You wouldn’t think much of the humble mushroom. Normally flavoursome and delicious in soup or a fry-up, it tends to be the bland addition to any dish – but in new research conducted at Boston University School of Medicine; it has been found that they are an excellent source of Vitamin D. More than that, it has been proven to be just as effective as taking a Vitamin D supplement.
Vitamin D helps to promote bone density, which in turn, helps to prevent osteoporosis, osteoarthritis and osteomalacia. Furthermore, it has been known to help combat the symptoms of flu, cancer, cardiovascular disease, depression and diabetes.
Researchers looked at data obtained from 30 healthy adults who participated in the experiment; they were asked at random to take Vitamin D supplements or Vitamin D2 mushroom powder for 12 weeks. What researchers found was that there was no difference between those taking the supplements to those taking the mushroom powder.
“These results provide evidence that ingesting mushrooms which have been exposed to ultraviolet light and contain vitamin D2, are a good source of vitamin D that can improve the vitamin D status of healthy adults. Furthermore we found ingesting mushrooms containing vitamin D2 was as effective in raising and maintaining a healthy adult`s vitamin D status as ingesting a supplement that contained either vitamin D2 or vitamin D3,” said Michael F. Holick, PhD, MD and the principal investigator of the study, according to Zeenews.
According to their findings, the researchers believe that eating mushrooms serves the same purpose as supplements in enhancing the body’s need for Vitamin D. Furthermore, the mushrooms proved to be more beneficial after being exposed to UBV light, which caused the mushrooms to produce Vitamin D3 and D4.
“Although it has been previously reported that mushrooms have the ability to produce both vitamin D2 and vitamin D4, through our own research we were able to detect several types of vitamin Ds and provitamin Ds in mushroom samples including vitamin D3 which is also made in human skin,” added Holick.
With extra levels of care added to your diet, it is suggested that mushrooms are better, alternative root to chowing down on expensive supplements.
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