Mushrooms For Gout?

What do you think?  What have you heard?  In your world, does the idea of using mushrooms for gout immediately start your big toe to throbbing?  We’re going to explore that a little bit of that in this new post and see just where mushrooms fit into a gout diet.

What Are Mushrooms & Why Are They Good For Gout?

Life is good and getting better.  Long ago when I started this Gout Killer website, I did it to help get what little I had learned about fending off gout, out to my fellow gout brothers and sisters.  Now as my good luck would have it, I have all kinds of gout friends all over the world, that are WAY smarter than I am. On a daily basis, they add to my education about not only gout, but diet and nutrition in general, and how the chemistry of the human body works.

So this is a new piece of education that comes from one of those Gout Killers WAY smarter than me, and this one is all about mushrooms!  (or ‘shrooms” as I used call them…if you know what I mean)

This is FASCINATING!  Gout Killer Jeff does it again!  How he knows all this stuff about mushrooms is AMAZING!  I thought it my civic duty to pass his wisdom on to you and Jeff gave me the ok!

Also, just to add to it, Jeff also responded to another newsletter in the past about using turmeric as an anti-inflammatory for gout.  You should check it out, recipe and all are there.

Here is Jeff’s amazing education about mushrooms and why, as a nutrient dense whole food, they are a good addition to your dietary arsenal in the war on gout!

Mushrooms?  Neither Plant Nor Animal?

Great email and linked article on Vit-D. Vitamin D is receiving a lot of press lately – how essential it is for proper nutrition and body functions, and how 90% of Americans are deficient in this vital nutrient. All of which is doubly true for gout sufferers.

I thought I’d share a favorite source of mine that is often overlooked by most people and the Standard American Diet (SAD) in general.

It all starts with the little lie – or erroneous fact – we learned in grade school: “Everything is either Plant, Animal or Mineral”. Well our little friend the MUSHROOM is neither plant nor animal. It is, in fact, more closely related to mammals than it is to plants. A couple of decades ago, the scientific community finally broke down and gave the mushroom its very own Kingdom: “Fungi”.

Unlike plants – and just like us – mushrooms take in oxygen for their digestion and metabolism and “exhale” carbon dioxide as a waste product. Mushroom proteins are similar in many ways to animal proteins. Mushrooms grow from spores, unlike their plant counterparts that grow from seeds. Some South American Amazon tribes have only one word that refers to both meat and mushrooms; they consider mushrooms to be equivalent to meat in nutritive value. Ancient Egyptians considered the mushroom to be the “plant of immortality”. And the Japanese have used mushrooms for medicinal reasons for thousands of years.

But the most significant characteristic of mushrooms is that they convert sunlight and UV radiation into Vitamin-D, just as most mammals do! And you guessed it — not the plant-type D2, but the animal-cholecalciferol-type D3!

Almost all edible mushrooms (Shiitake, Maitake, Reishi, Wine Caps, Oysters, Morels, Portabellas, Chicken of the Woods, Hen of the Woods, Turkey Tail, etc.) are very high in Vitamin-D3. Perhaps the one exception is the little White Button mushrooms; which sadly is the only mushroom that occurs in the SAD.

As little as 5 oz. of Mushroom can provide 100% of RDA of Vitamin-D. Naturally – right off the bat – BUT: with many mushrooms, it is their gills on the underside that covert sunlight to Vit-D. If you place them upside down in the sunlight for just 12-16 hours, the amount of Vitamin-D increases 1000%. Now you could sauté up just one ounce of that superfood and give your entire family all the Vit-D it needs for the day – OR:

If you dehydrate those Vit-D packed bundles and store them in a cool, dry location over the winter, they retain almost 100% of the Vit-D that was converted and stored after exposing them upside down to the sun. A lot of people use energy-free solar dehydrators which performs both sunlight to Vitamin-D conversion AND dehydration simultaneously. Grind up a couple of these bad boys into any soup, stew, omelet, etc. and you’re good to go all winter long – no matter how far north you live or how seldom you go naked outdoors.

But Mushrooms are ALSO high in Selenium, Potassium, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Copper, Ergothioneine (powerful antioxidant), and many other vitamins and amino acids. ALSO, mushrooms are low in Calories, Fat-free, Cholesterol-free, and very low in Sodium. And several types of mushrooms provide benefits for Immune support, Cardiovascular, Anti-Cancer and more.

Even though many allopathic professionals will point out that mushrooms are moderately high in purines – it is not the same as animal purines and more similar to nuts, seeds and cauliflower. And you don’t need two glasses of milk or a pound of bacon to get your RDA of Vit-D; all you may need is an ounce or two. And if you’re getting your Vit-D from milk, you should know that after pasteurizing commercial milk, there is no natural Vit-D left in it. So they have to add artificial or synthetic Vit-D back into it before the American Dairy Association can put their lies back on the label. “Got Milk?” I hope not!

Bert, you made another very astute comment in your article regarding the food that is typically available today: “The best source [for vitamins and minerals] is to get them from the food we eat BUT, the food that is most affordable and readily available these days is generally trash, …”

TRUE — for many reasons: Our soils have been depleted, we’ve genetically modified most plant foods, and we’ve saturated our crops with pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. But the mushroom requires NO pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. They have NOT yet been genetically modified. And strictly speaking, the Mushroom does not require ideal soil. It does in fact make ideal soil out of other organic material. Mushrooms (or fungal mycelia) are the most critical and active agents for converting and reducing (i.e. decaying) organic carbon matter into usable compounds and foods for earth worms, nematodes, and plants. Mushrooms can literally grow out of shit, dead trees, used coffee grounds, and kitchen scraps. And the only byproduct is rich, nutrient-dense soil. The very stuff that is missing from the “trash” or food we buy in most supermarkets.

So, Gout-Guy, are you down with the Fun-Guy?
Jeff

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Yes, Mushrooms For Gout!

In addition to the brilliant part of Jeff’s writing about mushrooms being a great source of vitamin D, the part that I want to reiterate (because I think he hit the nail on the head) is – “many allopathic professionals will point out that mushrooms are moderately high in purines – it is not the same as animal purines and more similar to nuts, seeds and cauliflower”.  This is REALLY important.  He goes on to say, it only takes an ounce or two to get A LOT of nutrition from good whole foods like mushrooms.  Remember, 100 grams is about 3.5 ounces…and you used to eat 16oz steaks!

What I am on a rampage about getting the gout world to see, is that it’s not inherently the foods that we eat or the proteins in them that is causing all our problems with gout…it is our bodies ability to process them!  That is the key!  It’s not the foods fault, it’s our failing bodies!  Eating more nutrient dense whole foods helps to bring our body cells/tissues/organs/systems back online and reverse the causes of gout attacks!
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Phew.  Done With That Rant.

In closing, there is a TON of nutritional benefit to be gained from all the different types of mushrooms.  The Real Question Is:  Is your body ready, at this time, to handle a big load of them?  You may need to work up to it, but don’t be afraid to do that, just be careful!

  ☆ Bottom-line:  We can and should take advantage of using mushrooms for gout!