Mother Nature’s Magic: Edible Mushrooms
| Ever stop to wonder about just how awesome and efficient Mother Nature is? I sure hope so. But if not, let me give you a real quick reason to: Mother Nature has got our backs, and a perfect example of this is the abundance of Vitamin D rich mushrooms found in nature during dark and dreary days.
The human body can make Vitamin D (super important!), but it has to be exposed to sunlight to do so. As you can imagine, Vitamin D manufacturing is a little bit of a problem when sunny skies and warm weather are scarce. Fortunately for us human folk, mushrooms contain this nutrient and have no problem growing in dark, cool, and damp conditions. How handy! It gets better, too- these guys may help to fight sickness by boosting the immune system, which is also quite convenient during winter weather (AKA cold and flu season). Good lookin’ out, Mother Nature. Some other fun facts about mushrooms are:
So, what are you waiting for?! Get to cooking with these royal edibles! Look below for some tasty recipes to get you started, and check out this article if you want to learn about how to maximize your Vitamin D intake via fungi. |
||
| Farro (aka emmer) is a chewy, satisfying whole grain. Soak it and cook it slowly to maximize flavor and tenderize the texture. The fresh herbs and mushrooms add amazing aroma. For the recipe, click here. | Toasted buckwheat groats (aka kasha) is a superior gluten-free grain that is underutilized. Cynthia shows you how to make it with potatoes, mushrooms and onions added. Yum! Click here for the recipe. | This succulent entrée is crazy simple. The mirin (sweet rice wine) and tamari meld with the chicken to make a dark sweet sauce. The oven does all the magic. To print the recipe, click here. |
Tags: cooking with mushrooms, eating mushrooms, facts about mushrooms, health benefits of mushrooms, mushroom benefits, mushroom recipes, recipes with mushrooms, vitamin D, vitamin D in mushrooms
Subscribe (RSS)
If I remember correctly, I don’t think mushrooms have Vitamin D unless they are exposed to UV or sunlight. Commercial mushrooms grown in the dark are exposed to UV light if they make a Vitamin D claim. I’ve wondered about foraged mushrooms since a lot of mushroom habitat can be pretty dark too. Does anyone know of if Vitamin D levels have been measured in wild mushrooms?
Comment by Amy — November 27, 2012 @ 12:41 pm
Mushrooms contain and produce Vitamin D in the same way humans do when exposed to UV light. If they are growing in total and complete darkness, then Vitamin D content is minimal, but it is still there. If they are commercially exposed, the Vitamin D content rises exponentially. The last link in the post (about maximizing Vitamin D intake via fungi) is to an article on increasing Vitamin D of mushrooms by placing them outside, even after they’re harvested/foraged for. This includes wild mushrooms. Also, this article goes into more detail:
Mushrooms and Vitamin D
Hope that helps!
Comment by Cynthia — November 27, 2012 @ 9:41 pm
I love the flavor of mushrooms and their awesome nutritional features just make them even better. I recently learned about this vitamin D aspect of mushrooms and Thank You, Cynthia for spreading the word! Keeping some dried mushrooms in my pantry has helped them make a more regular appearance in my family’s menu.
Comment by Katrina — November 28, 2012 @ 11:22 am
The vitamin D produced in mushrooms is vit D2 in which there is a little controversy in the scientific/nutrition community of whether it works as well as vit D3 that is obtained in most vitamins (or what is fortified in milk). Also, just as a side note, if mushrooms are as sensitive as humans their is probably not enough UV light in the winter to produce enough vit D to make a big impact, but of course that would be interesting to research. As a personal anecdote, I do take D2 and have good vit D levels but I also do spend a lot of time outdoors during times of good sun.
Comment by Emily — November 28, 2012 @ 1:29 pm
Great points, Emily. I think spending a lot of time outdoors during times of sun is a key part, too. Vitamin D3 is the form produced by the skin, which is very much useful to the body. My understanding is that D2 is the primary form found in supplements, and also in mushrooms. This does bring up the point regarding bioavailability, i.e. the ability of the body to use that form of the vitamin. Bioavailability is a topic of interest regarding any supplement, and I tend to have more confidence in food sources than in manufactured supplements–even if the forms (D2, in this case) are the same. But, there is research out there that would dispute this. In terms of the level of D2 in mushrooms and the sensitivity of mushrooms, I found the “Mushrooms and Vitamin D” link above very helpful (and it lists reputable sources). Even a tiny bit of UV light has the ability to exponentially increase the D content.
Comment by Kristen — November 29, 2012 @ 5:04 pm