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If you are wondering whether mushrooms are prebiotic, we have got some great news for you. Mushrooms are a fungus and a popular food source, and they happen to have some benefits you may not have previously known about. A prebiotic is a substance that is amazing for gut health, and more people each year learn the benefits of seeking it out.
Mushrooms are prebiotic, and also easy to find. You can get mushrooms from any grocery store you visit, and you can even find them in different forms. Adding more mushrooms to your diet will benefit your body in a big way, though you don’t always have to eat mushrooms to gain the benefits from its prebiotics. We will let you know everything you need to know about mushrooms and their prebiotic properties, and just how you can maximize their benefits to the best of your ability.
What Is A Prebiotic?
You might have heard about probiotics, but have you heard about prebiotics? There is a chance that you may have heard about both, but maybe you get them mixed up sometimes. A probiotic is a food that contains live microorganisms that help promote good gut bacteria. A prebiotic is a food that feeds human microflora. It is a specialized plant fiber that stimulates the growth of healthy bacteria by feeding it. Prebiotics are typically high in fiber, and work to support the work of probiotics.
Prebiotics can be found in foods like whole grains, onions, garlic, and artichokes, while probiotics can be found in foods like yogurt and kombucha. Prebiotics can also be found in supplement form, so you can get your prebiotics through food or supplements if you choose. Since prebiotics feed the probiotics and other microorganisms in your system, they are built to survive stomach acid to make their way into your colon. Once the prebiotics are broken down, short-chain fatty acids are produced, and they provide energy to your colon cells, which then aids further in the digestion process.
What Are the Benefits of Prebiotics?
By feeding the microbiome in your gut, prebiotics provide multiple benefits. Some of the things that prebiotics do are help regulate bowel movements, regulate insulin resistance, strengthen the immune system, help balance hormone levels, and even lower cholesterol. And that’s not all. Prebiotics also reduce the risk of colon cancer, lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, and stimulate hormones that aid in appetite suppressing. They can even regulate your mood by reducing the levels of stress causing hormones.
How Are Mushrooms Prebiotic?
There are several foods that are prebiotic, and one major prebiotic food is mushrooms. To count as a prebiotic, a food must be a short-chain carbohydrate that changes the composition of the gut microbiome. Other factors this classification is based on include growth stimulation, pathogen inhibition, and gastrolienal tolerance. Mushrooms contain a high amount of bioactive compounds, which make a good source of prebiotics because of all the glucose, fructose, and carbohydrates they contain. Mushrooms offer the properties necessary to prevent pathogens and promote gastrolienal tolerance, which make your system run more smoothly overall.
Mushrooms are also rich in other carbohydrates like chitin, hemicellulose, mannans, xylans, and galactans. Chitin is an amino polysaccharide that occurs naturally. It is a building material that gives strength to cell walls of fungi. Hemicellulose has the ability to bind strongly to cellulose microfibrils by hydrogen bonds, mannans is a non-digestible carbohydrate, xylans help form cell walls and tissue development, xylans interact with lignin, cellulose, and hemicelluloses, and galactans promotes healthy bowel movements and a strong immune system.
Types of Prebiotic Mushrooms
Each mushroom you come across won’t have the same types of benefits. Many mushrooms are prebiotic, but they each still bring something different to the table. You can be sure that any mushroom you eat will be nutritious and full of benefits, but if you’re looking to target certain health effects or maximize your gut health, it is worth looking into a few different mushrooms in particular. Each has different levels of prebiotic properties and come with multiple other benefits to your health.
Reishi Mushrooms
Reishi mushrooms are mushrooms that grow in Asia in hot and humid climates. They come with numerous benefits. They are known to boost the immune system. Studies have found that reishi mushrooms can increase the white blood cells in people with colorectal cancer. Another study showed that these mushrooms can improve the function of lymphocytes. They generally have some anti-cancer properties, especially because they work to reduce inflammation.
These mushrooms could also reduce fatigue and depression, things that can sometimes be influenced by your gut bacteria. They may also help decrease blood sugar and increase good cholesterol in the body, and they are also known as an antioxidant.
Button Mushrooms
Button mushrooms are some of the most common mushrooms you will come across in any grocery store. It is native to North American grasslands and can be found in abundance. You may see them all the time, but button mushrooms offer some benefits that you might not have known about. They can help stimulate a healthier gut, promote lower cholesterol, and can even help to reduce the risk of cancer. Button mushrooms also provide a good source of vitamin D, a vitamin that many people don’t get enough of.
Unlike reishi mushrooms, button mushrooms can easily be found to use in everyday recipes. They are high in protein as well as low in calories and sugar. This mushroom isn’t well known for its health benefits like others on this list, but it certainly holds its own in the health benefit category. You can find simple and delicious button mushroom recipes to use all over the web, so take advantage of this common mushroom.
