Mushrooms make up an extremely significant vegetable dish for many rural families in the developing world. Most rural societies know just which mushrooms are great for human consumption and that should never be touched. They’re also able to differentiate which species would normally grow in which kinds of ecosystems; that might be of medicinal value; and that are highly poisonous and might therefore be deadly, while they rather enthusiastically search around for the edible types during rainy seasons.
Remember
Sometimes mistakes happen in identification, where toxic species may sometimes be confused for edible ones resulting in death. Consequently, some people shun eating mushrooms entirely without realizing what nutritional advantages they wind up missing in the procedure. Yet poisonous mushrooms are actually relatively few, representing only about 1 percent of the famous mushroom biota. Most rural families in the developing world don’t even know that mushrooms could be farmed.
One can actually guarantee the safety of farmed mushrooms for food, because poisonous species are typically excluded in mushroom growing ventures. Not many folks are conscious of the many nutritional benefits of the various species of mushroom. In actuality, it’s only just a small number of people that may know about the tantalizingly significant protein content of some mushrooms and of the wonderful nutritional balance.
Mushrooms
These bear all of the essential amino acids, vitamins, and a high content of inorganic mineral fiber and nutrients. What’s more, we now observe a rapidly increasing use of mushrooms as highly potent nutriceuticals globally because of their currently proven enhancing effect on the body’s immunoresponce systems. Mushrooms will normally improve the body’s defence mechanisms against various kinds of cancers, some viral infections, and disease. The responsible agents for these effects have, normally, unusually low toxicity even at unusually high doses.
Mushrooms can therefore enhance the quality of human health. Studies on dietary supplements derived from medicinal mushrooms, such as Ganoderma lucidum, Coriolus, or Schizophyllum commune; and from edible mushrooms, such as Lentinula edodes or Auricularia auricular-judae have largely demonstrated that individuals can significantly benefit from a regular diet of mushrooms and their goods. This is especially so for people working long hours under stressful circumstances, and those who occasionally need to regulate their blood glucose levels or blood pressure or perhaps boost their body defence systems.
With the unlimited possibilities that mushrooms provide in improving human health, especially if used as dietary supplements, I wouldn’t hesitate even for a moment to highlight the value of having mushrooms on our everyday menus. In a world where we are constantly plagued with human health crises, like the HIV/AIDS pandaemic, the upsurge of hypertension and cardiovascular ailments, incidents of cancer, etc, we don’t have any option but to seriously look into possibilities of altering our choices of diet and food.
Let’s see…
Once you’re sure the fleshy mushrooms in your kitchen table are secure, just don’t be afraid to eat them or use their products. Indeed, millions of the planet’s inhabitants now regularly enjoy a broad spectrum of edible mushroom species, and also many mushroom products. Mushrooms can be eaten; they may be fried, and they may be cooked as sweet soups. They may be dried, they can be canned, they may be pickled, and they can be frozen to be used on a subsequent date. Some could be farmed, and are being farmed.
Some mushrooms have high, clinically proven, medicinal potency. They can, and are being used to improve health conditions of countless people around the world suffering from some of the deadliest and catastrophic incurable diseases of our time. Extracts from some species of mushroom have revived good health to a lot of despondent cancer and other patients. Products derived from some mushrooms have scientifically, and beyond any doubt, been shown to be very helpful in improving the body’s immune system thus raising clouds of trust among some 40 million people in the world living with HIV/AIDS.
Regular and sustained use of these mushrooms can thus function as preventative medicine, when used as dietary supplements, and also as agents for making you healthier, fitter, and more joyful. Mushroom is actually one of the best manufacturers of polysaccharide protein complexes that are highly effective in lowering blood glucose levels; are anti-tumor, antiviral, and are very useful as overall body defence potentiators.
Dietary supplement
When used as a dietary supplement or as an element of our table diet, mushrooms provide the body with carbohydrates, protein, lipids, vitamins, and inorganic minerals. The protein level of some edible mushrooms, such as Pleurotus ostreatus or Agaricus bisporus, is impressively high (ranging between 20% to 40%, dry weight). Although mushroom protein is a little less than animal meat protein it contains all of the essential amino acids required in human diet, such as lysine and leucine that are often lacking in some of the world’s most basic cereal crops like maize. Perhaps more interestingly, when you receive your dietary protein source throughout the mushroom path, you need not be concerned about present day calamities like mad-cow disease or Rift Valley fever.
Polysaccharides synthesized by mushrooms are most frequently composed of glucose and galactose. Some of the polysaccharides are elements of fungal hyphal walls, while some are components of bacterial protoplasmic membranes. Some exist as storage polysaccharides, such as glycogen found in animal tissue, though others form complexes of a proteoaminoglycan character with polypeptide chains – some of which are increasingly being shown to be medicinally potent against some kinds of cancer.
