Could Chinese Mushrooms Help You Lose Weight?
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hideko1979/iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Want to lose weight? Have yourself some mushrooms. And no, we don’t mean the “magic” kind.
The Chinese “lingzhi” mushroom — scientific name Ganoderma lucidum — appears to have properties that could help you lose weight. LiveScience reports researchers at Taiwan’s Chang Gung University fed mice a high-fat diet that also included an extract made from the mushroom. At the end of the two-month test period, those mice gained less weight than mice who ate the same diet but weren’t fed the mushroom extract.
Don’t go looking for lingzhi in your egg foo yung at your favorite Chinese restaurant, though. It’s really only used in traditional Chinese medicine, and reportedly has a very bitter taste. Not to mention you still have to watch what you eat and get regular exercise if you’re serious about shedding some pounds.
Bottom line: Just because it works for mice, doesn’t mean it’ll work for humans. So back on the treadmill, you.
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