Mushrooms full of fiber

y weight, many mushroom species are at least 50 percent carbohydrates (many are well above 60 or 70), and though we think of carbs as starchy or unhealthy, most of the carbs in mushrooms are actually fiber. A mushroom's cells have all kinds of non-digestible carbohydrates, which is what we call dietary fiber, and that fiber fuels the healthy microbes in your gut.

As a bonus, they also have other nutrients like selenium, copper, niacin, phosphorous, and potassium—all elements important (in small amounts) for your health. Cooking mushrooms helps release these, so toss those 'shrooms in a frying pan before chowing down.

There have been a number of studies claiming to find links between mushrooms and various diseases. Some note that people who eat more mushrooms tend to have lower rates of cancer or heart disease, while others look at how specific nutrients isolated from mushrooms affect cells in the lab.

Various components are anti-inflammatory, for instance, and others purportedly fight tumors or protect the nervous system. One recent study linked mushroom consumption to less cognitive decline in old age. Visit Now to Get Mushroom growing kit.

But these claims lack solid proof. A meta-analysis of such studies concluded that most were poorly designed, had small sample sizes, failed to replicate their work, and had troublesome statistics. The authors wrote that it was unwise to extrapolate the results of these mushroom studies to humans, and advocated for better clinical trials to investigate whether fungal food can actually improve our health.