Summary
- The health benefits of edible mushrooms are numerous.
- Regardless of the types of mushrooms – be they portobello mushrooms, button mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, or oyster mushrooms, they are a powerhouse of health-giving goodness for their anti-inflammatory effect, immune system improvements, blood pressure management, cancer fighting ability, better heart health through heart disease protection, nervous system support and much more such as overall nutritional benefits.
- Mushrooms are rich in b vitamins (e.g. pantothenic acid [B5]), the soluble dietary fiber call Beta glucan and vitamin D.
- Several essential nutrients, such as vitamins B and selenium, are found in mushrooms.
- A particular antioxidant found in mushrooms is ergothioneine.
- Ergothioneine carries its own blood transporter, indicating that it is very important for human health.
- In a balanced diet for a long life, mushrooms play a clear role in promoting health.
Mushrooms Deliver A Suprising Array Of Essential Vitamins And Minerals
Mushrooms are an exceptionally nutrient dense food, with one serve offering a surprising amount and array of essential nutrients. Just take a look at the table below.
One serve of mushrooms (100g – 3 button mushrooms) has:
- One third of your daily needs of riboflavin and biotin
- A quarter of your daily needs of niacin and pantothenic acid
- All your daily needs of vitamin D in light-exposed mushrooms
- A modest amount of folate and vitamin B12.
- A quarter of your daily needs of the essential minerals selenium and copper
- Abundant antioxidants (covered in the section on immunity)
Vitamins and minerals per 100g serve
| Nutrient | Mushroom | % RDI/AI |
|---|---|---|
| Vitamins | ||
| Vitamin B2 (mg) Riboflavin | 0.37 | 28% RDI men; 36% RDI women |
| Niacin equivalents (mg) | 3.7 | 25% RDI men; 29% RDI women |
| Pantothenic acid mg | 1.15 | 19% AI men; 29% AI women |
| Biotin mcg | 8.9 | 30% AI men; 36% AI women |
| Folate mcg | 18 | 5% RDI men & women |
| Minerals | ||
| Copper (mcg) | 342 | 20% AI men; 28% AI women |
| Selenium (mcg) | 15.4 | 22% RDI men; 26% RDI women |
| Phosphorus (mg) | 110 | 11% RDI men & women |
| Potassium (mg) | 310 | 8% RDI men; 11% RDI women |
- “% RDI = Percentage of the Recommended Dietary Intake each day
- “% AI = Percentage of the Adequate Intake each day (used when an RDI has not been established)
- “mg = milligrams; mcg = micrograms
Source: Nutrient Reference Values for Australia & New Zealand 2006; NUTTAB 2010
It is almost like taking a vitamin and mineral supplement, only far tastier. For those of you who would like to know a little more about the essential nutrients in the mushroom, read on.
B Vitamins
The vitamins niacin and riboflavin are involved in maintaining red blood cells, healthy nerve function and in the release of energy from carbohydrate, protein and fat. So, the fitter you are, the more riboflavin and niacin you need. And, of course, they are needed for the normal growth and development of children. That makes adding mushrooms to dinner or having mushrooms on toast for breakfast a very clever idea.
Pantothenic acid is involved in more than 100 different steps in making neurotransmitters, hormones and haemoglobin, while biotin is also involved in normal body metabolism including the production of glucose. Both vitamins work primarily as co-enzymes, compounds that allow enzymes to function properly. They are both also important for mental performance.
Vitamin B12 & folate
It is often said that mushrooms have vitamin B12, a vitamin commonly found in animal foods. Ground-breaking research at the University of Western Sydney revealed that there are wide-ranging amounts of B12 in mushrooms in a bio-available form (meaning that it can be used by the body) (Koyyalamudi 2009).
Although mushrooms provide a modest amount of vitamin B12, they are not a major source of B12. A serve provides no more than 5% of the daily needs for this vitamin. However, this still makes the mushroom the only non-animal fresh food source of B12. If you are vegetarian, you will also get B12 from milk, yogurt, cheese and eggs. Some soy beverages are fortified with B12.
There is a modest amount of folate too, a very important vitamin to deliver a healthy baby. Folate is also very important for blood cell formation and normal immune function. Being such a critical vitamin it is important to eat a wide range of foods that have folate, such as fruit and vegetables, especially green leafy vegetables.
