There are two problems I have with the term ‘plant-based’. For one, the evidence I read from longevity research, biohacking resources and centenarian studies continues to reaffirm the anthropological and evolutionary evidence that humans are ‘opportunistic omnivores’ wherein over the long-term we need a balance of high-quality foods from both kingdoms – plants and animals. As starkly hinted by the stock image I selected for this diatribe, though, it should be obvious that the other problem with ‘plant-based’ is that its reductive phrasing conceals the third food kingdom – fungi – from this ongoing nutritional debate.
While my argumentation in favor of including periodic sources of high-quality and properly cooked animal meats and organs is subject for a whole other lengthy article, if you take away nothing else from this particular essay it’s to include more mushrooms in your diet.
Whether you are a boring-old omnivore, vegan, carnivore, vegetarian, flexitarian, fruitarian, ovo-lacto-pescatarian or breatharian, you could probably benefit from adding in mushrooms wherever possible. The more I learn about the molecules that are unique to the fungi kingdom and the mechanisms of how they work to enhance the human body on the cellular level, the more I try to incorporate them into every meal I eat.
Caveat emptor: some people have food sensitivities and allergies to mushrooms, particularly when getting adventurous and trying new types beyond the regular fare one finds in a supermarket. Next, many mushrooms contain anticoagulants that may conflict with certain medications or blood thinners. Even more critically, I do not endorse at all the activity of wild mushroom foraging by yourself without a trained and knowledgeable guide. While many species are safe and nutritious, some are outright poisonous, ranging from a multi-day tummy ache to an agonizing death, and oftentimes it’s difficult for novices to distinguish between edible and lethal. Some examples of this confusion are: morel and false morel, chanterelle and jack o’lantern, bolete and satan’s mushroom, or green russula and destroying angel (yes, some fungi have awesome names even though they’re deadly).
How Hotels Benefit
On the ‘why care to read further front’, I’m writing this article for two purposes. First and foremost is that I genuinely care about your health and firmly believe the tenet that food is medicine; I’m writing this on a personal level to hopefully convince you about the potential healing powers of mushrooms. Secondly, however, I earn a living as an advisor to hotel owners and groups, and therein I see huge potential revenues by incorporating fungi into a hotel brand’s wellness strategy.
This article stems from my own gripes in not seeing mushrooms on the menu often enough when I travel. Outside of Asian cuisine where mushrooms have been respected for their medicinal properties for thousands of years, in modern Western culinary styles fungi are often relegated to a side order, minimized in breadth to the single species of agaricus bisporus (white button, cremini, portobello, chestnut) or treated as a speciality main rather than an ingredient effortlessly incorporated into numerous other dishes. And that’s just for F&B outlets; functional mushrooms in pulverized form are gaining popularity as a nootropic coffee additive and daily pill supplement.
So, what’s the TAM? We’ve identified over 14,000 different species of fungi and the research on them is miles behind that of plants and animals. As that gap closes and the public starts to get wind, demand will naturally increase, both for inventive culinary uses of different types of mushrooms and for better access to wellbeing-enhancing powders like those derived from the in vogue holy five healers: chaga, cordyceps, lion’s mane, reishi and turkey tail.
For the adult ADHD readers amongst you all (a condition that mushrooms can help attenuate by the way!), let’s put these benefits into a listicle:
- Wellness Menus: A megatrend we are seeing on the hotel wellness front is that people want healthy additives that they can fit in between other activities. People live fast-paced lives and often cannot rely solely on a three-hour spa visit or gym session to provide their wellbeing needs. If food is medicine, then finding ways to add in more mushrooms is simply a way to get ahead of curve, whether you’re running a pub or a multi-day detox program.
- Wholism Education: To borrow a term from acclaimed nutritional T. Colin Campbell, I am a big proponent of eating foods in their natural, ‘wholistic’ or matrixed form in order to modulate the effects of the healthy fuel sources contained within. Going one step further is the concept of ‘nature’s symphony’ whereby eating a wide variety of healthy foods all at once allows the various medicinal compounds to interact in a way where the sum is greater than the individual parts. Besides putting a ‘wild mushroom medley’ on the menu (which I nevertheless recommend), there’s an opportunity to educate or edutain guests on this important principle that is wholism through mushrooms, or simply to teach about this food kingdom in a broader sense (eg. who knows what a sclerotium is).
