Mushroom is the prominent fleshy fungus fruiting body. Fungus is an organism which is growing on wood chips or mulch. When the fungus feels that it has grown enough and needs to reproduce, it sends up a mushroom, which functions for the fungus the way a fruit does for a plant. Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies produced by some fungi. While mushrooms may seem to develop all night, it actually takes days or weeks for one to develop. Most of the growth of a fungus goes unnoticed because it occurs underground. The underground body of a fungus, called the mycelium, is made of humid thread-like filaments called hyphae. When growing conditions are good, little knots of hyphae called primordia are produced. As individual primordia grow larger, the hyphae within them classify into two parts. One part will become a mushroom’s cap, and the other, its stem. The oldest illustration of hallucinogenic mushrooms in the world are in The Sahara Desert. They were produced 7000-9000 years ago. Humanity'’s use of mushrooms extends back to Paleolithic times.
Mushroom Health
Mushroom have been used of both as food and for medicinal purposes. They are are seen as a health food which is low in calories and high in vegetable roteins, chitin, iron, zinc, fiber, essential amino acids, vitamins & minerals. Being probiotic, they help our body make stronger itself and fight off illness by maintaining physiological homeostasis, restoring our bodies balance and natural fight to disease. The compounds they enclose have been classified as Host Defense Potentiators (HDP) which can have immune system enhancement properties. That is one of the reasons they are currently used as adjuncts to cancer treatments. Several different polysaccharides anti tumor agents have been developed from the fruiting body, mycelia, and culture medium of various
medicinal mushrooms.
Mushroom Qualities
- Helps our body strengthen itself and fight off illness by maintaining physiological homeostasis.
- Offer high-quality protein, vitamins, unsaturated fatty acids and fiber, but an accurate carbohydrate breakdown had been indefinable.
- Mushrooms are a superb resource of potassium, a mineral that helps lower
elevated blood pressure and reduces the danger of stroke.
- Mushrooms are a rich resource of riboflavin, niacin, and selenium. Selenium is an antioxidant that works with vitamin E to defend cells from the damaging
effects of free radicals.
- Unique chemicals in raw, cooked and dried mushrooms may help enhance immunity, defend off infections and fight cancer.
- One helping of mushrooms also provides about 20 to 40 percent of the daily
value of copper, a mineral that has cardio protective properties.
Mushroom Cautions
Do not eat wild mushrooms or other fungal fruiting bodies except you are well familiar with the different species. Many species are poisonous and only an expert can decide between safe to eat and poisonous species. There are no simple tests that can be used to recognize poisonous mushrooms.
