Mushrooms-good to eat and so much more...

in #ssg7 years ago

What do you know about mushrooms? Perhaps you haven't thought much about them other than a quick meal or having some shiitake mushrooms mixed into your morning omellete. (Delicious by the way. ) But they are in fact super powered in ways you might not expect.

Mushrooms-not a plant, they're so much more!

Although commonly thought of as a plant-mushrooms are actually more like a human and breath air not carbon dioxide.

The button mushrooms below are the most common type found in America.

But there are hundreds of different types of mushrooms around the world. (Some edible, but many are deadly to humans as well.)

Here are some wild ones just to give you a sense of the diversity.

annie-spratt-215779.jpg
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Where do they come from though?

Mushrooms are actually the fruiting body of mycelium. You've probably seen what looks like a white hair winding through healthy garden soil in the past. It looks like this...

Fungal_hyphae_620.jpg

The mycellium winding through the soil can be only one cell width apart and it survives in a hostile world of attacking viruses and bacteria in much the same way that we do.

Look at this one all alone in the middle of a forest. forest-fly-agaric-fog-moss-fliegenpilz.jpg

Because they're constantly under attack it means that mushrooms/mycelia have developed amazing defenses against all kind of viruses and bacterias which also attack us humble humans. (Including small pox.)

Maybe better than Tylenol because it's blue???
mushroom-autumn-violet-blue-50552.jpg

Mushrooms are so powerful when they fruit (rise from the ground) that they can even rip through pavement.

5e1f5dd523ce21813f9fd5991c16c0c6--mushrooms-fungi.jpg

So you can eat them, use them as medicine and do road (de)construction with them, what else could there possibly be?

A mushroom internet!

Scientists have discovered that the mycelium underneath our feet is actually a giant internet of resource trading pathways. Mycelium will trade nutrients between trees in a forest as needed forming a vibrant root super highway.

i-364bc08bb128d9ed6e476e198e1a0d12-space-mushroom.jpg

There are many more interesting facts about mushrooms than what I've outlined here though. I've barely scratched the surface. Please have a look at the work of Paul Stamets for more of the fascinating information about mycelia and the mushrooms of the world.

Read here:
https://munchies.vice.com/en_us/article/d75e4y/this-man-believes-mushrooms-can-solve-virtually-all-of-humanitys-problems

And watch here:
https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_stamets_on_6_ways_mushrooms_can_save_the_world

And don't forget these extremely rare DANCING mushrooms...
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Just kidding. They're not real of course.

What kind of mushroom is your favorite? Let us know in the comment section below.

Thank you for reading!

(CH)

p.s. very special thanks to my friend @sunshine247 who inspired me to write this post about mushrooms last week.

https://steemit.com/food/@sunshine247/drum-roll-please-and-the-award-for-the-best-veggie-burger-goes-too-open-to-find-out#@sunshine247/re-hartsuff1-re-sunshine247-drum-roll-please-and-the-award-for-the-best-veggie-burger-goes-too-open-to-find-out-20170813t050335201z

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I agree! Mushrooms are more closely related in DNA to humans than to plants they have like human skin and can produce vitamin D. About Mycelium can use toxic substances such as oil and e coli bacteria as a food source. Interesting facts about mus

Thank you, exactly right. Mushrooms can even eat petroleum products which have polluted the soil. Amazing mycelium!

never tried a mushroom before, i had them in pizzas or pastas or their sauce ofcourse however a fresh mushroom eaten just like that as a veggie never, thank u for sharing this info , had no idea about this before.

Thank you for reading. @moonprincess I do recommend that you cook mushrooms as it will unlock flavors and improve palatability. And don't forget to check the source of the mushroom as well. Mushrooms are very powerful and the wrong one can poison you! When in doubt, throw it out. :) Just followed you. Looking forward to reading more posts of yours from South Africa. :)

Thank u , I'm thinkimg of making a creamy chicken with mushrooms I'm sure it would be divine , and ofcourse will research the mushroom used.
Thank u for the follow , hope u liked my posts.

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