Mycoprotein and health across the lifespan
What it found
In people, eating mycoprotein was linked to lower cholesterol, better blood sugar and insulin markers, more fibre, feeling fuller, and support for muscle protein building.
The authors say more research is needed at both ends of the lifespan.
What they found
Studies in people
Cholesterol in adults
Several trials in adults found that eating mycoprotein lowered total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. In one 3-week study, plasma cholesterol fell by 13% compared with a meat control.
Blood sugar and insulin
Some studies in young adults found no change in blood glucose or insulin after a mycoprotein meal, while others found reduced glucose and insulin levels. In overweight adults, mycoprotein reduced insulin levels and energy intake compared with chicken.
Muscle protein synthesis
In young adults, a 70 g dose of mycoprotein after resistance exercise increased muscle protein synthesis more than milk protein. In older adults, a 3-day high-protein diet with mycoprotein supported muscle protein synthesis similarly to an omnivorous diet.
Satiety and food intake
Young women reported less desire to eat and ate less after mycoprotein compared with chicken. Overweight women felt fuller after a mycoprotein and tofu preload than after chicken.
Fibre and diet quality
A survey of free-living UK adults found that mycoprotein consumers had higher fibre intakes, better diet quality scores and lower blood sugar markers.
Other findings
How it might work
The authors suggest that the structure of mycoprotein may lower fat breakdown and bind bile salts, which could explain the cholesterol-lowering effect. They also note that the porous cell walls may help protein be digested.
What the authors conclude
“Given expanding and ageing populations coupled with growing multimorbidity’s the integration of fungal mycoprotein with daily diets could help to diversify protein intakes and have potential beneficial implications for health across the lifespan.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say that integrating fungal mycoprotein into daily diets could help diversify protein intakes and have potential beneficial implications for health across the lifespan.
- They advise that further research at both ends of the lifespan spectrum would be worthwhile.
- They note that larger studies are needed because trial sample sizes ranged from ten to 100, which could have contributed to discrepancies between findings.
How it was done
Populations are growing and ageing, and consumers want non-animal proteins that are sustainable and nutritious. The authors wanted to see what is known about how fungal mycoprotein affects health at different ages.
They searched PubMed for human randomized controlled trials, clinical trials, intervention studies and observational studies using the keyword mycoprotein, and found 15 key publications. These covered early and young adulthood, mid-life adulthood, and older age.
What it can’t tell you
- The review includes mostly short trials, so it cannot show what happens over many years.
- Some findings come from single studies with small numbers of people, so they may not apply to everyone.
- The review cannot prove that mycoprotein directly causes the health changes seen; it can only show links or short-term effects.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- Marlow Foods reviewed the paper but played no role in writing the publication.
The paper
- Title
- Fungal-Derived Mycoprotein and Health across the Lifespan: A Narrative Review
- Type
- ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- Derbyshire E (2022). Fungal-Derived Mycoprotein and Health across the Lifespan: A Narrative Review. Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland). doi:10.3390/jof8070653Free full textPubMed 35887410DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error