Just add mushrooms: Making food more nutritious

February 1, 2021 – Researchers have identified another good reason to eat more mushrooms. New research, published in Food Science & Nutrition (January 2021) found that adding mushrooms to the diet increases several micronutrients, including a nutrient deficiency such as vitamin D, with no increase in calories, sodium or fat.

Professor Victor L. Fulgoni III and Dr Sanjiv Agarwal explained adding mushrooms to the 2011-2016 Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES) study data looking at a combination of white mushrooms, crimini and portabella at stage 1 : 1: 1 ratio; one scenario involving open mushrooms with UV light; and one situation involving oyster mushrooms for both 9-18 year olds and 19+ year olds based on a service equivalent to 84g or ½ cup.

Key findings include:

• Adding a serving of 84g of mushrooms increased a number of scarce nutrients including potassium and fiber. This was true for the 1: 1: 1 white mix, crimini and portabella and the oyster mushrooms.
• Serving (84 g) of mushrooms in the diet resulted in an increase in dietary fiber (5% -6%), copper (24% -32%), phosphorus (6%), potassium (12% – 14%), selenium (13% -14%), zinc (5% -6%), riboflavin (13% -15%), niacin (13% -14%), and choline (5% -6%) in both adolescents and adults; but it had no effect on calories, carbohydrates, fat or sodium.
• When common mushrooms are exposed to UV light to provide 5 mcg of vitamin D for each serving, vitamin D intake may meet and slightly exceed the recommended daily value ( 98% – 104%) for both the 9-18 and 19+ year groups as well as reducing the inadequacy of this deficient nutrition in the population.
• Attendance of sufficiently light UV-exposed mushrooms reduced population incompatibility for vitamin D from 95.3% to 52.8% for 9-18 year old age group and from 94.9% to 63.6% for 19+ year old age group.

“This research confirmed what we already knew that putting mushrooms on your plate is an effective way to achieve the diet goals stated by the DGA,” said Mary Jo Feeney, MS, RD, FADA and nutrition research coordinator for the Mushroom Council. “Data from studies such as NHANES are used to assess nutritional status and its link to health promotion and disease prevention and to help shape national standards and public health policy (CDC, 2020).”

Mushrooms are fungi – a member of the third food kingdom – biologically different from plant and animal foods that make up USDA food patterns but have a unique nutritional profile that gives provide nutrients that are common to both plant and animal foods. Although they are classified in food collection systems according to their use as vegetables, more and more mushrooms are key entrants in a growing plant diet, supporting the efforts of consumers. use diet-based diet guidelines to follow up on intake of calories, saturated fatty acids, and sodium while increasing the intake of non-edible nutrients including fiber, potassium, and vitamin D. Often in groups with vegetables, mushrooms provide many of the nutritional properties in a product, in addition to properties commonly found in meat, beans or grains.

According to USDA FoodData Central, 5 medium white mushrooms (90g) contain 20 calories, 0g fat, 3g protein and are very low in sodium (0mg /

Mushrooms are one of the best dietary sources of antioxidant amino acid ergothioneine and glutathione tripeptide Ergothioneine and glutathione in mushrooms depend on the types of mushrooms, and oyster mushrooms contain more of those antioxidants that contain sulfur are commonly eaten mushrooms: white button, crimini, or portabella mushrooms. A serving of common mushrooms and oyster mushrooms 2.24 and 24.0 mg ergothioneine, respectively, and glutathione 3.53 and 12.3 mg, respectively, were expected to supplement the 2011-2016 NHANES diet based on published literature values.

Currently, the USDA FoodData Central database does not include ergothioneine analysis data. However, the Mussel Council is currently supporting research to analyze mushrooms for bioactives / ergothioneine for inclusion in the USDA FoodData Central database.

Further research from Mussel Council is yet to come

With mushrooms growing in awareness and consideration among consumers across the country, in 2019, the Mussel Council made a multi-year $ 1.5 million investment in research to help broaden understanding of features the nutrition of the food and the overall health benefits.

In addition to the study of mushrooms for bioactives / ergothioneine for inclusion in the USDA FoodData Central database, additional research projects that have been agreed include:

• Health-promoting effects of ingesting mushrooms as part of a healthy eating pattern.
• The relationship of mushrooms to mental health in older adults.
• Effect of mushrooms on brain health in an animal model.
• Nutritional effects from serving of mushrooms to USDA Food Patterns.

Since 2002, the Council has carried out research that will support increased mushroom demand by discovering the nutritional and health benefits of mushrooms. Published results from these projects will form the basis for communicating these benefits to consumers and health influencers.

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For more information on nutrition, recipes and links to other Mushroom Council-funded studies, visit mushroomcouncil.org.

The access data from NHANES is self-reported which is memory dependent and therefore subject to reporting bias. The results presented are based on modeling to assess the maximum effect of mushroom ingestion and may not reflect the actual behavior of an individual diet; however, such modeling offers a way to determine the potential nutritional effects of dietary management.

About the Mussel Council

The Mussel Council is made up of new or imported market representatives who average more than 500,000 pounds of mushrooms produced or imported each year. The mushroom program is authorized by the Mushroom Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act 1990 and is administered by the Mussel Council under the direction of the Agricultural Marketing Service. Research and advancement programs help expand, maintain and develop markets for individual agricultural products in the United States and abroad. These business self-help programs are requested and funded by the business organizations they serve. For more information, visit mushroomcouncil.org.