Mushroom:

Mushroom is the fleshy and edible fruit part of a fungus. The most commonly known mushrooms are white, brown, and felid mushrooms. Other edible mushrooms include porcini or cep, enoki, shimeji, maitake, morel, shaiitake, straw, oyster, chanterelle, crimini, reishi, and girole.

White mushroom is also referred to as button mushroom, table mushroom, and Crimini mushroom. Brown mushroom is also called Italian mushroom, Roman mushroom, Swiss mushroom and chestnut mushroom. Portobello mushroom is an edible mushroom closely related to white and brown mushrooms.

Nutritional constituents of mushrooms vary. One cup of sliced white or brown or Portobello mushroom weighs about 70 grams and provides 2 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of protein and 1 gram of fiber.

Average calories: 16 per one cup of white, brown or Portobello, sliced.

Vitamins found in higher amounts: vitamins B2, B3, B5, B1 and D.

Minerals found in higher amounts: copper, phosphorus, potassium and selenium.

Phytonutrients found in higher amounts and their health benefits: the phytochemicals in mushrooms are beta-glucans, lucidenic acid, and ganoderic acid.

Beta-glucans, found mostly in shiitake mushroom, are polysaccharides with ability to stimulate the immune system. They also help lower bad cholesterol.

Lucidenic acid, found mostly in reishi mushroom, can induce apoptosis (programmed cell death; cell suicide) in cancer cells especially in leukemia and liver cancer.

Ganoderic acid, found mostly in reishi mushroom, has an anti-cancer activity against liver cancer. This phytonutrient can also reduce the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) by inhibiting the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase. DHT is blamed for hair loss and prostate enlargement in men.

White, brown, and field mushrooms contain lectins, which show antiviral and anti-cancer activities. Lectins are famous as “sticky proteins” as well. The problems with lectins are that they may aggravate inflammation and also attach to leptin receptors, leading to leptin resistance and compromising the weight loss programs.

One study has shown that Porcini or Cep mushroom has the highest levels of antioxidants among all mushrooms.

Lovastatin, exclusively found in oyster mushrooms and red yeast rice, can lower bad cholesterol.

A unique phytochemical in mushrooms is ergosterol. It is a plant sterol that can convert into ergocalciferol upon exposure to ultraviolet light. Ergocalciferol is a pro-vitamin D and it is also called vitamin D2.

According to new studies, mushrooms are very rich in two antioxidants, ergothioneine and glutathione.