April 2018
They are fungi that grow from spores and have been around for 1000’s of years.
They seem to sprout up overnight and give us some magic in our lives!
Why should we eat the humble mushroom?
They have so many properties that we can benefit from:
- Low in carbohydrate and are gluten free
- Low in fat
- High in protein – vegetarians should add mushrooms to their food to replace protein and B vitamins that may be lacking
- High in fibre
- Good source of B vitamins including riboflavin and niacin – which we need for many reasons including getting energy from our food.
- Good source of essential minerals selenium, potassium and copper
- High in vitamin D. Mushrooms make their vitamin D the same way we do, so if you put your mushrooms in the sun before you eat them then they will have more vitamin D.
- There is evidence that mushrooms are high in antioxidants such as ergothioneine, which reduces inflammation in the body.
We can get these amazing health benefits from the humble Button mushroom to more exclusive Shitake or Portobello varieties.
Some very special mushrooms are the Reishi mushrooms. These have been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years and are thought to have a number of properties. My favourite is their reducing cortisol properties; cortisol is our stress, fight or flight hormone and long term high levels of it can affect our general well-being, physically and mentally, so anything we can do to reduce this level is a good thing
Top tip: Occasionally, on those stressful days add some Reishi power to your tea and coffee to benefit from the magic of these mushrooms.