Wild edible mushrooms for healthy diet

Uff, that was a while since I’ve posted here. Yes, it was winter – cold, grey, cloudy, rainy, frosty – in one word, unpleasant time. In such times I just want to relax on the warm seaside, sunbath and do nothing. So, no inspiration for any writing in winter.

However, I did not do just nothing – I was doing research. There is a saying “We are what we eat” (or something like this). And the meaning of this saying is not clear unless you have some health issues or challenges to take care of. I think it’s very bad that the person starts to dig into this topic rather later than sooner. No worries, nothing critical has happened to me, I just have decided to look carefully to my health and find the causes of some issues I have for years. We all got used to some occasional headaches, stomach and/or indigestion problems (and many others) which we always find a reason for – too much stress, bad environment, not enough vitamins, etc.

Fresh banano-apple-strawberry juice

Reading the books of Dr. Norman Walker “The natural way to vibrant health“ and “Fresh Vegetable and Fruit Juices” I have realized that the main cause of mostly all health and mental troubles is food. I think nowadays all people are aware that sugars, white flour, processed food (pre-cooked pasta dinners, pizzas, etc.), beverages (coca-cola, fanta, etc.), alcohol,  canned products (canned beans, corn, etc.), chocolate, deep-fried food (french fries, nuggets, etc.), meat products (meat, sausages, ham, etc.) are not healthy. There is plenty of information on all these foods on internet and Dr. Walker clearly explains in his books how these products are being processed by human body and what are the consequences (yes, for anything we eat there are consequences, which we might not notice, ignore or misinterpret).

Organic garden herbs

So, having all mentioned food removed from the diet what we get is wild edible mushrooms (and other wild edibles), vegetables, fruits, dairy products, eggs, fish, seafood and grains (plus, products from grains), nuts, seeds, herbs, oils. That is usually called a healthy vegetarian diet. I follow this vegetarian diet for the last 7 years.

As agriculture has developed most advanced techniques to support the consumer market with as much food as people don’t need (I’ve seen myself a lot of food is thrown away once there is an expiry date, so shops have more than people buy), it uses the hormones to stimulate the high production of milk, eggs, fish, seafood and genetic modifications to introduce the “fast growing-all deceases resistant-nothing valuable containing” vegetables, fruits, plants and grains. As result,  many of these foods are affecting the hormone and vitamins/minerals level in human body and as consequence generate most of the problems with liver, blood pressure, skin, kidney, gallbladder and digestion system. The logical conclusion here would be to exclude all products of animal origin and use the organic vegetables and fruits. This diet is known as vegan. Basically it includes the wild mushrooms, berries and plants, fruits, vegetables, grains, beans and soy products, seeds, nuts, oils, herbs.

Home baked fermented sourdough bread sandwich with salt, raw avocado, marrow, tomato and sprouts

However, having studied the vegan diet I’ve came to the conclusion that it’s not the answer to all questions and the solution for all problems. In fact, it often leads to other problems with health because of high consumption of grains, beans and soy products (all contain large amounts of phytic acid which form insoluble combinations with Magnesium, Calcium, Iron, Zinc and generate the deficit of those minerals). Nuts, oils and seeds do not provide large amounts of Omega-3 and Omega-6 acids which are essential for our bodies. I’ve read some posts by ex-vegans and raw foodists about their health problems and came to conclusion that there is no single formula to health, that’s all about keeping the proper balance.

The most healthy diet would be based on raw organic vegetables and fruits (of course, it’s expensive and at the moment we vary organic and non-organic products), wild edible mushrooms, plants, herbs, organic or/and wild berries, oils, seeds and nuts (in small amounts), occasionally organic/wild fish and seafood. Grains and beans can be eaten if they are sprouted or cooked after soaking in water for 8-12 hours. And it’s better to have soy product on occasional basis rather than frequently use them. The more fresh (raw) food you eat, the better it is. I try to keep the 70/30 or 80/20 principle (70-80% of raw and 20-30% of cooked food).

Fried sweet potato with raw vegetables

So, as such, I have to say goodbye to my idea about dehydrator as we do not plan to use extensively dried food in our diet. Now instead of drying (which kills most of the valuable vitamins and minerals at high temperatures) I prefer freezing preservation, so we have to think about a bigger freezer :)

In fact, wild edible mushrooms are suitable for any diet you follow (even to raw diet as some mushrooms can be eaten raw) although I would still advise to cook wild edible mushrooms before consumption – our inner organs are fragile to play hard on them. I know that raw diet followers are using mushrooms regularly and in most cases mushrooms are partially dehydrated (exposed to high temperature which apparently cooks them) before usage in raw dishes.

By the way, I’ve tried a new dish – Raw Nori rolls with Wild Mushrooms and it was delicious! I’ll share the recipe and photos soon