Chaga Mushrooms
Chaga mushrooms are a unique mushroom type that have been used as a folk remedy in Northern Europe for many years. They don’t look like the typical mushroom, and they can be predatory when they grow on certain trees, but they have major benefits. Chaga typically grows on birch trees in Northern Europe. It is also known as “the black mass” because it looks like a mass of burnt charcoal when it grows on trees. And though it's black on the outside, on the inside, it is bright orange.
Chaga is known to boost your immune system and fight inflammation. It reduces inflammation by fighting the harmful viruses and bacteria in the body. It also promotes the formation of beneficial cytokines, which are specialized proteins that help to regulate the immune system. Chaga also stimulates the development of white blood cells, and so does a good job at fighting illnesses. It also reduces inflammation by preventing the development of inflammatory cytokines. Chaga can also lower blood sugar, cholesterol, and stop the development of cancer cells. It is also a powerful antioxidant.
But unlike with many other species of mushroom, chaga comes with some side effects. If you have a bleeding disorder, you will need to avoid chaga because it can increase your risk of bleeding. That is because it prevents blood clotting. If you are going to have surgery any time soon, avoid using chaga for up to two weeks beforehand. Chaga also causes side effects for people with diabetes because of its effect on blood sugar. And since it causes your immune system to become more active, anyone with an autoimmune disorder needs to check with their doctor before using chaga.
Portobello Mushrooms
Portobello mushrooms are another common mushroom that you will find in every grocery store. It is native to North American grasslands and is very commonly used in recipes at home and in restaurants. Their health benefits are lesser known, but portobello mushrooms come with a host of benefits. Portobello mushrooms are low in calories and a source of about 15 different vitamins. They are filled with phytonutrients that provide you with an immune boost, and have a high amount of antioxidants that help to reduce inflammation.
All the benefits from portobello mushrooms exist because of the polysaccharides, polyphenols, and carotenoids they contain. These compounds do a lot of work to keep your system functioning properly, and they are so easy to benefit from. They even contain a small amount of protein. You can find easy recipes for portobellos anywhere, and they are one of the most popular mushrooms used at restaurants.
Lion’s Mane Mushrooms
Lion’s mane mushrooms are named for their appearance. This mushroom is wide and fuzzy, and resembles the mane on a lion. It is known for providing some of the best benefits you can get from mushrooms, and has been used for health purposes for years. Lion’s mane mushrooms are touted to have several amazing benefits, and those include the special compounds it has that stimulate brain cell growth. These compounds are called hericenones and erinacines, and are presumed to help prevent brain diseases like dementia.
Lion’s mane mushrooms have anti-inflammatory properties, they stimulate the growth and repair of nerve cells, inhibit the growth of bacteria like H. pylori which causes ulcers, lowers triglycerides, lowers blood pressure levels, and can cause cancer cells to die faster. These mushrooms even reduce inflammation and oxidative stress and boost the immune system overall.
How to Take Prebiotic Mushrooms
When taking prebiotic mushrooms for their benefits, there are different ways you can go about it. You can use fresh mushrooms, dried mushrooms, or supplements. What you use will depend on the availability of the mushrooms you’re looking for. Some of them will be more easily found in supplement form or in fresh form, but whatever method you use, you will surely experience many benefits.
Fresh
When you buy fresh mushrooms, you can do a lot with them mealwise. You can cook them alone, add them to soup, grill them, or add them raw to a salad. If you want to add more fresh mushrooms to your diet, you can find recipes of all kinds that will keep your frequent mushroom habit from getting boring.
Some great ways you can use mushrooms in your cooking include mushroom soup. You can try making cream of mushroom soup, Hungarian mushroom soup, or even creamy, vegan mushroom soup. You can grill mushrooms, which will give off a delicious, smoky flavor, you can fry them, giving them a nice crunch, and you can sautee them on the stovetop. Mushrooms are versatile and can satisfy your food cravings on any occasion. Their dietary benefits only make them more appealing.
Dried
Dried mushrooms aren’t as popular in cooking as fresh ones, but they can make some amazing meals. Dried mushrooms work best in liquid rich meals like soup, stew, and braised meat. It will add a nice umami flavor to your meal that will add to the intensity of the flavors. They can enhance a lot of your favorite recipes, and they are very easy to use.
Dr. Emil’s Total Gut Complex
One useful and easy way to get the prebiotics from mushrooms is to take a mushroom supplement. If you don’t cook much or just don’t have a desire to add more mushrooms to your diet, you can get everything you need from a supplement. There are many options to choose from, and you can find them at a drugstore or you can find them online. Consider picking up Dr. Emil’s Total Gut Complex! Some supplements will be cheaper and some will be more popular. Because of all your options, it will definitely be useful to check out whatever reviews or ‘best of’ lists you come across.
Mushrooms are a prebiotic food that you should make sure to get your hands on more than you already do. Any extra mushrooms you can add to your diet will give you an amazing health boost, so figure out your favorite way to enjoy mushrooms and take control of your gut health soon!
