If you’re like most people, you’re probably looking for a quick answer to your health and nutrition needs. Enter supplements. The promise is almost too good to resist.
“Take this pill (or powder) and you’ll [insert amazing health fix here].”
On paper, the approach sounds almost too good. And it clearly works, as the supplement industry is a $20 billion-plus money-making machine.
Is it all BS? No. But far too many products are unsupported by science and twist the truth of what you can expect to achieve via pills and powders.
You know what’s a better approach?
1) Realizing that anything that promises results that are “too good to be true” is probably more marketing magic than reality.
2) Understanding that food — the stuff you can get in almost any grocery store — contains many of the supposed benefits of supplements...only they have hundreds of years of proof and, oftentimes, are a fraction of the cost.
While I’m not a big fan of the term “superfood,” many foods are overlooked for their benefits — and many fruits and vegetables foods are downright impressive.
You’re probably familiar with all the usual suspects: kale, spinach, lean sources of protein. The list goes on and on. Usually, it’s exotic foods that you never see that are recommended as the cure-all. But if you can’t find it, how practical is it that you’ll actually use it.
One food that might surprise you? Mushrooms.
Before you turn away, you might want to learn how this food -- like so many others -- might be a better (and cheaper) investment than any synthetic product you’ll find at your local supplement store.
To date, research suggests that mushrooms may provide more than 130 medicinal functions in the body. There’s so many benefits that there’s an entire book — Healing Mushrooms — on the topic. While there are many books filled with bad information, the premise of mushrooms is more based in science and real life application that in folklore. And even if you don’t like eating mushrooms, there are many ways to include them in foods without ever having to worry about the taste. Here are just some of the ways in which mushrooms can promote greater physical and mental wellbeing.
They provide essential nutrients. You think multivitamins are good, right? Well, mushrooms are one of nature’s many multivitamins because they’re jam-packed with essential vitamins and nutrients including:
- B vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin, and folate, which are necessary for maintaining healthy metabolic and nervous system functions and boosting energy levels. Chanterelle mushrooms, in particular, have one of the highest natural concentrations of B vitamins of any produce item
- Vitamin C, which helps maintain a healthy immune system and protect against a variety of illnesses
- Vitamin D, which plays a critical role in bone health, muscle and nerve function, nutrient absorption, and immunity and can help combat depression
- A variety of minerals including selenium, potassium, iron, and copper, which together can help prevent cell damage, boost the production of red blood cells, improve bone health, prevent anemia, promote skin, hair, and nail health, and fight damaging free radicals in the body
They balance and restore your immune system. Study after study finds that mushrooms are packed with immune-supporting compounds in the form of polyphenols, polysaccharides, and antioxidants. These compounds play a big role in regulating the immune system and maintaining its healthy function. One study even found that the immune-supporting benefits of mushrooms can’t be replicated by any pharmaceutical drugs currently on the market.
Not only do mushrooms help maintain a healthy immune system, but they can actually increase immune system activity. Consuming mushrooms may boost immunity and help protect the body from invasion by harmful microbes. This is because mushrooms increase the production of certain proteins in the body that are responsible for combatting disease-carrying pathogens.
They keep your brain healthy. Mushrooms’ brain-boosting effects are largely thanks to their high potassium content. The nutrient has been shown to maintain and even enhance brain health in a number of ways, including improving memory, facilitating the retention of learned knowledge, increasing the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain (thereby promoting neural activity), and generally improving cognitive function overall.
Additionally, some research suggests that reishi mushrooms in particular may assist in the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. This may be because compounds in the mushrooms help protect the hippocampus from oxidative stress, or the proliferation of damaging free radicals.
They lower your stress levels. Consuming mushrooms may help ameliorate stress and its attenuating symptoms including anxiety, insecurity, irritability, trouble focusing, and so on. This is thanks in part to the B vitamins found in mushrooms, which play a big role in keeping the brain and nervous system healthy. When these systems get out of whack, stress is more likely to present itself.
Some mushroom varieties offer an additional mental uplift beyond these general stress-relieving effects. For example, black truffles contain amandamide, which researchers have dubbed a “bliss molecule.” The compound functions much like the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) found in marijuana (only without the high). It’s thought to trigger chemicals in the brain that are responsible for enhancing mood and reducing feelings of depression and pain.
They may improve heart health. A variety of studies suggest that regular mushroom consumption may be good for your heart.
Mushrooms can reduce levels of “bad” cholesterol, thereby decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease. This is partly due to the fact that fresh mushrooms are high in both soluble and insoluble fiber. Additionally, a compound called eritadenine (which is found in shiitake mushrooms) is especially adept at reducing bad cholesterol and promoting cardiovascular health. Animal studies have found that pink oyster mushrooms may also be particularly effective in this vein.
They promote gut health. As mentioned above, mushrooms are a great source of both insoluble and soluble fiber, the latter of which facilitates healthy digestion and may help increase beneficial gut bacteria. This, in turn, enables the gut to overpower harmful bacteria. One study found that certain species of mushrooms may function much like prebiotics by promoting the production of healthy bacteria. This is important because more and more studies are finding that a healthy gut environment is critical for maintaining healthy metabolic processes, preventing disease, and promoting overall wellness.
They may play a role in cancer prevention and treatment. Several studies have found that mushrooms can potentially inhibit or mitigate the development of cancerous tumors, particularly when it comes to breast, prostate, and lung cancers and leukemia. This is thanks to a number of factors:
- Mushrooms are high in selenium, which promotes the production of an enzyme that protects the body’s cells from damage
- They also contain beta-glucans, which can stimulate the production of immune cells and have been shown to be anti-carcinogenic. (In other words, they may prevent or limit the growth of cancerous cells)
- White button mushrooms, in particular, contain high levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which may provide additional protection from various cancers
- When used in conjunction with chemotherapy, the high levels of lentinan found in shiitake mushrooms may improve the survival time of patients with certain cancers. These effects have been validated enough that the American Cancer Society recognizes that lentinan may help inhibit or slow tumor growth
They may have anti-diabetic effects. Multiple studies have found that maitake mushrooms can increase insulin sensitivity and decrease insulin resistance, which can assist with regulating the symptoms of diabetes. Additional studies have corroborated the idea that mushrooms may have anti-diabetic properties. Of course, this doesn’t mean mushrooms are a miracle cure for diabetes; but it might mean they have a role to play in managing the disease.
They support environmental wellbeing. Mushrooms don’t just benefit our bodies’ internal environment. They can also improve the health of the ecosystems on which our very survival relies. As mycologist Paul Stamets shares in his TED talk, mushrooms provide a variety of essential ecosystem functions, including absorbing pollution, cleaning polluted soil, producing natural insecticides, assisting in the clean-up of oil spills, breaking down nerve agents, providing a sustainable fuel source, and producing rich soil for farms and forests. You’ve heard the saying “No farms, no food”? Well, without fungi, there would be no farms, and there would be no food.
Mushrooms can be consumed raw, cooked, incorporated into other edible products (a la Four Sigmatic coffee), or in supplement form as extracts or whole food supplements. If you’re selecting mushrooms for medicinal use or everyday eating, it’s important to look for organically grown options. This is because mushrooms have a strong tendency to absorb the substances they’re grown in. So if they’re grown in pesticides, it’s likely you’ll be consuming pesticides along with your mushrooms—and that has the potential to negate or diminish some of the mushrooms’ positive health effects. Your best options are reishi, chaga, lions mane, cordyceps, and turkey tail.