Instructional &
Informational Posts
You’ll never get Bev to admit her age because, as a gritty and steadfast anti-aging warrior, age is an irrelevant factor. Through The Age-Old War, she’ll introduce you to natural, yet powerful, foods or techniques that will keep that nasty nemesis at bay. Read on, and join her anti-aging army.
Take me to your leader!
These long, slender mushrooms with little puff-like heads might look like bizarre alien life forms but the benefits they impart to your health are only for earthlings.
Fresh and raw is the best and is the traditional way to munch on this elegant fungus. One cup will set you back just 24 calories and provide you with a shot of protein and carbohydrates. Sprinkle ‘em like you would sprouts for a nice crunchy texture on salads, stir-fries or on top of miso soup.
Stress Relief
Enokis are teeming full of B vitamins, which are known to reduce stress. They’re especially rich in niacin (23% of your daily dose) and have good amounts (about 10%) of thiamine, pantothenic acid, riboflavin and folate to keep your body and mind on an even keel. And they’re virtually fat and sugar-free. That alone should lower stress levels!
Gut Response
Let’s face it, we could all use a little more roughage to soothe our insides and help them work more efficiently. That same cup of raw enoki that lowers your stress, will also punch up your daily amount of fibre by 7%. That’s two times the amount of fibre contained in cabbage.
Even better, it contains beta-glucan. This soluble fibre is a whiz at reducing high cholesterol levels.
No constipation, lower blood sugar levels and less fat around the waist – all yours for the price of one cup of raw Enoki shrooms. In case you’re wondering, it’s the linoleic acid in these fungi that activate enzymes to incinerate the fat that builds up around internal organs. This visceral fat is known to be particularly bad for humans.
Bring it on.
Medicinal Merits
Call it golden needle, lily mushroom, velvet foot or velvet stem—the Enoki’s different names don’t change its intrinsic health values.
It’s known to boost the immune system by trashing the free radicals that our body builds up over the years; gives cancer cells the boot*; keeps the heart and liver fit and working well and helps the body combat such degenerative diseases as dementia and Alzheimer’s.
When you meet these alien-like life-forms at your local grocery store, be sure to take them home with you and invite them to dinner.
You’ll be glad you did.
*Research shows there is potential to develop an anti-cancer vaccine based on the Enoki mushroom.
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Bev Bell is chief cook and bottle washer and she wouldn't have it any other way! She loves exclamation marks and her dog and her children and her husband - not necessarily in that order. When she’s not working on a freelance article, she’s madly penning her latest middle grade novel, gardening when weather permits or trying desperately to play the guitar.
