Popular on pizzas, salads and sautéed as a side dish at steak restaurants, mushrooms are mighty tasty. Now their nutrition might is starring on menus. "They're stepping out of the dark and into the health spotlight," says Amy Myrdal Miller, registered dietitian at The Culinary Institute of America. Long celebrated for what they don't contain – very low in calories and sodium, and fat and cholesterol free – nutrition experts are recommending mushrooms for the impressive set of nutrients they do serve up. "There's huge potential to improve human health when you bring mushrooms to the table," says Robert Beelman, Professor Emeritus of Food Science at Penn State University, an expert on the bioactive components in mushrooms. He says, "Fresh, frozen and canned mushrooms contain a lot of unique compounds."
Mushrooms (including the white button variety, which represents ninety percent of mushrooms consumed in the United States) are sources of anti-carcinogens, antioxidants, the B vitamin riboflavin, the minerals potassium and selenium as well as some fiber and protein. “I recommend mushrooms to people with high blood pressure because they’re a really good source of potassium,” says Atlanta registered dietitian Marisa Moore, spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “They’ve got more potassium than bananas.”
While the exact content depends on the type of mushroom and amount of light exposure during the growing process, mushrooms also rank pretty high as a source of vitamin D.
“Mushrooms are one of the very few food sources of vitamin D,” says registered dietitian Sharon Palmer author of The Plant Powered Diet.
Mushrooms Add Flavor
Mushrooms have a meaty flavor due to the savory umami taste they deliver; so they’re a great culinary candidate for replacing animal products in recipes.
In a taste test conducted at The Culinary Institute of American to see if consumers liked a blend of chopped mushrooms with beef in a seasoned taco mix, Miller says a 50/50 blend was well accepted even when the salt content was reduced by twenty five percent, “They told us that mushrooms enhanced the flavor and texture of the finished dish.”
Already on the menu at Flip Burger Boutique in Atlanta, the “Earth and Turf” burger features a mushroom beef blend served with caramelized onions and mushroom ketchup.
Kathleen Zelman, Director of Nutrition for WebMD says, “I like the stealth health approach. By adding mushrooms to meat recipes you boost the flavor, cut calories, saturated fat, you eat more vegetables and you save money.” While research on the nutrient compounds in mushrooms may be just emerging Moore says she’s been advising clients to add them to their grocery carts for years, “Adding mushrooms to ground turkey and lean ground beef, which can be dry, adds flavor and moisture.”
