A User’s Guide To Mushrooms & Nutrition

When properly chosen and handled, the nutrition of mushrooms sometimes outstrips foods we usually consider “superfoods.”  See how your health can benefit from better selection and preparation of mushrooms.

Mushrooms And Nutrition

Mushrooms have a long history in human health and diet.  Prized by both Egyptian Pharoahs and ancient Chinese medicine, they have been held in esteem by humans both as a delicacy and for medicinal properties for at least several thousand years.  In more recent times, it has become common for people to go mushroom “hunting” – on the search to find and pick their own mushrooms for cooking in the home.  I can recall my Dad going mushroom hunting when I was a kid.

This isn’t for the faint of heart.

Mushrooms bring a unique taste and texture to the dinner table, which is understandable since there are over 14,000 different species.  Unfortunately, only about 3,000 are edible, so its easy to see how the amateur could go wrong.  Especially since about 150 are considered poisonous.  Unlike many plants, there are no common marks to identify a mushroom as poisonous.  You have to go on a case by case basis.

Not for the faint of heart at all.

But having said that, when properly selected, the nutrition of mushrooms is tough to beat.  This is some of the nutritional information associated with a typical 1-cup serving of mushrooms:

• Calories:  44
• Sodium:  3-milligrams
• Fat:  0.7-grams
• Fiber:  3.4-grams
• Protein:  3.4-grams

So, not only are mushrooms low in calories.  They’re also high fiber, high protein powerhouses loaded with nutrition.  But wait, it gets better.  They make the list of magnesium rich foods, as well as being high in iron, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, vitamin B6, copper, and zinc – just to name a few.  In fact, one medium portabella mushroom provides more potassium than a banana.  How about that for a post-run snack?

Assuming most of us aren’t going to start hunting our own mushrooms, or farming them for ourselves, we’re faced buying them in the stores.  Fortunately, more options are starting to materialize on store shelves.

The most common mushroom found in U.S. stores is A. bisporus, or the common white button mushroom.  Generally one of the easiest to grow and transport, the white button and its cousins, the Crimini and Portabella mushrooms make up the majority of mushrooms available to U.S. consumers.  And, although they are tasty, these three are considered by experts to be among the least flavorful and have the fewest health benefits of the mushrooms that are edible.

A few notes about A. bisporus.  These varieties of mushrooms all contain small amounts of a chemical called hydrazine, which is a known carcinogen.  Experts agree that the compound is destroyed by moderate heating, so its prudent to make certain to cook these mushrooms before eating.

With that in mind, a quick summary of the nutritional benefits to mushrooms and health, summarized in the following table.  Numbers are in % of the Recommended Daily Value, and are for an 84-gram serving size.

Nutritional Value Of Mushrooms

What this shows us is that mushrooms can be not only a great low calorie food for weight loss, but also a health-boosting nutritional powerhouse.  It makes a great case for making them a part of your daily diet.

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