Amazing Benefits of Shiitake Mushrooms

The main aim of writing on the health benefits of shiitake mushrooms is to let you know why this type of mushrooms are good for you. As it is, they are one of the most popular mushrooms in the entire universe.

They have savoury taste, quite rich and with enormous health benefits. According to researches, some of the health benefits of shiitake mushrooms are; their ability to help fight cancer, give massive support to the heart and also boost immunity.

Therefore, this post is going to explain what you need to know about the health benefits of shiitake mushrooms.

Shiitake Mushrooms

These mushrooms are among the edible mushrooms native to Asia, especially in the East Asia. They are somewhat dark brown having caps that may grow up to 2 to 4 inches. These mushrooms are fungi that grow naturally on hardwood trees in their decaying state.

Shiitake mushrooms are grown in Japan, however, countries such Canada, United States, Singapore, and also China produce them. They are seen dried or fresh and also in form several dietary supplements.

Nutritional Value of Shiitake Mushrooms

The nutrients in 8 dried shiitake mushrooms (30 grams) are:

Fiber          =       4 grams

Protein       =       2 grams

Calories     =       88

Riboflavin  =       22% of the Daily Value

Copper      =       78% of the Daily Value

Niacin        =       22% of the Daily Value

Zinc            =       16% of the Daily Value

Folate        =       6% of the Daily Value

Vitamin D   =       12% of the Daily Value

Vitamin B6          =       14% of the Daily Value

Manganese =     18% of the Daily Value

Vitamin B5 =       66% of the Daily Value

Selenium   =       20% of the Daily Value

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In essence, they may contain some amino acids as meat. From above, the nutrients you can get in 8 dried shiitake mushrooms are 44 in calories. This shows that they are low in calories but offer a significant amounts of fiber as well as group B vitamins and also minerals.

These mushroom facilitate the presence of polysaccharides, sterol, terpenoids and lipids and these also have abilities to boost immunity, reduce cholesterol and offer massive anticancer properties.

It is also said that the place where these mushrooms are grown affects the amount of biotic compounds in them. They method of preparations and storage also have some roles to play.

Enormous health benefits of shiitake mushrooms

Under this subheading, we going to find out many of the health benefits of shiitake mushrooms. The uses of these mushrooms take us to the effects of consuming them.

Shiitake as complete foods

Shiitake are used as foods, as in, whole foods. They can be cooked while fresh or dried. However, the dried ones have a flavour that is quite intense than the fresh shiitake.

The flavour is somewhat umami and it’s meaty or savoury. As it is, fresh and dried shiitake mushrooms can be used in soups, stews, stir-fries and other certain dishes.

Heart health

Consuming shiitake mushrooms may aid heart health because they contain three compounds that facilitate reduction of cholesterol. They are:

Sterols: they keep off the absorption of cholesterol in the gut

Beta glucans: this is a type of fiber that helps to lower cholesterol

Eritadenine: with this compound, enzyme in charge of producing cholesterol gets inhibited. These stated above are some of the enormous health benefits of shiitake mushrooms.

Help boost your immunity

I’ve stated this earlier that one of the health benefits of shiitake mushrooms is that they help improve the immune system. This is brought by polysaccharides in shiitake mushrooms

Aside the fact that shiitake mushrooms contain proteins, B vitamins and minerals, just like other mushrooms, there are additional substances found in them which offer therapeutic effects. Here are some of them below:

1. Lentian: This is a type of polysaccharide that acts in the body to bring about stimulating the production of a type of defensive cells called T lymphocytes. The lymphocytes as mentioned as also known as killer cells. This is because they are able to destroy cancer cells.
2. Superoxide dismutase: This type of enzyme has powerful antioxidant properties. They are also found in grains, and sprouts. As it is, they prevent the peroxidation in the body. In addition, interferon acts as an anti-carcinogenic and antiviral agent
3. One of the health benefits of shiitake mushrooms is that they ensure safety whenever cases such as elevated cholesterol levels, arteriosclerosis and coronary disease arise.

Other health benefits

One of the reasons why shiitake mushrooms are good for you is because they protect the body against infectious diseases such as hepatitis, flu and AIDS.

Shiitake mushrooms and their extracts are used in traditional Chinese medicine.

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