https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7681161/
There is mounting evidence for the potential for the natural dietary antioxidant and anti-inflammatory amino acid l-Ergothioneine (ERGO) to prevent or mitigate chronic diseases of aging.
ERGO is currently gaining the attention of the scientific community as a result of its ability to reduce oxidative stress and act as an anti-inflammatory agent with the potential to serve as a therapeutic agent(5). ERGO is not synthesised in animals or human subjects and is only obtained through dietary intake, leading us to consider it to be an important micronutrient. Limited intake of ERGO in the diet may compromise long-term health and life expectancy. In the present paper, we seek to illustrate the role ERGO may have in long-term human health and how limited dietary sources could be further impacted by agricultural practices.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that mushroom consumption can be linked to decreased incidence of chronic diseases of aging such as dementia(19,20), prostate cancer(21) and risk factors of diabetes(22–24). Given the strong associations observed between blood ERGO levels and mushroom consumption(25), it is possible that many of these beneficial health effects of mushrooms could be attributed to ERGO.