Hello, dear friends!

I still stay in Latvia and continue my daily forest walks with MonthlyAuthorChallenge by @future24

Probably it will seem strange, but one of the serious reasons for my annual visit to Latvia is the abundance of chanterelles mushrooms in the local forests!
There are at least three reasons for this. And I'm happy to tell you about them.

An exquisite treat

I'll start with the simplest and most famous fact - this is a recognized and divine delicacy for gourmets. I cook stew chanterelles with onions and carrots in cream (I'm vegan and use almond cream). It is especially tasty to serve the stew with mashed potatoes or boiled potatoes. Fried potatoes with chanterelles are incredibly tasty, but I'm hooked on a healthy lifestyle and do not eat anything fried.
I consider myself a gourmet, but still my passion for chanterelles is due to another fact more important than their magical taste!

Vitamin D

Chanterelles are the only natural source of the most important vitamin, vitally important for my health - vitamin D.
Vitamin D is found in large quantities in fish and dairy products that I do not eat. Also you can get endogenous vitamin D while in the sun, but I avoid direct sunlight because of the increased photosensitivity of my skin and my carcinophobia. Even with moderate photosensitivity skin should avoid sunlight to those who are interested in preserving youthful skin and people prone to oncological diseases.
The only reliable and natural source of vitamin D for vegans is this magical mushroom. Keep in mind that vitamin D does not break down with sparing heat treatment. In other words, fried chanterelles are practically useless, but the stewed will preserve the vitamin we need.

Natural anthelmintic preparation!

And finally, the most valuable property of chanterelles lies in the unique chemical composition of this fungus! Those who have experience of collecting or preparing chanterelles pay attention to the fact that this fungus has never been colonized by mushroom worms and other parasites. Only some large beetles have the ability to eat chanterelles.
The fact is, the chanterelles contain chitinmanosis ( or quinomania), a substance that has a harmful effect on various species of helminths.
Do you know that every fourth person on Earth is infected with helminths? And this is only official statistics.
If you are a sushi lover or carpaccio lover, if you like to eat steaks with bloodor or you like fresh vegetables and salads that are not processed thermally or chemically. If you have animals in the house and you are not obsessed with hygiene, then you will be able to detect helminths by careful examination. The probability is very high.
In fact, exist are many more infected, because the symptoms of infection are not specific and are not diagnosed as signs of infection! A friend of mine, a scientist, believes that the absence of total parasite diagnostics is a worldwide conspiracy. Helminths affect human intelligence, and stupid people are more manageable. But I will not argue that such a conspiracy exists.

Quinomania is able to dissolve eggs of almost all types of worms, as well as paralyze adult individuals. This substance is absolutely safe for people unlike pharmacological anti-helminth preparations, which are very toxic.
However, quinomania breaks down at a temperature of more than 50 °. Therefore, for treatment of parasites, you need to eat fresh mushrooms or powder from dried mushrooms. I add fresh chanterelles to my green salads.
The chanterelles have other health-giving substances that make them a valuable food and treatment, that you can easily recognize if you want.

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This shot I took today in the forest near our house!

⚠️Be sure to click on the image to view full screen!

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Friends, I want to thank everyone who took part in my contest TreeTuesday. Tomorrow afternoon I will publish the results!

Be healthy! I'll be back very soon. See you!