Vitamin D
Another surprise from the mushroom is that it generates vitamin D when it is in the sunlight. Wild mushrooms naturally generate 2-40 mcg of vitamin D in 100g serve. Compare that to the 5-15 mcg we need each day. You can see that the wild mushroom can give you all your vitamin D needs. Exposing commercial mushrooms to sunlight (or UV light) after harvest also triggers the production of vitamin D. Australian farmers have produced mushrooms with your daily needs of vitamin D in a serve of three button mushrooms.
The mushroom is the only non-animal natural source of vitamin D. There is more information on the vitamin D naturally present in mushrooms in our Bone Health fact sheet or here.
Minerals
Potassium is a natural mineral in plant foods and it plays a major role in maintaining fluid and electrolyte balance. A diet with plenty of potassium and low in sodium (salt) appears to both prevent and help correct high blood pressure. This, in turn, helps to prevent strokes.
About one quarter of your copper requirements are found in a serve of mushrooms. Copper is very important in the production of red blood cells and it’s also a component of antioxidant enzymes naturally produced by the body. It is also involved in energy production, and the making of tendons and neurotransmitters.
Mushrooms will provide 11% of your daily phosphorus needs. The main role of phosphorus is, in combination with calcium, to form the structure of teeth and bones. The other roles of phosphorus include energy metabolism and being a critical part of ATP, the high-energy molecule used during muscle contraction.
Selenium is one of the body’s antioxidants nutrients helping to prevent free radical formation. A serve of mushrooms can provide a quarter of your daily needs of selenium. A lack of selenium has been implicated in the cause of both heart disease and some cancers.
Health Benefits Of Antioxidants In Mushrooms
Scientists have long appreciated the antioxidant effects of fresh produce, like vegetables and fruits. It seems that eating plenty of antioxidant-rich foods may be beneficial in terms of encouraging a healthy lifestyle and reducing the risk of disease.
An antioxidant is a natural compound that is synthesized by the body and found in food. It is a natural substance that it helps to neutralize the radicals produced by the body. The presence of free radicals in the body is also quite natural, although they tend to cause damage to all parts of the body as time goes by, thus speeding up the aging process. Antioxidants can help to correct DNA damage before it becomes a cancerous cell as a result of free radicals.
Food provides very important antioxidants that can help the body ward off free radicals if the anti-oxidants produced by the body become overwhelmed.
Science confirms that mushrooms are a rich source of antioxidants. When compared to vegetables, mushrooms placed in the top 5 antioxidant levels in one study of 30 common vegetables (Pellegrini 2003; Savoie 2008).
Ergothioneine
Mushrooms contain very high concentrations of this amino acid. Ergothioneine is a powerful antioxidant and is present in mushrooms at similar levels to that typically found in animal based foods (Ey 2007). In contrast, only a few vegetables and fruits contain any ergothioneine. Diet is the only way to obtain ergothioneine since the body cannot make it.
An analysis of a range of foods confirmed that along with mushrooms, ergothioneine was in:
- Meats, especially kidney and liver,
- Eggs, (egg in particular yolk),
- oat bran,
- wheat germ (but not the endosperm)
- some beans and onion.
It was not found in other vegetables or fruit (Ey 2007). This information shows how important mushrooms are as a dietary option for those that are vegetarian and vegan.
One study on ergothioneine levels in different fresh mushroom species determined that both white and brown button mushrooms were rich in the amino acid, and that the level was undiminished during cooking (Dubost 2006). It is also important to note that the ergothioneine in mushrooms is bioavailable (Weigand-Heller 2011).
Ergothioneine seems to protect blood cells – particularly monocytes and red blood cells which carry nutrients and oxygen to body cells (Martin 2010). It also protects your artery lining from the process of atherosclerosis (fatty deposits).
Ergothioneine is not produced by the body.
It is only possible to obtain ergothioneine through food. Low levels of ergothioneine can lead to DNA and protein damage and oxidative stress. According to a study conducted in 2010, the ergothioneine molecule should be considered a vitamin because it plays a major role in the body’s health (Paul 2010). It is known that the bioavailability of ergothioneine is not affected by cooking, so when you consume cooked or raw mushrooms, you are still getting your dose of ergothioneine.
