Nutrient Brief: Mushrooms-More than just a Spore

Mushrooms—More than just a Spore

WorldCommunityCookbook.org

While the buzz in nutrition for quite a while has been about the rainbow of colors and how important it is to get a variety of fruits and vegetables of all colors, I encourage you to save some room for some less attractive produce, as well.  Love them, hate them or tolerate them—mushrooms are a great addition to any healthy diet.  Most varieties pack a major nutritional punch, for very little caloric density.

As my colleague wrote about just recently, vitamin D is an important vitamin to make sure you consume for bone health and to assist in calcium absorption.  No other fruit or vegetable contains vitamin D, but mushrooms do!  They also contain magnesium and potassium, two minerals important in maintaining a healthy blood pressure.  In addition, zinc and selenium keeps the immune system strong and may help prevent free radical damage to your cells.

While providing all of these important minerals for your body, well-balanced meals highlighting mushrooms have been shown to create high levels of satiety.  Many of you have probably seen articles about umami or the fifth taste.  Somewhat hard to describe, it is a rich, meaty flavor that helps balance out the amount of sodium food and satisfies our taste buds.  This can lead to a fuller feeling without having to use as much meat and a richer flavor without adding excessive salt to a meal.  While lean meat is an important part of most people’s dietary intake, research has shown that a day or two a week of vegetarian meals can be a great way to promote healthier cholesterol levels and maintain fitness and weight-loss goals.

Now I am sure there are many people out there who think they do not like mushrooms and will not eat them no matter how great the benefits are.  As someone who is still not a fan of all varieties, I encourage you to try a number of different kinds (cremini, portabella, button, and etcetera) AND especially in a number of different dishes.  If you do not like them chopped up in a soup, try them roasted with a number of other vegetables to mask the texture or mince them with some black beans for the start of a veggie burger.  Portabellas are a great “meaty” mushroom that are easily roasted or cooked on the grill.  My family and I are big fans of stuffing either large or baby portabellas with yummy goodies like spinach, artichokes, tomatoes, and herbs with a little goat or feta cheese.  The possibilities are endless!


Katie Jensen, CSCS
Fitness Together
Fitness/Nutrition Coach