Make Room for Fresh Mushrooms

"Make Room for Fresh Mushrooms
Eat Well with Mushrooms and Canada’s New Food Guide.

It’s here! Canada has a new Food Guide to Healthy Eating and it’s chock full of delicious and nutritious guidelines and tips to keep you and your family eating healthy and enjoying some flavorful food. And that includes fresh mushrooms - from the wonderfully versatile white button mushroom to rich and meaty Portabellas to delicate and crunchy Enoki.

The Vegetables and Fruit group is now the most prominent arc in the rainbow on Canada’s Food Guide, which highlights the significant role they play in a healthy eating pattern. Vegetables and fruit have many important nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and fibre. What’s more – a healthy diet rich in vegetables and fruit may help reduce the risk of heart disease and some types of cancer.

Mushrooms make an excellent Vegetables and Fruit choice as they are very low in fat, cholesterol-free and low in sodium. They are satisfying and also add wonderful flavor and taste to any dish. Think juicy steak with some sizzling and wonderfully smoky grilled mushrooms on the side, fragrant risotto dotted with morsels of delightfully earthy Crimini and shiitakes or a crisp Asian salad crowned with spectacular creamy Enoki mushrooms. White button and criminis are even great raw paired with a low-fat dip for dunking. Even better, mushrooms can be prepared with very little fat or none at all when they’re baked, grilled or steamed. What’s more, fresh mushrooms are available year-round and are grown locally so you’re ensured of top quality, taste and nutrition.

A half-cup serving of sliced, cooked, fresh mushrooms counts as one of your daily Vegetables and Fruit choices and is a source of phosphorus, potassium, copper and pantothenic acid as well as a good source of selenium and the vitamins riboflavin and niacin. Mushrooms also contribute to the dietary intake of fibre and other important nutrients such as iron, calcium, folate and zinc. And at only 14 calories per serving, mushrooms are a boon when you’re watching your weight. There truly is nothing but good stuff in a mushroom.

For more marvelous mushroom facts and recipes visit Mushrooms Canada. To download your personalized copy of Canada’s Food Guide go to http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/index_e.html."



Written by Janice Daciuk MS, RD
Culinary Nutritionist, Healthy Baking Enthusiast, and Food Writer.



Not to be reproduced without prior consent from the author.