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Chitin, heavy metals, radionuclides: why nutritionists do not favor mushrooms
Alfiya Yenikeeva, RIA Novosti
Mushrooms are rich in protein, there are no fats in them, but a lot of vitamins, useful macro- and microelements. In terms of nutritional value, they are sometimes equated with meat. Nevertheless, experts do not consider mushrooms a dietary product and do not recommend even perfectly healthy people to include them in a regular diet.
A storehouse of nutrients
Some types of edible mushrooms or extracts from them, such as blackberries, rowan, reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and senile dementia, scientists from University of Malaya (Malaysia).
It's all about the high content of ergothioneine and glutathione – amino acids that protect the body's cells from excess free radicals, experts at the University of Pennsylvania (USA) believe.
It is also known that mushrooms contain iron salts, which are indispensable for the prevention of anemia, iodine and vitamin B1, which support immunity, and vitamin PP, which is important for the heart muscle.
Too rough for the stomach
"Despite the high protein content, mushrooms are not considered a dietary product. They are never used in therapeutic nutrition. They are contraindicated for those suffering from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, and healthy people are recommended to limit the use of mushrooms, no more than 50-100 grams per day,” Zainudin Zainudinov, MD, chief physician of the Clinic for Therapeutic Nutrition of the Federal Research Center for Nutrition, Biotechnology and Food Safety, tells RIA Novosti.
He explains that the nutritional value of mushrooms is offset by the properties of mushroom fiber – chitin. In nature, this substance stiffens the cell wall of fungi and insect shells, but it is practically not digested by humans. Once in the body, such fiber creates a great load on the gastrointestinal tract, especially on the gastric mucosa and pancreas. The abuse of mushrooms is fraught with intestinal obstruction.
Due to the peculiarities of the cellular structure of fungi, the human body is able to assimilate only a third of the protein contained in them.
"The main thing is not to overdo it. A little mushrooms in meat, flour dishes, in the form of soup-puree is acceptable to diversify the diet. But mushrooms are not a product for daily nutrition," Zainudinov emphasizes.
White with a metallic taste
Mushrooms belong to a special kingdom – with the properties of both plants and animals. They feed on organic matter extracted from the environment. For example, from the soil: special enzymes are isolated into it and then ready-made nutrients are sucked out of it.
Moreover, the organism of the fungus is huge. It consists of a mycelium (mycelium), which is a network of thin branched threads and sometimes occupies hundreds of square meters, and a fruit body, which, in fact, we eat. The fungus feeds on the entire surface of the mycelium, and what was in the soil on an area of hundreds of square meters is concentrated in the fruit bodies. And sometimes these are very harmful substances.
First of all, we are talking about heavy metals (cadmium, mercury, lead, copper, manganese), radionuclides and pesticides that are very dangerous to human health. As a rule, the level of heavy metals in the fruit bodies of fungi is several times higher than in the soil on which they grow. For example, mercury in mushrooms can be 550 times more than in the ground. And most often this metal is found in porcini mushrooms (Boletus edulis). Copper accumulates in the black grouse (Lactarius necator), and the umbrella mushroom (Macrolepiota) absorbs cadmium especially quickly.
Therefore, Rospotrebnadzor recommends collecting mushrooms away from roads, highways, cities and in ecologically clean areas. Keep a distance: no closer than five hundred meters from local roads and thousands of meters from major highways with high traffic density.
From this point of view, mushrooms growing on trees, such as honey mushrooms, are preferable to ground ones. They feed by decomposing wood, and there are much fewer harmful substances in them.
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