What’s the power of mushrooms on our mental health? Well, to start with, mushrooms are a scrumptious and top mental-health-promoting delicacy that needs to be a key part of your diet.
Consuming these fungi edibles (especially white and brown mushrooms) regularly can help avoid visiting the hospital frequently for mental issues.
Some of the mental health conditions to which they will lower your susceptibility include anxiety disorders, bipolar affective disorder, as well as behavioral and emotional disorders in children. Also, included on the list are dissociative disorders, depression, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and paranoia.
Mushrooms can help prevent a wide range of mental conditions through the nutrients that they take into the body. In question are the following nutrients.
4 Key Nutrients Found in Mushrooms
i. The B vitamins e.g., folate, riboflavin, niacin, and pantothenic acid. Besides these, vitamin D is another vitamin that is abundant in mushrooms.
ii. Powerful antioxidants such as ergothioneine and glutathione with extremely healthy characteristics.
iii. A wide range of minerals including potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, copper, iron, and zinc.
iv. Dietary fiber.
Besides providing various nutrients that are good for mental health, mushrooms help promote mental health by containing low amounts of calories and zero cholesterol.
Don’t forget that high calorie and cholesterol amounts in the body are major causes of weight gain and obesity, both of which can pave the way for a myriad of mental health problems.
Some of these problems include low self-esteem, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizoid personality disorder, and so much more.
Mental Health Benefits of Mushrooms
1. The Vitamins
As said earlier, mushrooms are a good source of B vitamins, which include vitamins B-1 (thiamin), B-2 (riboflavin), B-3 (niacin), B-5 (pantothenic acid), and B-6 (pyridoxine). The rest are vitamins; B-7 (biotin), B-9 (folate or ‘folic acid’), and B-12 (cyanocobalamin).
Now, the B vitamins play a crucial role in maintaining proper mental health as these chemicals help the body produce certain brain chemicals that regulate mood and other brain functions. Low levels of these vitamins can lead to depression and other similar mental health disorders.
Similarly, vitamins C and D each play a crucial role in the process of production of certain brain hormones. The hormones are namely, dopamine, corticotropin-releasing hormone, somatostatin, thyrotropin-releasing hormone, and gonadotropin-releasing hormone.
Sunbasket offers some exquisite creamy mushroom recipes worth checking out and trying for good mental health. So are Home Chef and Hello Fresh.
I recommend you read this informative review of the first company, which by the way, caters to followers of different kinds of diets including paleo, vegan, keto, and low carb. Once you learn more about Sunbasket, it’s up to you to decide whether to sign up with the meal kit provider and enjoy up to $90 off, 4 free gifts across your first 4 deliveries plus free shipping or not.
2. Antioxidants
The body contains lots of substances known as “free radicals” (oxygen-containing molecules with an uneven number of electrons), which come from either internal or external sources. The main internal source of these harmful molecules is the essential metabolic processes that take place in the body. Meanwhile, the external sources of them include exposure to cigarette smoke, X-rays, ozone, industrial chemicals, or air pollutants.
Because of the uneven number that makes these molecules highly reactive, free radicals may cause oxidation (large chain chemical reactions in the body) while they react with other molecules. Unfortunately, this process can damage cell membranes and other structures of the body, including the brain and nervous system. This may lead to a plethora of mental health problems such as neuroinflammation.
Antioxidants are a great remedy for these mental disorders as they will work to stop free radicals from damaging the brain and the nervous system. And since mushrooms are high in ergothioneine and glutathione antioxidants, consuming these delicacies regularly can help slow the activities of the free radicals thereby keeping these health problems at bay.
3. Dietary Fiber
Dietary fiber–another essential nutrient found in mushrooms offers a major mental health benefit. This nutrient, for instance, helps promote weight loss, which is a major culprit for several mental health disorders including low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and so much more.
4. Minerals
Like vitamins, minerals perform many different critical functions in the brain and nervous systems, leading to good mental health. Some of their key functions include transmitting nerve impulses and contributing to brain hormone production.
Eating mushrooms regularly is therefore a great way to cure or prevent several mental disorders that could occur when the above functions are jeopardized. These include peripheral neuropathy, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Iron, magnesium, and zinc are the most crucial minerals for good mental health as they all play important roles in neurological function. And since, mushrooms are good sources of these mental health-promoting minerals, consuming these delicacies regularly can be a great way to keep several mental disorders at bay.
Final Thoughts
Mushrooms are a tasty delicacy that will not only please taste buds but also provide a whole lot of mental health benefits. That is attributed to a couple of essential nutrients that can be found in these fungi edibles.
The nutrients include vitamins B and D, ergothioneine and glutathione antioxidants, dietary fiber, as well as various minerals such as potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, copper, iron, and zinc.
Another key aspect of mushrooms that can be attributed to their distinctive ability to keep mental disorders at bay is that they contain limited calories and zero cholesterol. The former and the latter are major risk factors for several mental disorders including stress, anxiety, and depression.
As you can see, consuming mushrooms regularly can be a great way to lead a healthy and quality life that is free from many different mental health issues.
The good news is that this delicacy is so versatile that it can pair perfectly with many different types of foods to form a delicious, mouthwatering, filling, and healthy combination.
You may want to check out Sunbasket, Hello Fresh, Home Chef, or any other meal kit provider of your choice for some scrumptious and easy to prepare mushroom recipes.
For more on the health benefits of microdosing mushrooms, read on:
