Mushrooms — frequent guests on our table. Or absent from our menu at all. It all depends on which side of the "barricades" you are personally — consider mushrooms a valuable food or treat them as a source of potential problems.
To dispel the myths around the representatives of this biological kingdom, you need to consider what what really the benefits of mushrooms for the body and exists whether it exists at all.
- The benefits of mushrooms for the body: speculation and facts
- Myth 1: Mushrooms — dietary product
- Myth 2: Mushrooms can replace meat
- Myth 3: Mushrooms — healthy product
- What to do so that mushrooms do not harm your health
The benefits of mushrooms for the body: speculation and facts
From time to time some of the myths surrounding the mushrooms go into the shadows, and new ones appear in their place. But a few misconceptions have proved particularly viable.
Myth 1: Mushrooms — diet product
If by the dietary value of mushrooms we mean the amount of fat in them — yes, they deserve a place on the table of those who want to lose weight. But their high protein content can play a bad joke on your weight — difficult to digest «mushroom» protein will complicate the work of the kidneys, as a result of which excess fluid will begin to accumulate in the soft tissues and edema will form. In addition, the problematic digestion of mushrooms (and it really is problematic) can slow down the metabolism and, accordingly, reduce the rate of weight loss.
Myth 2: Mushrooms can replace meat
This myth, most likely, originates in those times when not every person (especially among the peasantry) could afford meat on the table. But almost everyone could go to forest "hunt" for mushrooms. The prolonged feeling of satiety (the same as after eating meat) that came after mushrooms made me think that mushrooms — a complete replacement for chicken or beef.
But in fact, such satiety does not occur due to due to the high content of protein, although there is really a lot of it in mushrooms, but due to due to chitin. This polysaccharide is also included in composition of crab or shrimp shell — it gives them rigidity and strength. But for the breakdown of this substance, the human digestive system works at the limit of its capacity. This means that the protein in mushrooms possibly compensates for the energy costs of its digestion, but in in as a whole it is of no value to the body.
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Myth 3: Mushrooms — healthy product
If we are talking about mushrooms grown industrially — Maybe. Such mushrooms grow on soil, the composition and quality of which is controlled.
But as with regard to mushrooms collected in the natural environment, the claim about their safety does not stand up to scrutiny.
The reason is in tissue structure and features of nutrient absorption in fungi. Without having a root system in its traditional representation, fungi "adapted" to absorb everything that is available to them from the environment. And heavy metals, mercury, arsenic, radioactive particles, decomposition products of dead plants and animals, and anything else can be available. And mushrooms, like a real sponge, absorb it all.
But all of the above does mean that mushrooms should be removed once and for all from your menu. You just need to follow some rules.
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What to do so that mushrooms do not harm your health
For those who are very fond of mushrooms and at the same time are an adherent of a healthy lifestyle, the information above can become a "knife in the" heart. But not everything is so bad — with just a few rules, you can enjoy your favorite product without any health risks.
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Give preference to industrially grown mushrooms. If you by nature mushroom picker — follow the rules for the collection and consumption of mushrooms.
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Temporarily eliminate mushrooms from your diet if you feel unwell or are recovering from an illness.
- Don't rely on mushrooms as a source of zinc, selenium or protein
— secure other sources of these substances.
Try to consume mushrooms as as an independent meal — they are difficult to digest, and other meals consumed along with mushrooms may aggravate the situation. -
But if you have problems with the digestive or urinary system, or are prone to allergies — alas, but mushrooms should be abandoned altogether. This product should also be excluded from the diet of children under 6 years of and the elderly.
And, of course, moderation in appetites should be observed: the predominance of mushrooms in the diet is harmful just as much as the predominance of sausages or sweets in it. But in small amounts of mushrooms will make your menu richer and tastier.
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