychopharmacology suggested that participants who self-reported as having tried a special substance at least once in their lives had substantially higher chances of being healthy overall, including not being obese or overweight.
Researchers recently published a study in the journal Translational Psychiatry which aimed to study the effects of mushrooms and feeding behavior in mice; that is to say, mushrooms help curb the appetite of the mice. Initial results were inconclusive, as the weight and eating habits of the mice did not change as a result of the introduction of mushrooms.
However, the researchers behind the study still believe that human trials will yield the most accurate data. Study author Christoffer Clemmensen said, “…we believe that there are nuances of the mode of action of specials that cannot be appropriately captured in rodent models. Importantly, mushrooms were safe and had no adverse effects on the physiological parameters we tested in mice.”
So, can mushrooms help treat obesity?
We don’t know yet—but researchers are working on it.
Need a New Hobby? How About Amateur Microscopy and Exotic Mushroom Spores?
Interested in learning more about mushrooms? A great place to start is with the completely legal amateur microscopy hobby. Visit our spore shop now to select your exotic mushroom specimens, or learn more about microscopy in our free eBook.