A luxurious mushroom dish long favored by gourmets and the elite may be hiding a disturbing secret.
In Montchavin, a ski village nestled in the French Alps, residents spent decades eating wild mushrooms that they believed boosted health and longevity. But after a string of cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, scientists now believe that tradition may have come at a devastating cost.
Highlights
- Sixteen villagers were diagnosed with ALS after years of eating toxic mushrooms once believed to be healthy
- Experts discovered toxic compounds in the mushrooms break down into deadly neurotoxins
- Locals believed the mushrooms had rejuvenating effects and ate them for decades
At the center of the mystery is the false morel, a brain-like mushroom with a reddish hue that looks nearly identical to the gourmet true morel, a delicacy often served in creamy sauces and risottos.
Scientists discovered the link between a luxurious mushroom dish and neurodegenerative disease
Image credits: Unsplash / Alla Kemelmakher
But unlike its prized counterpart, the false morel contains toxic hydrazines, which are compounds that can destroy the nervous system, and, according to French neurologist Emmeline Lagrange, may have triggered a localized ALS outbreak unlike any ever seen before.
Lagrange, who works at Grenoble University Hospital, first rang the alarm after one Montchavin resident came in with symptoms of ALS: an incurable disease that progressively paralyzes its victims.
That single case turned out to be the tip of the iceberg.
Image credits: Unsplash / Connie Perez
Over the course of a decade, 16 villagers out of a population of just 200 people had developed ALS. The rate was so far above the global average of 2 to 3 per 100,000 per year that it stunned the medical community.
Lagrange began investigating, looking for any possible shared risk factors. Eventually, one thing stood out: every single ALS patient had consumed false morels, some of them for more than twenty years.
Image credits: Unsplash / Beth Macdonald
Locals told her that these mushrooms were prized for their “rejuvenating effects.” One resident even admitted to being part of a secret group that regularly foraged for them, despite the fact that France bans their sale and consumption.
“They believed it made them feel better,” Lagrange said. “That it gave them energy. That it was natural.”
The mushroom contains a compound that metabolizes in the body as a dangerous neurotoxin
Image credits: Fungi Woman
The connection between false morels and ALS might have stayed a local curiosity if it weren’t for Dr. Peter Spencer, a neuroscientist from Oregon who has spent over four decades studying food-linked neurological disease.
Spencer had previously studied an epidemic on the island of Guam, where the indigenous Chamorro people suffered unusually high rates of ALS and dementia.
Image credits: Auvergne Rhône Alpes
Eventually, he discovered that Cycad seeds were behind the symptoms. The seeds contain a toxin that metabolizes in the body as methylazoxymethanol (MAM), a compound that attacks nerve cells.
Image credits: Unsplash / NCI
When Lagrange shared her findings with Spencer, he immediately saw the connection. The hydrazine compounds in false morels break down into the same neurotoxin.
Spencer then joined the investigation, and the pair compared the 16 ALS patients with 48 healthy locals. Every patient with ALS had eaten false morels.
Not a single person in the control group had.
Foragers often have trouble distinguishing between the true and false version of the mushroom
Image credits: CHU Grenoble
Morels are not new to controversy. They’ve long been known to cause gastrointestinal distress, liver damage, and seizures if undercooked. But this is the first time they’ve been tied to a cluster of neurodegenerative illness.
The Montchavin discovery is already raising concerns internationally.
Image credits: The Ohio State University
In Finland, where false morels are considered a delicacy, restaurants are required to boil and rinse them multiple times before serving.
In the United States, similar poisonings have been documented. A recent study in Michigan found numerous false morel-related hospitalizations, with symptoms ranging from vomiting to liver failure and neurological impairment.
Amateur foragers, however, often have problems with distinguishing between the true and false versions of the fungus.
True morels tend to be green or gray, with hollow stems and honeycomb caps. False morels appear reddish-brown and lumpy, with a twisted, brain-like look. But to an untrained eye, they’re nearly identical.
The consequences of mixing them up can be irreversible.
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