Last month, as I sat at an industry luncheon, I prepared to hear my friend Marty make a few remarks. During this particular luncheon, our industry comes together to support the City of Hope, an amazing local, world-renowned research hospital that has pioneered bone marrow transplants and a host of other cutting-edge cancer treatments.
Marty sells mushrooms for a living. I’m a little partial to mushrooms, as that is the first product that my mother, Frieda, sold when she entered the produce business in 1956. So, I was pleasantly surprised with what Marty said: “I’d like you all to see what’s going on with white mushrooms in the field of medicine.”
As you can see in this three-minute video, the researchers at City of Hope freeze-dried regular white mushrooms into a powder, then made 500 mg tablets with the powder. In a clinical trial, they gave prostate cancer surgery survivors the capsules and monitored their Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA). The results were very dramatic and amazing.
The researchers also noted that cinnamon, blueberries, and pomegranates may have beneficial qualities that they are testing in clinical trials.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if medical research began to verify what many “health food nuts” have known for decades? A diet rich in plant-based foods may be the key to a long, healthy life. And, changing your diet at any time in your life—preferably sooner rather than later—might also be a way to get yourself healthier.
I feel fortunate to be in an industry like fresh produce, where our products do no harm and are good for you. Young and old—everyone has to eat!
Thanks, Mom, for getting into the produce business!
Karen