Many of the worlds healthiest people are in fact, vegetarian. So how to they get their nutritional benefits such as protein without eating meat? They load up on foods such as mushrooms.
Mushrooms are packed with nutritional value and are much lower on the calorie count than meat. Excellent for losing weight, here are our top 5 reasons to eat more:
1. High Nutritional Value
As mentioned already, mushrooms are packed with nutritional value. More specifically, they are a great source of fibre and protein and provide important nutrients including Vitamin B, potassium, copper and Vitamin D. Just like fruits and vegetables, they are also loaded with antioxidants.
2. Boosts immunity
Eating mushrooms everyday improves immunity as proven in a clinical study conducted at the University of Florida’s Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. Many types of mushrooms including the white button mushroom were also found to have anti-inflammatory power.
3. Improves digestion and gut health
Mushrooms are a probiotic, which means they nourish the good bacteria in your gut. This promotes good digestion of food and control of any harmful bacteria which can ultimately lead to immune diseases, parasites and food intolerances if not well looked after.
4. They are light and therefore assist weight loss
Mushrooms not only have a lot of nutritional value, they also have few calories and little fat. Studies have been conducted of people eating less meat and more mushrooms, and after just one year, they reported feeling healthier, were lower on the scale, had less diabetes, and their blood pressure and cholesterol went down.
5. They are good for the planet
World-renowned Mycologist (study of fungi), Paul Stamets believes mushrooms can potentially solve some of our most pressing and serious problems including fighting off smallpox and flu viruses, combat insects and creating rich environments for farms and new forests. All the more reason to load up.