Food Trend: Health Benefits to Eating Mushrooms

By Alycia Williams

Mushrooms are constantly looked upon as dirty, nasty fungi, and although it is a fungi, that doesn’t mean that mushrooms should be ignored. As the mushroom food trend is on the horizon, it’s time to get some food advice on why we should appreciate mushrooms more.

In this food trend, check out the benefits of eating mushrooms.

Here are some benefits:

1. Mushrooms may help keep you young: Mushrooms contain a super-high concentration of two antioxidants, ergothioneine and glutathione. When these antioxidants are present together, they work extra-hard to protect the body from the physiological stress that causes visible signs of aging.

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2. Mushrooms can protect your brain as you age: Those two aforementioned antioxidants (ergothioneine and glutathione) may also help prevent Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. It’s recommended that you eat at least five button mushrooms per day to reduce your risk of neurological illness in the future. Cook the ‘shrooms to best preserve their nutritional benefits, either by microwaving or grilling.

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3. Mushrooms may boost your memory: Another mental mushroom-related benefit: eating two 3/4 cup servings of cooked mushrooms per week may reduce your odds of mild cognitive decline.

4. Mushrooms can help your heart health: Mushrooms help recipes taste better in place of salt because they contain glutamate ribonucleotides. Those compounds contribute a savory taste with no ramifications for your blood pressure or heart disease risk. An entire cup of mushrooms has only 5 mg sodium! Mushrooms also make an excellent, satisfying substitute for red meat in any dish, eliminating calories, fat, and cholesterol from the equation.

5. Mushrooms can assist in strengthening your bones: UVB-labeled mushrooms have been exposed to sunlight during their growth period (as opposed to mushrooms that are grown in the dark), and therefore have converted a compound called ergosterol directly into vitamin D. This means by eating just 3 ounces of UVB-exposed mushrooms, you’ve met your daily vitamin D requirement and given your bone health a leg up.

6. Mushrooms will help give you energy: Mushrooms are rich in B vitamins. These help the body utilize energy from the food we consume and produce red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body.

What are some other benefits to eating mushrooms? Start a conversation in the comments below!