Mushrooms & The Vitamin D Link

For one of the sunniest, most temperate countries in the world, Australia has an increasingly high rate of Vitamin D deficiency. A shortage of this important fat soluble vitamin has been linked to a number of health issues such as diabetes, arthritis, hypertension, depression and certain cancers. While the warnings of excess sunshine have been well and truly heeded, many Australians are going so far to slip, slop, slap that we are actually blocking benefits of regular time spent outdoors. According to research, 41 per cent of people in South East Queensland, 67 per cent of Tasmanian women and 58 per cent of aged care residents in Melbourne were Vitamin D deficient, not to mention 83 per cent of dermatologists in the winter time!

The good news is that the sunshine is not the only way to receive Vitamin D - it may be the major source but we must still look to food to supply any extra the body may require. Surveyed Australians consume around 25 per cent of the recommended 10 mcg of Vitamin D per day - and by the time we reach age seventy the body needs 15 mcg per day, so it's important that good habits are put in place now.

Calcium and Vitamin D are also linked - Glenn Cardwell, an Accredited Practising Dietitian with 30 years in clinical and public health nutrition says "If there is not enough calcium and Vitamin D in the diet or, in the case of vitamin D, insufficient sunlight exposure, then not enough skeletal bone is created [in childhood]. Our bones reach peak mass by the age of 30 years and thereafter decline. The rate of the decline is greatly dampened if adequate calcium is consumed, you remain active, don't smoke and get all your vitamin D needs through diet or sunshine. Cardwell also notes that "a greater calcium intake slows down the rate of bone loss in the later decades, while the kidneys become less able to activate vitamin D so more D is needed."

Mushrooms and Vitamin D

The humble mushroom has the potential to provide the daily Vitamin D requirements in a single serve, along with a host of other health benefits. Research has shown that mushrooms growing naturally in the wild contain Vitamin D, with the action of sunlight on their surface converting ergosterol to Vitamin D2. Commercially grown mushrooms, however, have little Vitamin D as they tend to grow well in darkness and extra light increases running costs and growing temperature.

As a result of these findings, the Australian Mushroom Industry began a small trial in Dubbo in 2007 "to test the effect of UV lights during the growing stage. The University of Western Sydney also did a trial using light exposure and found that mushrooms can easily reach the Adequate Intake levels of vitamin D in a single serve. They also showed that the vitamin D is stable and well absorbed from the mushroom (Koyyalamudi 2009)." The stability of the vitamin means that mushrooms can be used particularly in the catering sector to hospitals and nursing homes where deficiency is rife.

The resulting mushrooms in the study had Vitamin D levels at least ten times greater than the recommended 10mcg per day for adults less than 70 years. The University of Western Sydney is conducting further studies to refine the process for commercial application. "In the US, mushrooms providing the daily needs for vitamin D have been now available on the market since 2008."

Very few foods naturally contain Vitamin D - mainly oily fish and some fortified foods such as margarine, various milks, juices and cereals. We look forward to new and improved mushrooms in the future!


Reference: www.mushroomsforlife.net
By: Amy Dusseldorp, Nutritionist