Could Mushrooms Help Improve High Blood Pressure?

• New research points to mushrooms as a means of improving high blood pressure.
• Mushrooms contain bioactive substances like proteins, sterols, vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, and amino acids.
• Experts recommend a nutrient-dense, whole food diet like the Mediterranean or DASH diet to help patients regulate hypertension and avoid heart disease.

A new study found that adding mushrooms to your diet may improve high blood sugar levels.

For many, staying on top of heart health is a top-of-mind concern. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that heart disease remains the number one cause of death in the United States—ahead of the likes of cancer and COVID-19—finding ways to keep factors that affect heart health like hypertension, or high blood pressure, in control are key.

Now, new research revealed that adding one commonly accessible ingredient to your diet could contribute to lowering blood pressure levels—mushrooms. A review published in Phytotherapy Research spotlights how incorporating edible mushrooms into your diet might improve one's hypertension.

The authors note that much has been written about the health benefits of these fungi ingredients, but it has often been “difficult to fully comprehend the role of mushrooms as dietary interventions in alleviating hypertension and other cardiovascular malfunctions.”

Among their findings, they explain that the mushroom-contained bioactive compounds like cordycepin, lovastatin, eritadenine, and ergosterol are thought to “directly influence gene expression that induces cardiovascular” function due to the fact they are structurally similar to, among other things, adenosine—a chemical that can lower blood pressure.

When asked to put these findings in context, Dana Ellis Hunnes, PhD, MPH, RD, senior clinical dietitian at UCLA Medical Center, assistant professor at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, and author of the book Recipe For Survival, told Health that a serving of mushrooms—for people who aren’t allergic, at least—could help lower blood pressure.

“In the context of an otherwise less-than-healthy diet, it may not make a huge or significant difference in overall risk,” she explained, “but when added to a varied and overall healthy Mediterranean or DASH diet, it may help even more.”

How Mushrooms Influence High Blood Pressure

In their review, the study authors write that edible mushrooms have long been known to be “functional foods” that serve as a rich bioactive resource, meaning they contain compounds that stimulate bodily actions that generate overall good health.

Bioactive foods have been studied as preventive tools for not just heart disease, but cancer, among other conditions.

The review notes that mushrooms are often incorporated in heart-healthy approaches to eating patterns like the Mediterranean and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diets due to the fact that they contain bioactive substances like proteins, sterols, vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, and amino acids.

Dr. Hunnes added that mushrooms are known “to contain a decent amount of potassium per serving.” This would equate to about 11% of DV (daily value) or between 300 and 400mg. She explained that potassium is an important component of both DASH and Mediterranean diets due to the fact that “it can help regulate blood pressure,” which can in turn help reduce heart attack and stroke risk.

“Mushrooms are discussed as a part of a healthy plant-based diet not as the specific magic in hypertension management,” Mary Ellen DiPaola, RD, CDE, IBCLC, UCSF Outpatient senior dietitian, told Health. “Other non-nutrition lifestyle factors also play a significant role.”

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The Power of Bioactive Compounds

In examining the review, Dr. Hunnes pointed to the fact that 1 serving—or 84 grams—of raw, edible mushrooms increased macronutrients (5%), dietary fiber (2%–6%), riboflavin (15%), potassium (11%), niacin (13%–26%), copper (13%–22%), vitamin D (9%–11%), and choline levels (14%).

“These nutrients and bioactive constituents play a role in cellular metabolism, circulating levels of certain micronutrients that may lower risk of heart disease, stroke, and blood pressure, such as potassium,” she explained. 

“There are also a number of compounds—many of which may not even have a name yet—that contribute to the health benefits of mushrooms on the microbiome and/or blood pressure,” Dr. Hunnes continued.

In their paper’s conclusions, the authors note that the bioactive properties in mushrooms could pave the way for pharmaceutical innovations. They claim “these molecules could act as potential drug candidates that reduce hypertension, which also necessitates evidence from pharmacology and clinical biochemistry.”

What About People With Mushroom Allergies?

While all of this might sound promising, what if you’re allergic to mushrooms?

DiPaola, who is also unaffiliated with the new research, noted that the DASH diet offers ingredients aside from mushrooms that contain many of the same heart health-promoting properties as the mushrooms outlined by the review—they are plant-based, contain adequate fiber, have less sodium, contain sufficient calcium, and feature moderate levels of protein.

“There may be other fungi out there that can act in a similar fashion to edible mushrooms for individuals who are allergic to mushrooms,” Dr. Hunnes suggested. “However, a whole-food, plant-based diet often confers similar, healthful benefits.”

Recommendations for a Heart-Healthy Diet

If anything, the review spurs conversation around the many ways what we consume can benefit our cardiovascular health, including lowering high blood pressure levels.

DiPaola recommends plant-based, whole foods as evidenced by both the Mediterranean and DASH diets. Additionally, healthy lifestyle behaviors that include exercise, stress management, maintaining a healthy weight, and management of other comorbidities with heart disease are key.

The review authors clarify that mushrooms alone are not the sole answer and more research needs to be conducted to understand their bioactive compounds and how those impact hypertension.

“Thus, edible mushrooms have a lot of scope in clinical evaluations that necessitates phylogenetic and toxicological analysis of mushroom bioactive constituents,” the authors concluded. “So, next time when you stir up a ‘mushroom risotto,’ appreciate the potential of biologically and nutritionally unique fungus à la ‘edible mushrooms.’”

For her part, Dr. Hunnes recommended a well-rounded, nutrient-heavy diet.

She said, “A whole-food, plant-based diet that is varied in the types of plant-foods consumed—especially avocado, nuts, seeds, legumes, greens—can be extremely beneficial for blood pressure and heart health.”

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