Since we thought we would give a go to grow a few unique mushrooms in our home in Cuxton Village, it would be ideal to write about their healing properties. After researching and going picking mushrooms in Wales and around Cuxton Village, Vegissimo family decided to grow Shiitake, Lion’s Mane, Reishi and yellow, pink, gold, blue-grey oyster mushrooms. At least that is the plan for now. Mushrooms give our dishes such distinct, unique flavours and textures, we just absolutely love them. On the other hand, some people don’t like them because of the mushroom's slippery texture and therefore they don’t even like the mushroom’s earthy flavours. But hey, we belong to the mushroom lover group 😉 and also love its healing prospects. Are you?
Why did we start farming mushrooms in the first place?
We were always interested in learning about mushrooms. We read books about edible and non-edible mushrooms. We believe they are really a powerful fungi family and there are approximately 14,000 species out there with different colours, shapes and textures. The fungi family is diverse similarly to yeast (making wine or beer) and moulds (making penicillin, miso and flavour cheese). Asian growers followed what ants and termites do by growing edible mushrooms on rice straw. Fungus is known for transforming dead trees, sawdust, woodchips, straw and many other plant celluloses into delicious fresh mushrooms. We grow them on straw / oats and spent coffee grounds in our home.
Why do we think it’s important to grow fresh mushrooms or make our own dried mushrooms?
Fascinating, we love to observe the way mushrooms grow. The researching and foraging that comes with it. We also come across edible plants - back to our roots - eating from real nature. We absolutely love rediscovering flavours from nature. Checking picked mushrooms (from Wales, Cuxton) in the mushroom lexicon, matching it up to the images in the book. Have to be really careful though, it’s very tricky because a mushroom can look very similar to another in the book and it won’t be the same. A mushroom from nature can be only truly identified when you go on a course learning exactly how to identify them or by asking an expert. The mushroom experts tell you what location to find a certain mushroom, how to recognise if it's edible or not (poisonous), analysing the form of the mushrooms to figure out what mushroom family it belongs to etc.
Nutritional benefits we learnt about mushrooms that we grow, they are:
Low in calories, excellent cooking choice for vegans, vegetarians and plant-based diets and dieting in general.
Rich in #protein and #fiber, widely used to replace meat, however don’t forget it won’t give you as much protein as meat would.
Good source of B vitamin and
Minerals: potassium, selenium and copper.
High in antioxidants: ergothioneine and glutathione (Pennsylvania State University: Food Chemistry journal, 2017 study).
Mushrooms can convert ultraviolet light from the sun into vitamin D (when they are farmed outdoors, or at least kept outside for a while). Tip: When you slice mushrooms freshly before cooking, place them outside for about 15 minutes, the mushroom will absorb 25% of vitamin D.
Medicinal benefits:
Mushrooms support the immune system against infections. This article (https://mycologypress.com/notes-on-mushrooms-and-covid-19/) is talking about how mushroom supplements can help against Covid 19. Epidemiological and clinical studies have confirmed mushrooms and mushroom-derived supplements increase our innate and adaptive immune responses to the arrangement of pathogens as well as viruses. In one of the studies, given mushroom extracts with influenza vaccine has shown an increase in protecting the immune system. Shiitake for instance, has been proven to be effective against influenza virus. Also, used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat flu, colds, cardiovascular disease and to enhance the immune system. Shiitake is also helpful in controlling cholesterol and high blood pressure and known to be a useful adjuvant in cancer therapy. Shiitake clears skin such as ache and supports the liver too.
According to the studies (link above), in relation to the current pandemic, two mushrooms contain antiviral compounds:
Cordycepin (3’-deoxyadenosine) from Cordyceps species, actively protects the lungs from acute injury, also carries strong anti-inflammatory activity from serious infections like Covid 19.
Triterpenes from Reishi also have strong anti-inflammatory activity and protect against viral replication and viral binding. Triterpenes and proteins from Reishi are blocking conversion of ACE-1 to ACE-2, the form of the enzyme through which Covid-19 enters cells. Reishi’s extracts benefit the treatment of Hepatitis B and similarly to Turkey Tail mushroom fights off cancer and tumour growth as well. Reishi also aids sleeping problems, reduces stress and a cure for seasonal allergies.
Lion’s Mane is also known to improve brain function.
Now that we talked about medicinal mushrooms or mushrooms that have healing effects, we need to be aware that the active, beneficial compound in mushrooms is a special class of polysaccharides known as beta-glucans. These beta-glucans are different from one mushroom to the other. This is why Lion's Mane boosts Nerve Growth Factor by 500% while Cordyceps improves endurance, and Reishi promotes immune health and longevity. This is why it is important for mushroom supplements to contain beta-glucans to provide the benefits you are looking for and that only comes from fresh farmed mushrooms and not products that are sourced from something else like mycelium (US).
At present, we are growing fresh mushrooms (as listed at the beginning of this blog), we make our own dried mushrooms and just recently made our very first Shiitake tincture. For instance, a fun fact, sun-dried Shiitake increases a hundredfold in Vitamin D, providing a great supplement for health benefits as well as an enhanced flavour for dishes. Shiitake tincture improves heart health and supports the immune system, good to take it daily 1 ml twice /day.
See you soon with more knowledge and interesting facts as we are discovering them.
Best
Roland
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Sources
Mushroom magic: why the latest health fad might be on to something, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/16/mud-wtr-mushroom-water-coffee-health-benefits
Mushrooms and Covid 19, Mycology Press, April 2020, https://mycologypress.com/notes-on-mushrooms-and-covid-19
Boom Times For Oyster & Shiitake Mushroom Growers, Profitable Plants Digest, http://www.profitableplantsdigest.com/mushrooms/
Jeff Chilton of NAMMEX: The Truth About Medicinal Mushroom Supplements, Natural Stacks, https://www.naturalstacks.com/blogs/news/medicinal-mushrooms-dirty-secrets-they-dont-want-you-to-know
Healing Mushrooms, Tero Isokauppila, A practical and culinary guide to using mushrooms for whole body health
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