- By Henry Stark
- Around Town
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Are you aware that certain foods we eat contain natural carcinogens? These include peanuts and peanut products, celery, pickled, salted, and smoked foods, and certain kinds of mushrooms. The mushrooms in this category include cultivated “button” or white mushrooms. And you’re probably not going to be happy to hear that portobello and crimini are the same species. Please don’t be alarmed though because we really don’t know if they’re harmful, or if they are, to what degree. However, if you do eat these types, be sure and cook them thoroughly because heat breaks down the toxins. There are several types of mushrooms which don’t contain toxins and have proven health benefits, so let me devote the rest of this column to a discussion of those.Shitake mushrooms have antiviral and anticancer effects. They contain a substance called entadenine which tends to absorb cholesterol from the blood and subsequently transports it into the tissues thereby reducing the cholesterol’s negative effects. Both fresh and dried shitakes offer these beneficial effects. In this area of New York State you should have no difficulty buying fresh shitakes in supermarkets and dried ones in Asian stores. Shitakes are quite tasty however they also can be tough to chew and digest. To make them more palatable you should remove their tough stems and slice them thin before cooking.
Maitake mushrooms are often referred to as “hen of the woods” because they grow in clusters that resemble the tail feathers of a hen. Maitake mushrooms, as the name suggests, are Japanese and are sold in many Asian stores and some supermarkets. They have antiviral and anticancer effects and can perk up the immune system. They may also help control high blood pressure and blood sugar levels. And, they taste really good.
If you’re looking for less flavor than Maitakes provide, you might enjoy Enoki mushrooms which have a mild taste. They are known to have anticancer effects and they also enhance the immune system. Since they’re thin and small, they only need to be cooked a short time and you can use them to spruce up a soup or salad.
Cordyceps are Chinese mushrooms known both as a food and a medicine. Athletes often ingest them in liquid or capsule form to improve their performance and non-athletes eat them as a tonic and general health enhancer. Some people drink the dried powder as a tea. If you buy Cordyceps in a whole or dried form you can add them to soups and stews.
Reishi mushrooms are not culinary – they’re used exclusively for medicinal purposes. If you don’t believe me and want to bite into one, don’t be surprised if you find it to be woody, hard, and bitter. Reishis are used to enhance the immune system, inhibit the growth of some malignant tumors, protect the liver, help to reduce anti-inflammatory effects, and they even help to reduce the negative effects of some allergies. Some people, who don’t mind the bitterness, use the dried mushrooms to make tea but most people buy tablets, liquid extracts, or capsules in health food stores.
Speaking of capsules: if this capsule summary of mushrooms didn’t satisfy your appetite for knowledge, you might want to visit an excellent web site: www.fungi.com.
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