People have been eating mushrooms for millennia—mainly for their earthy, meaty taste and their easy availability (although the grocery store, rather than the forest floor, is the easiest and safest place to forage mushrooms today). Even better, research continues to reveal that the health benefits of mushrooms may be far beyond what even nutritionists have long suspected.
An antioxidant food, mushrooms help to protect the body from damage-causing free radicals. The antioxidant properties of mushrooms have been successfully applied to treating cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, and cancer, according to researchers in the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology.
They also are a source of B vitamins (B2, B3, folate, and B5), phosphorus, vitamin D, selenium, copper, and potassium, according to Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health….