You’ve probably heard that you can get vitamin D naturally just from being out in the sun. But did you also know that you can also multiply the amount of vitamin D in mushrooms by putting them in the sunlight too? For people who may not get enough vitamin D on their own, this could be a great solution.
You may be wondering why vitamin D is so important in the first place. Vitamin D boosts the immune system and plays a key part in metabolism. This is why people with serious diseases are often given such high doses of it. With a strong immune system, the body can fight disease and sickness off efficiently. The most common sources of vitamin D are Vitamin D3 powder (which is derived from sheep’s wool), pig skins, and some oily fish like trout and salmon. All of these forms contain vitamin D3, while mushrooms produce Vitamin D2. Both forms of vitamin D are converted the same by our bodies, but D3 does stay in your bloodstream for weeks rather than days. However, as long as you’re taking doses of Vitamin D more than once a week, there is no significant advantage of taking D3 rather than D2. Furthermore, vegetarians and vegans alike will have a much harder time, if not an impossible time, getting the Vitamin D they need by only consuming vitamin D3. Luckily, getting vitamin D from mushrooms is a fairly simple process. You can use mushrooms that are wet, dried, wild or grown indoors. Once sliced and spread evenly across a tray, the mushrooms can be placed in the sunlight with their gills up for 6 hours per day for two days. This gives them the highest levels of Vitamin D2. Using a UVB light chamber works even better than sunlight if you have access to one, as they tend to further increase vitamin D levels, but this is completely optional. Feel free to store your mushrooms for later as well. The mushrooms will retain their nutrients for over a year! Once you need them, simply rehydrate them in water for an hour and cook as desired. By eating mushrooms prepared like this, you not only get your needed vitamin D, but several other benefits as well. Mushrooms contain nutrients that will further help your immune system, increase brain function, and reduce viruses. Shiitake mushrooms contain all of these benefits and seem to be a favorite in this process. With a toasty flavor and juicy, succulent texture, they create a great experience full of both flavor and nutrition. If you’d like to try them out for yourself, you can do so here.
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Miner’s lettuce is a very sturdy plant that can grow year-round throughout the Pacific Northwest. The plant is nutrient rich and 100 grams of it are loaded with a third of your daily requirement of Vitamin C and also includes significant amounts of Vitamin A and iron. Gold rush miners gave the plant its name when they used it to fight off diseases, including scurvy. It’s been speculated that this plant was shown to the miner’s by local Native Americans, who were known to make salads out of it. European explorers were so impressed that they brought it back to their native homelands as a food source. The naturalist Archibald Menzies may have been the first to do so when he discovered it in 1792 and brought seeds back to England’s Kew Gardens two years later. Once the British realized how beneficial the plant was, they spread it to both Cuba and Australia. For an American plant to be spread so widely is highly uncommon and speaks volumes about its popularity among the general population 200 years ago. Why it hasn’t become included in today’s standard mix has left some baffled. It’s easy to grow, remains tender even when in flower, has a mild flavor, and is pleasantly crisp. You can buy miner’s lettuce here and try it out for yourself. While it can be used as any other green leaf lettuce, miner’s lettuce is probably best served in a salad and topped with a vinaigrette dressing. With its numerous health benefits and pleasant taste, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. |
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