Mushroom's Nutritional Benefits: The Basics

Mushrooms are known as meat for vegetarians - they are high in many different compounds, vitamins and minerals, as well as high in flavor! They are a rich source of many food components that are essential to our daily processes. Today we are looking at how the vitamins and minerals in mushroom seasonings help you get through your day.

Potassium

Potassium cations (positively charged ions) are required for normal brain and nerve function. Dilute solutions of the potassium ion taste sweet, however higher concentrations taste bitter or salty. The potassium in your mushroom seasonings helps maintain proper fluid balance in the body, preventing both dehydration and water retention. Potassium helps lower high blood pressure, and reduces the risk of stroke.

Copper

Copper in the body helps facilitate iron uptake, another of the reasons that mushrooms are called meat for vegetarians - they are high in copper. People who consistently eat diets deficient in copper don’t metabolize fats as effectively, and don’t synthesize serotonin and dopamine as well, leading to insomnia and depression. Mushroom seasonings are a tasty mood remedy!

Selenium

Selenium was recently taken off the FDA's list of recommendations for prostate cancer -- but don’t let that lead you to believe it isn't useful in our bodies. Selenium is a powerful antioxidant, and works in conjunction with vitamin E in the body as a free radical scavenger.

Iron

Mushroom seasonings are high in iron, an element which is required for carrying oxygen to all the cells around the body. A large proportion of females are naturally iron deficient, and mushroom seasonings for your everyday food are a safe and natural way to correct that.

Riboflavin

Riboflavin is often supplemented into breakfast cereals … unfortunately, it is the sugary, generally unhealthy ones which get this treatment! Get your daily dose of riboflavin (Vitamin B2) from mushroom seasonings instead - it is required for proper energy metabolism, metabolising fats, reducing pathogens in blood. There is current research underway investigating the use of riboflavin along with beta-blockers for the treatment of migraine headaches.

Niacin

Another of the B vitamins, niacin is vitamin B3. It is recognized to be important in normal metabolic processes and in DNA repair - DNA deformities have been shown in some studies to lead to cancer and other conditions. Niacin is also used in mood regulation, and the metabolism of fats. So your mushroom seasonings effectively keep you feeling happy and looking healthy!