In this episode I provide an overview of the evidence that certain chemicals produced by plants and fungi are beneficial for brain function and health. I focus on the fact that the function of these phytochemicals or mycochemicals in the plants or mushrooms is to defend them from being consumed by insects and other animals. We and other animals evolved mechanisms to tolerate the noxious chemicals. We avoid too much of them because they have a bitter taste, and our cells respond to the chemicals by activating adaptive stress responses (antioxidant enzymes, protein chaperones, neurotrophic factors, etc). By these hormesis-based mechanism way plant-based diets enhance brain resilience and counteract aging and disease processes.

LINKS
Articles on dietary phytochemicals and brain health

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4081729/pdf/pr.113.007757.pdf

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5841445/pdf/nihms946635.pdf

https://www-sciencedirect-com.proxy1.library.jhu.edu/science/article/pii/S0166223606002001

Review article on mycochemicals

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10647524/pdf/ijms-24-15596.pdf

Evolutionary perspectives

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4586293/pdf/nihms678801.pdf

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1087184523000439?via%3Dihub

Recent Nature Medicine study

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-025-03570-5