Mushrooms
Part of the Food Talk series

Let’s talk about mushrooms…
Mushrooms are a staple in my fridge for their ability to add flavor and texture to a dish and for their nutritional value. They come in so many different varieties and offer a multitude of health benefits. Even the common white button mushroom can transform a dish and offers these benefits.
Not a Plant, but Fungus
Mushrooms are unique in our diet in that they are actually fungi. With this comes some unique properties. All mushrooms are fungi, but not all fungi are mushrooms. For nutritional purposes, we’ll consider all fungi under the category mushrooms. One example of this is the amazing lion’s mane mushroom. It’s a fungus, but not a mushroom. While mushrooms are not technically plants, when counting your total plant variety for the week, they add to your total.
What benefits do Mushrooms Offer?
Mushrooms have some amazing health benefits. Among them are:
Nutritional Benefits:
Disease Prevention Benefits:
Mushrooms that have been exposed to light are an excellent dietary source of vitamin D
My Favorite Mushrooms
I like to rotate the mushroom varieties than I use for a greater range of antioxidants. Below you’ll find some of my favorites. I’m always discovering new varieties and favorites!
How I use mushrooms in my kitchen
- In burger patties: I usually add mushrooms to my burgers whether turkey, beef, or wild-game. Typically, I use shitake or lion’s mane for this as they add moisture without making the patty to wet.
- In Bolognese and other tomato-based sauces: I either replace the meat completely or use a combo of meat and mushrooms.
- Tossed in stir fries: Mushrooms pair well with other veggies like broccoli, carrots, and onions and can be quickly sautéed in extra virgin olive with salt, pepper, and spices.
- Roasted: Oven-roasted mushrooms pair well with a variety of dishes.
- As a topping: Thinly sliced pan-fried shiitake mushrooms are my favorite for this use. Its meaty smokey quality reminds me of bacon.
- In risotto: In my opinion, no risotto is complete without lots of mushrooms. I layer them, using chopped fresh mushrooms, dried mushrooms that have been crushed to a powder, and sliced mushrooms to top.
- In sauces: Dried and crushed or powdered mushrooms add an umami character to sauces.
- In veggie burgers: I use lion’s mane or shiitake for this purpose.
A Note about Safety
This may seem obvious, but do not collect your own wild mushrooms. Many varieties can be poisonous with some being deadly. Purchase your mushrooms from reputable sources. Only highly trained individuals should harvest wild mushrooms.
Looking for a recipe that uses mushrooms?

This Mushroom Bolognese is one of my favorites!
Sources:
Assemie A, Abaya G. The Effect of Edible Mushroom on Health and Their Biochemistry. Int J Microbiol. 2022 Mar 23;2022:8744788. doi: 10.1155/2022/8744788. PMID: 35369040; PMCID: PMC8967584. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8967584/#:~:text=The%20anti%2Dinflammatory%20properties%20of,polyphenols%20%5B14%2C%2015%5D.
Chandra, L., Alexander, H., Traoré, D., Lucas, E. A., Clarke, S. L., Smith, B. J., Lightfoot, S. A., & Kuvibidila , S. (2010, November 24). White button and shiitake mushrooms reduce the incidence and severity of collagen-induced arthritis in dilute brown non-agouti mice,. The Journal of Nutrition. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022316622024543
Doctrow, B. (2023, October 3). Immune response to eating chitin linked to better health. National Institutes of Health. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/immune-response-eating-chitin-linked-better-health
Eilam Y, Pintel N, Khattib H, Shagug N, Taha R, Avni D. Regulation of Cholesterol Metabolism by Phytochemicals Derived from Algae and Edible Mushrooms in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Nov 8;23(22):13667. doi: 10.3390/ijms232213667. PMID: 36430146; PMCID: PMC9697193.https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9697193/#sec8-ijms-23-13667
Feng, Lei et al. ‘The Association Between Mushroom Consumption and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study in Singapore’. 1 Jan. 2019 : 197 – 203. https://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-alzheimers-disease/jad180959
Gariboldi MB, Marras E, Ferrario N, Vivona V, Prini P, Vignati F, Perletti G. Anti-Cancer Potential of Edible/Medicinal Mushrooms in Breast Cancer. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Jun 14;24(12):10120. doi: 10.3390/ijms241210120. PMID: 37373268; PMCID: PMC10299416. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10299416/#sec5-ijms-24-10120
González-Domínguez R, Castellano-Escuder P, Carmona F, Lefèvre-Arbogast S, Low DY, Du Preez A, Ruigrok SR, Manach C, Urpi-Sarda M, Korosi A, Lucassen PJ, Aigner L, Pallàs M, Thuret S, Samieri C, Sánchez-Pla A, Andres-Lacueva C. Food and Microbiota Metabolites Associate with Cognitive Decline in Older Subjects: A 12-Year Prospective Study. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2021 Dec;65(23):e2100606. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.202100606. Epub 2021 Oct 28. PMID: 34661340; PMCID: PMC11475530. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34661340/
Mayo Clinic Health System. (2024, August 6). Mushrooms make healthy meal magic. Mayo Clinic Health System. https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/mushrooms-make-healthy-meal-magic
Randeni N, Xu B. New insights into signaling pathways of cancer prevention effects of polysaccharides from edible and medicinal mushrooms. Phytomedicine. 2024 Sep;132:155875. doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2024.155875. Epub 2024 Jul 14. PMID: 39029136.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0944711324005336?via%3Dihub
Real Mushrooms. (2024, December 19). Explore the protein content in mushrooms. https://www.realmushrooms.com/do-mushrooms-have-protein/
Ren Y, Geng Y, Du Y, Li W, Lu ZM, Xu HY, Xu GH, Shi JS, Xu ZH. Polysaccharide of Hericium erinaceus attenuates colitis in C57BL/6 mice via regulation of oxidative stress, inflammation-related signaling pathways and modulating the composition of the gut microbiota. J Nutr Biochem. 2018 Jul;57:67-76. doi: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2018.03.005. Epub 2018 Mar 16. PMID: 29677563.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29677563/
Tang ZX, Shi LE, Jiang ZB, Bai XL, Ying RF. Calcium Enrichment in Edible Mushrooms: A Review. J Fungi (Basel). 2023 Mar 9;9(3):338. doi: 10.3390/jof9030338. PMID: 36983506; PMCID: PMC10052545.https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10052545/#:~:text=Edible%20mushrooms%20are%20rich%20in,diet%20%5B52%2C53%5D.
Uclahealth. (2022, January 24). 7 health benefits of mushrooms. UCLA Health. https://www.uclahealth.org/news/article/7-health-benefits-of-mushrooms
Vamanu E, Dinu LD, Pelinescu DR, Gatea F. Therapeutic Properties of Edible Mushrooms and Herbal Teas in Gut Microbiota Modulation. Microorganisms. 2021 Jun 10;9(6):1262. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms9061262. PMID: 34200833; PMCID: PMC8230450. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8230450/#sec5-microorganisms-09-01262