Ergothioneine has its own blood transporter
A few years ago, scientists were surprised to find an ergothioneine transporter protein in the blood (Gründemann 2005). It was surprising due to the fact that transporter proteins are considered to only exist in the blood if they have a specific role. As an example, the transporter protein haemoglobin is used to transport oxygen into cells. To find such a specific transporter for the amino acid ergothioneine in humans suggests that they have long evolved to benefit from mushroom consumption.
The antioxidant properties in mushrooms have been long recognized. They contain high levels of phenolic compounds known for their health benefits and antioxidant properties. A serve of mushrooms also contains about one-fourth of an adult’s daily requirement of selenium, a powerful antioxidant mineral.
In a nutshell, mushrooms are one of nature’s highest antioxidant foods. It is important that mushrooms be a regular part of your diet just on the basis of their healthful properties. Please view the other fact sheets for a more complete understanding of the health benefits of mushrooms.
Mushrooms Health & Nutrition Summary
- The mushroom lives in its own biological kingdom. That means it is not a plant, so it has a very different nutrition profile to that of fruit and vegetables.
- The characteristic savoury flavour of the mushroom comes from natural glutamates. With mushrooms in the meal, there is no need for any added flavour enhancers like salt or MSG.
- A serve of mushrooms provides over 20% of the RDI for each of the B vitamins riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, and the minerals selenium and copper.
- Mushrooms have bio-available vitamin B12 on the surface and in the flesh.
- Mushrooms naturally have vitamin D. They are the only non-animal food to have natural vitamin D, generated automatically when they are exposed to light.
- Not only are mushrooms very low in kilojoules and energy density, research reveals that they are filling and dampen the appetite at subsequent meals.
- Australian research suggests that women eating 10g mushrooms or more daily have a 50-65% lower risk of breast cancer compared to those women who don’t eat mushrooms. There are unique compounds in mushrooms that may protect us from both breast and prostate cancer.
- The mushroom has all the attributes of a superfood – nutrient-rich, flavour-rich, low in kilojoules, high in bioactive compounds, antioxidants, convenient and affordable.
- A normal serve of mushrooms is 100g (three button mushrooms or one flat mushroom), a simple and delicious way to get at least one of your 2&5 serves each day for under a $1 a serve.
Please read through the topics in this section for an explanation about the health benefits of the mushroom. A list of scientific references used in each section is also included for those who may wish to read further on the background of these topics.
References :
- Dubost NJ, Beelman RB, Peterson D, Royse DJ. Identification and quantification of ergothioneine in cultivated mushrooms by liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy. Int Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms 2006; 8: 215-222
- Ey J, Schömig E, Taubert D. Dietary sources and antioxidant effects of ergothioneine. J Agricultural & Food Chemistry 2007; 55: 6466-6474
- Gründemann D, Harlfinger S, Golz S, Geerts A, Lazar A, Berkels R, Jung N, Rubbert A, Schömig E. Discovery of the ergothioneine transporter. Proc National Academy of Sciences 2005; 102: 5256-5261
- Martin KR. The bioactive agent ergothioneine, a key component of dietary mushrooms, inhibits monocyte binding to endothelial cells characteristic of early cardiovascular disease. Journal of Medicinal Food 2010; 13 (6): 1340-1346
- Paul BD, Snyder SH. The unusual amino acid L-ergothioneine is a physiologic cytoprotectant. Cell Death & Differentiation 2010; 17: 1134-1140
- Pellegrini N, Serafini M, Colombi B, Del Rio D, Salvatore S, Bianchi M, Brighenti F. Total antioxidant capacity of plant foods, beverages and oils consumed in Italy assessed by three different in vitro assays. J Nutrition 2003; 133: 2812-2819
- Savoie JM, Minvielle N, Largeteau ML. Radical-scavenging properties of extracts from the white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus. J of the Science of Food & Agriculture 2008; 88: 970-975
- Weigand-Heller AJ, Kris-Etherton PM, Beelman RB. The bioavailability or ergothioneine from mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) and the acute effects on antioxidant capacity and biomarkers of inflammation. Preventive Medicine 2011 (available online 31 December 2011)
- Koyyalamudi SR, Jeong SC, Cho KY, Pang G. Vitamin B12 is the active corrinoid produced in cultivated white button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus). J Agricultural & Food Chemistry 2009; 57 (14): 6327-6333