Thanks to our dear friend Paula, who is always looking for new ways to surprise and delight us with newspaper clippings and other bits of information in both her snail-mail and e-mails, we were introduced to Legacy Health's flyer entitled "Why Mushrooms?"
Growing your own mushrooms on straw, such as these
photogenic and highly nutritious Blue Oysters,
is a tasty and rewarding experience.
We found the facts about mushrooms so succinctly stated that we decided to reprint the flyer verbatim:
Mushrooms are a terrific and healthy addition to just about any diet. They are low in calories, contain almost no fat, and yet are packed with healthful nutrients including fiber, potassium, magnesium and iron. In addition to this, mushrooms contain dozens of other components that are believed to provide many health benefits. In fact, a research review* of mushrooms concluded that they contain compounds that have the following potential health benefits:
- Antimicrobial = able to destroy or inhibit the growth of bacteria, especially those bacteria that can cause disease in humans.
- Antiviral = able to destroy or inhibit viruses and their ability to reproduce and spread (replication)
- Antitumor = able to prevent or inhibit the growth of tumors (cancer)
- Antiallergenic = able to relieve, control, or minimize allergic symptoms
- Immunomodulating = able to affect the immune system, usually in a favorable manner, for example by enhancing immune function
- Anti-inflammatory = able to prevent or minimize inflammation in the body; this is important because too much inflammation in the body is linked to many diseases, including heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.
- Anti-atherogenic = able to prevent or minimize atherogenesis, which is the term used to describe the formation of fatty deposits in the blood vessels that can lead to heart disease
- Hypoglycemic = able to decrease blood sugar levels in the body; this is important because high blood sugar levels, especially in individuals with diabetes, are linked with more damage to the eyes, kidneys, blood vessels, and other organs in the body
With all of these potential benefits, it is not surprising that mushrooms have been an important part of many healing systems throughout the world for thousands of years, including Chinese Medicine.
*Lindequist U, Niedermeyer TH, Julich WD. The pharmacological potential of mushrooms. Evid Based Complement Alternative Med. 205;2(3):285-99. Available at http://ecam.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/2/3/285. Accessed September 19,2005.
We tip our hats to both Paula and Legacy Health for making "Why Mushrooms?" available to our readers! Why not enjoy a serving of mushrooms today?