Lipids found in fungal biomass are characterized by a high proportion of unsaturated fatty acids and very low cholesterol. In actuality, sometimes, up to 78 percent of the fatty acid content is palatable; chiefly because of high levels of linoleic acid, a dienoic essential fatty acid derived from stearic acid. Animal tissue, in contrast, contains high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids – a harmful feature indeed.
Vitamins
Mushrooms, and fungi generally, are a fantastic source of several vitamins including thiamine (Vitamin B1), riboflavin (Vitamin B2), niacin (Nicotinic acid), biotin (Vitamin B7), and ascorbic acid (Vitamin C). Regular use of mushrooms as dietary supplements consequently could protect the body from common vitamin deficiency diseases, such as beriberi, pellagra, and scurvy. Mushrooms, when used as dietary supplements, also supply the body with considerable levels of essential mineral elements like potassium, sodium, calcium, and phosphorus. Additionally, they offer valuable fibres; which, undoubtedly, have significant health benefits.
Some species of mushrooms are especially helpful in boosting the body’s overall fitness when used as dietary supplements. Substances with both nutritional and medicinal value extracted from these mushrooms and packaged as capsules, or as pills, and frequently used as tonic are often known as nutriceuticals. Where medicinally potent or nutritionally valuable, mushrooms are consumed directly within their standard dietand as functional foods, they’re known as nutraceuticals.
Ganoderma
According to Chinese mythology, Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms have been”the elixir of life and are celestial in their power”. I am not speaking of mushrooms as hallucinogenic agents. Naturally, yes! Hallucinogenic mushrooms really do exist. Psilocybe cyanensis is such a kind. But that’s beside the point. Ganoderma mushrooms are now consumed worldwide as a health tonic and a nutritional supplement. Millions of people take it everyday simply to simply increase their energy, to improve their digestion, or sleep much better.
Ganoderma can also be used both for treatment and prevention of medical issues that require a balanced immunoresponse and a healthy cardiovascular system. There are two major groups of organic compounds in the Ganoderma mushroom that seem to cause its medicinal potency – triterpenoids (triterpenes), and polysaccharides. Among the most significant triterpenes are the ganoderic acids A, C, I, J; lucinedic acid A, D, I; and lucidone A, C; all of which are liable for Ganoderma’s bitter flavor. Ganoderic acids T, U,V, W, X, Z have a cytotoxic effect on cancerous cells, while ganoderic acids R, S and ganosporeric acid have a liver protecting effect (hepatoprotective effect). Ganoderal A, ganoderols A, B, and ganoderic acids K, S have an inhibitory influence on the angiotensine-converting enzyme thus lowering blood pressure. Some oxygenated triterpenes with 7-oxo and 15-hydroxyl groups have a hypolipidemic effect (lowering of fat amount) on body tissue. Ganoderic acids CD have an inhibitory effect on histamine release, thus releaving allergy and possibly asthma.
The main polysaccharides in Ganoderma lucidum include glucans, heteropolysaccharides, and proteoglycans that have antitumor, anticancer, and anti-HIV characteristics because of their immunomodulatory effect. Ganoderans A, B, C and glucans have a blood glucose lowering (hypoglycemic) effect, while they protect the body against radiation and are anti-angiogenic. Numerous different chemicals in Ganoderma lucidum include LZ-8, a fungal immunomodulatory protein that’s also antihypertensive, anti-autoimmune, and anti-hepatitis B. There’s also natural germanium, which has antitumor effects on hepatoma cells in the liver, bladder cancer, and Lewis lung carcinoma, while promoting blood flow.
Final note
Ganoderma should basically not be categorized as food since it’s not edible and, thus, not part of our daily diet. Ganoderma lucidum is merely a sort of medicinal mushroom, and it might not be appropriate to classify its goods as “health foods”. Ganoderma products might not be categorized as pharmaceuticals either. Generally, traditional drugs would contain only a single active ingredient that has been extensively tested and tried for efficacy and safety through controlled animal studies and clinical trials. Because of this especially, Ganoderma products become hard to market as pharmaceuticals or drugs since they still need to fulfill government and pharmaceutical drug control regulations and requirements. Ganoderma products (especially those extracted with hot water and alcohol) do comprise two important active ingredients – polysaccharides and triterpenes, which have a terrific potential as exceptional nutriceuticals for improving human immune responses. It’s extremely important to be aware that Ganoderma products have been demonstrated to be without toxicity and side effects, and they have been in use since time immemorial.
In China, they’ve been used as dietary supplements for over 4000 years. Although the general public remains cautious about the curative effects of Ganoderma goods, greater awareness and attention towards alternative remedies and treatment have been growing over time. It’s an established fact that at least one out of three people around the world use unconventional treatments for certain conditions and disorders, even though they might not admit it. In the developing world, 70 percent of health professionals would, at some time in their clinic, refer some of their patients to alternative medicine.
