Nutrition Matters June 2008 Newsletter
Focus: Mushrooms
Tip of the month: Take a look at the 8 minute video of
the secret life of a blood cell from Harvard's Department of Molecular and
Cellular Biology. It is stunningly beautiful and ineluctably humbling --
all that going on inside one tiny part of me!
http://multimedia.mcb.harvard.edu/media.html
Mushrooms
Mushrooms have a mystery
to them. They come from the Kingdom
of Fungi – neither animal
nor plant. They are reputed to have
healing properties, psychedelic properties, and poisonous properties. Most of us think the ones we eat are
delicious.
What, besides taste,
would tempt you to eat mushrooms?
Various researchers have credited them with providing fiber,
antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and protein.
The shiitake mushroom is under investigation as an
immune booster, especially for cancer
patients, because of lentinan, described in Wikipedia as: “an anti-tumor polysaccharide
from the shiitake mushroom.”
Mushrooms in general
are also a reliable source of potassium, important in partnership with sodium
for water management in your body.
Muscle cramps? Cook up a few
mushrooms.
A cup of cooked shiitake
mushrooms will also provide a quarter of your recom-mended daily amount of
choline. What is choline? It’s an emulsifier that’s part of the B
vitamin complex. According to Earl
Mindell, it is one of the “few substances able
to penetrate the so-socalled blood-brain barrier that
ordinarily
protects the brain against the variations in the daily diet, and go directly
into the brain cells to produce a chemical that aids memory.” (Earl Mindell’s New Vitamin Bible, Warner
Books, 2004.)
So there are three
reasons besides delectability for trying the recipe below: less cancer, fewer
muscle cramps, and clearer thinking!
Recipe of the month:
Prep Time:
Half an hour
to soak dried mushrooms, unless you use fresh ones.
5-10 minutes
for cooking.
Ingredients:
Dried shiitake
Cooking oil:
coconut, olive, canola, or any high heat oil of your choice.
Directions:
- Soak the dried mushrooms in water
for half an hour and then
squeeze dry by hand.
- Heat your pan or skillet to hot
and coat the surface with your oil of choice.
- Add the mushrooms sans their
stems. (Save for use in future
broth, stock, or stew.)
- Sprinkle salt and, if you like,
black pepper.
- Continue to sauté until “tender to
the bite.”
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