Who does not want to look glowing, young and healthy today?
But, do you know that it could be fairly achieved with foods and ingredients found around your kitchen.
Here is one such food, we like to explore today and that is “Mushroom".
You may be fairly known to mushroom. But, its fruitful benefits for your skin and overall health are nearly unknown to you.
Here we have ready information for you to explore this wonderful health-promoting food. But before digging dipper into its many benefits, let us go through some quick facts about Mushroom.
"Mushrooms are fungi which are widely consumed across the globe and found to be filled up with many nutrition and minerals a healthy body always wants".
“Over 2000 species of mushrooms are identified till the date, and 25 of them are widely accepted as foods and are consumed globally." (1)
"China is the largest producer of mushrooms followed by the United States, Netherlands, and Poland."(3)
Not all species are edible and share same health benefits as their edible counterparts, but there are some that are potentially unhealthy and may threaten one's life.
You may be shocked when you hear that Emperor Claudius was one of the victims of mushroom poisoning.(2)
Here is an illustrative video you can use to identify edible mushrooms if you’re a mushroom collector.
What Does Make Mushroom Show Nutritious And Health Promoting?
There is not a single thing that makes it so health promoting and a compulsory addition to one's diet.
In reality, they are filled up with many essential nutrients, minerals, vitamins that promote good health.
Here is what a 100-gram serving of mushroom can add to your healthy diet.
Nutritional Values of Mushrooms
Protein 3.1g (6% RDV)
Dietary Fiber 1.0g (4%RDV)
Vitamin C 2.1mg (4%RDV)
Vitamin D 18.0 IU (5%RDV)
Thiamin 0.1mg (5%RDV)
Riboflavin 0.4mg (24%RDV)
Niacin 3.6mg (18%RDV)
Vitamin B6 0.1mg (5%RDV)
Folate 16.0mcg (4%RDV)
Pantothenic Acid 1.5mg (15%RDV)
Iron 0.5mg (3%RDV)
Magnesium 9.0mg (2%RDV)
Phosphorus 86.0mg (9%RDV)
Potassium 318mg (9%RDV)
Zinc 0.5mg (3%RDV)
Copper 0.3mg (16%RDV)
Selenium 9.3mcg (13%RDV)
Along with above minerals and vitamins, they also have trace amounts of calcium, vitamin B12, and are very low in calories making them a good addition to your weight loss diet.(4)
How Does The Treasure Of Essential Vitamins And Minerals Of Mushroom Protect Your Overall Health?
The health boosting and disease fighting properties of mushrooms are mainly derived from bioactive compounds produced by it.
The prominent bioactive compounds of mushroom include homopolysaccharides (β-glucans), heteropolysaccharides. Those bioactive compounds exhibit anti-obesity, anti-carcinogenic, antiviral, antimicrobial and anti-diabetic properties.
Do Mushrooms Benefit Your Skin?
Eating a healthy diet benefits your overall health including your skin. It would promote skin health and diminishes signs of aging.
Adding mushrooms to your diet is really great because it would not only provide you disease fighting minerals and vitamins but also enhance your skin look.
The skin promoting benefits of mushrooms can be understood with this study. The study claims skin cancer-fighting properties of mushrooms. Those skin cancer-fighting properties of mushrooms are mainly due to a special type of sugar found in it, L-fructose. (5)
Mushrooms also show easing effects of Rosacea, because of their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. (6)
With a good content of riboflavin, vitamin D, zinc, and selenium they provide all the major nutrients to skin that improve skin health.
Do Mushrooms Help You Drop Extra Pounds?
With only 15 calories for every 70 grams served, mushroom diet can be beneficial if your weight is something beyond the comfort zone.
It is a low energy and low-fat diet that possesses all beneficial nutrients and minerals.
If you want to be healthy and fit or want to lose weight, adopting mushrooms in your diet would be highly fruitful.
Do Mushrooms Strengthen Your Immunity?
A healthy immune system helps fight any diseases.
It keeps you fit and healthy and suppresses effects of any disease. With immune boosting vitamin B6 and vitamin C, they keep our immune system stronger and functioning with full strength. (7)
Here is a study that finds eating mushrooms boosts immunity. The study was carried out by the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences with shiitake mushrooms, which is a type of mushroom mainly cultivated for culinary purposes and possesses medicinal values. (8)
Do Mushroom Help Diabetic?
Diabetes mellitus is a deadly health disorder which leads to disability and mortality if not diagnosed and cared on time. There are two types of DM, Type1, and type 2. But, Diabetes type 2 is the most common.
A diabetic has elevated blood glucose levels (hyperglycemia) because their bodies either don't produce enough insulin to digest blood glucose for energy or become resistant to insulin.
If it is not diagnosed on time, the prolonged elevated glucose levels harm vital organs like heart, kidney, eyes and blood vessels causing a life-threatening condition.
According to a report by WHO, the number of diabetic have been quadrupled since 1980 and currently, nearly 422 million adults are living with diabetes. This number would rise to 642 million by the time we reach to 2040.
The driving factors for this significant rise in diabetics people are being obese or overweight.(9)
So being a diabetic, you should be very careful in selecting your diet.
Mushrooms are considered good for a diabetic person because they are low in calories, have low glycemic value and help to drop your weight along with providing your body enough healthy nutrients.
Can Mushrooms Lower Your Cholesterol Levels?
Mushrooms are cholesterol-free foods, so injecting more of them into your bloodstream is totally negligible. But, do they benefit someone with elevated cholesterol levels? Let us find it.
According to a published study, oyster mushrooms are beneficial for lowering cholesterol levels along with triglycerides, blood pressure, and blood glucose levels and also all this without any harmful effects on kidney and liver.
That same study also finds that when the mushrooms consumption was withdrawn, there was a spike in diastolic blood pressure levels, fasting glucose levels, triglyceride levels, and total cholesterol levels.(10)
How Do Mushrooms Help In Dropping Your Elevated Blood Pressure Levels?
An elevated blood pressure may result in stroke, kidney and heart failure. It is a deadly health condition with nearly no visible symptoms.
According to WHO, near about 1.13 billion people globally are living with raised blood pressure levels. It is advised to check your blood pressure levels if you have never done it. As you grow older, the chances of having elevated blood pressure levels increase, and you should be checking it frequently.
What mushrooms can do here?
As that is already clear from above that mushrooms are blood pressure reducing foods. They are low sodium and high potassium foods that have an admired role in keeping your blood pressure levels on a healthy level.
Mushrooms also have β-glucan, a bioactive compound which also has healing effects on elevated blood pressure levels.
Even Spiritual Teacher and Master Herbalist Dr. Paul Haider recommends making your day with Turkey Tail Mushroom, a type of edible mushroom that grows all over the world, to ease your elevated blood pressure levels.
Mushroom Side Effects: The Things You Should Care
Mushrooms are consumed globally because of their many promising benefits for varieties of health conditions. But, anything that is proven to be beneficial is also limited to some extent and the same principle applies to mushrooms as well. If they can ease harmful conditions they can raise some too.
It is already said above that not all mushrooms come under edible categories and some are toxic and poisonous too. That is a reason many people who consume mushrooms without knowing if they are edible fell ill too.
Also, many people have an intolerance to certain foods and their body may react differently to them. This becomes very important if you have an intolerance to mushrooms.
Conclusion:
Your diet can make or break your health. If you’re not sure what you’re eating is healthy and immunity boosting it is time to look at it.
A diet of healthy nutrients is essential today that could improve your overall health.
Getting mushrooms in your diet would strengthen your diet with loads of nutrients.
What do you think? It’s time to hear your voices. Please leave your comment and share your thoughts.
