Mushroom diet explained

Mushroom diet is an umbrella term for diets with significant amounts of mushrooms.

Description

A mushroom-only diet for humans is considered unrealistic due to insufficient calorie intake.^{[1] [2]} The term mushroom diet can mean:

• Higher mushroom consumption
• Eating specific mushrooms on a regular basis
• Replacing all meat with mushrooms
• Replacing one meal a day with mushrooms for 2 weeks (a fad diet called M-plan diet)^[3]

Health benefits

Higher mushroom consumption is associated with reduced breast cancer risk and reduction in mean blood pressure.^{[4] [5]}

Criticism

Dr. Joseph Schwarcz points out that many of the studies showing the health benefits of eating mushrooms have significant flaws. It is often not taken into account what other fruits or vegetables the subjects eat; some studies have been conducted only in Asia, where people have specific eating habits.^[6]

The mushroom diet of M-plan diet type has been criticized as a fad diet not based on scientific data; the results of following it will depend mainly on other foods.

See also

• List of diets
• Kombucha
• Medicinal fungi
• Mono diet
• Mushroom as food
• Mushroom tea
• Mushroom hunting
• Mycophagy

Notes and References

1. Web site: Mushrooms Not For Survival . Survival Resources . 20 September 2023 . en.
2. Web site: Szary . Szymon . Fungi as staple food . Simon's Discoveries . 20 September 2023 . 15 March 2015.
3. Web site: What Is the M-Plan Diet? . Verywell Fit . 20 September 2023 . en.
4. Web site: Ba . Djibril M . Ssentongo . Paddy . Beelman . Robert B . Muscat . Joshua . Gao . Xiang . Richie . John P . Higher Mushroom Consumption Is Associated with Lower Risk of Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies . Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) . 20 September 2023 . 1691–1704 . 10.1093/advances/nmab015 . 1 October 2021.
5. Web site: Krittanawong . Chayakrit . Isath . Ameesh . Hahn . Joshua . Wang . Zhen . Fogg . Sonya E. . Bandyopadhyay . Dhrubajyoti . Jneid . Hani . Virani . Salim S. . Tang . W. H. Wilson . Mushroom Consumption and Cardiovascular Health: A Systematic Review . The American Journal of Medicine . 20 September 2023 . 637–642.e2 . 10.1016/j.amjmed.2020.10.035 . 1 May 2021.
6. Web site: Should We Be Eating More Mushrooms? Maybe. . Office for Science and Society . 20 September 2023 . en.