Porcini Mushrooms Rank Among Highest in the World for Rare ‘Essential Vitamin’
By Andy Corbley – Sep 22, 2023
*** begin quote ***
Porcini have been harvested for probably thousands of years, but it’s only recently that they’ve been identified as having the second-highest content of a powerful nutrient among all mushrooms examined for it.
The nutrient is called ergothioneine, styled ‘ERG’ for short, and may very well be the 15th vitamin that science has only just discovered we need. If a vitamin is classified as a compound that organisms need for survival, and which they cannot synthesize themselves, but which isn’t a mineral, a fatty acid, or an amino acid, then ergothioneine is a vitamin. It cannot be created in our own bodies, and we even adapted an endogenous transporter molecule specifically for ergothioneine.
Vitamins in large part must be obtained from the diet, and humans’ only whole food source of ergothioneine is mushrooms as near as makes no difference. Some bacteria and yeast can also synthesize ergothioneine naturally, and in consuming them humans consume ergothioneine. However the scientific particulars of that, including the bioavailability of yeast-born ERG, the levels obtainable through consumption, and the potential side effects, are practically non-existent.
A broad review of ergothioneine published in 2020 reports that its deficiency in humans has been found in cases of acute respiratory distress syndrome, CVD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pre-eclampsia, overhydrated hereditary stomatocytosis, “and is significantly lowered in others such as certain leukemias”.
*** end quote ***
Gotta eat some mushrooms. Never saw the two described in any store. Have you? I’m looking for the “fountain of youth” and this seems to be protective of brain cells. Interesting?
—30—
Posted by reinkefj 
Reinke Faces Life 