- Yet More Food: Part of the problem with mushrooms is that most look very similar in color (brown) and structure (cap, gills, stem). Given this expectation and customer habituation, you can wow patrons by sourcing colorful varieties: pink or yellow oysters, golden chanterelles (now the state mushroom of California), or lobster mushrooms. Or, if you are looking to generate a non-dairy cheesiness to a dish, you might opt for nutritional yeast which is also high in vitamin B3 and fortified with vitamin B12.
- Potions & Powders: I’ve already mentioned the emerging trend of functional mushroom powders available as a brain-boosting and mood-balancing coffee additive to help differentiate your café and build an incremental revenue source or to augment your in-room beverage amenity. As well, you might try selling supplements in the sundry. A third option is to partner with a local purveyor to add some tinctures or dried blends to the gift shop.
- Onsite Growing: Unlike plants that need sunlight, mushrooms grow in the dark (and they breathe oxygen). With the right substrates and management from a ‘Master Mycologist’, you can grow them in a shipping container practically anywhere…even on a ship! As with numerous other food items at a restaurant, there’s something powerful about the words ‘homemade’, ‘house-made’ or ‘grown on-premises’. People are willing to pay more for it, and in the case of fungi, this may allow you to impress guests with different species that are not commercially available due to their limited awareness at present.
- Experiences: Many people all over the world are familiar with horticulture, either because they grew up on a farm, are backyard gardeners or have some herbs growing by the windowsill. But who has ever tried their luck at growing mushrooms? A wow factor for mushrooms is that, unlike plant fruits or vegetables that takes days or weeks to mature, these fruiting bodies can pop out from their tree- or soil-embedded mycelium roots in a matter of hours. Imagine offering tours of your growing facilities or, at the very least, having mycology cooking classes. And yes, despite the dangers, rural properties can also investigate their options for guided foraging tours, especially for spring and autumn – think shoulder season occupancies – when many species are most likely to emerge aboveground.
- Cultural Immersion: The great hotels of the world are all about a sense of place, and indeed many nations have cultural elements around mushrooms. Think in terms of seasonal cuisine like tartufi season in Central or Northern Italy and steinpilz season north of the Alps. And although I’ve never been, I’m very much looking forward to meandering through a North African or Middle Eastern market to try the acclaimed desert truffle.
- Psychedelics: This is the first and last time I’m going to mention psilocybin. This article is not about this particular family of psychoactive mushrooms, but it’s worth noting that there’s a ton of research being done on psilocybin’s ability to boost cognition in microdosed form and to help with stress or anxiety in controlled macro-doses. Silicon Valley tech-bros are already on the microdosing bandwagon, while my home country of Canada has already somewhat deregulated their recreational use with dispensaries popping up (like mushrooms themselves!) in Toronto and Vancouver. For hotels, this is a trend to watch, especially for resorts looking to activate the entheogenic or psychonaut retreat segment.
A Little Bit of Science
Mushrooms contain a myriad of compounds different from plants in their healing properties – this much should be apparent by now. But reading online blogs and news articles reveals another big grievance of mine: all the writing is so milquetoast and watered down that none of it actually reinforces the message about just how important mushrooms are for a longevity diet.
Case in point, search for something like ‘mushroom health benefits’ and you’ll get a homogenized, SEO-jerry-rigged article that barely scratches the surface on the mechanistic ways that fungi can augment both plant-based or omnivorous diets. These articles will mention that mushrooms have fiber – what type of fiber? – or important trace minerals like zinc and selenium without addressing how these elements are critical to health (FYI: zinc is a cofactor for testosterone production and selenium is a cofactor for mercury chelation, amongst other important bodily functions). In the end, these articles all amount to saying, ‘they are good for you, bye’.
My mind works differently. Anyone who knows me knows that I follow the adage of ‘the proof is in the pudding’ or my spin on it, ‘the story is the specificity’. Without describing the specific compounds found in fungi, you’ve got nothing.
Hence, let’s go through some of these molecules that are exceptional to mushrooms (as a kingdom for now with more on unique compounds for individual species later):
- Beta-glucan polysaccharides and proteoglycans: Often mentioned in the middling ‘health benefit’ articles I so loathe, these long chains of different types of sugars or sugars-plus-peptides are being studied for their beneficial prebiotic properties (gut bacteria food) and for their ability to directly strengthen the extracellular matrix (ECM) to support proper cellular signaling and immune health.
- Chitin and chitosan: This is the linked form of glucosamine – also predominant in prawn shells – which is a molecule that’s well-renowned for its joint lubrication functionality, while more recently it’s showing some benefits to brain health.
- Ergosterol: Otherwise known as vitamin D1, by itself it helps the body by supplying more precursors for vitamin D3 production, but a restaurant may even be so bold as to provide its guests with ‘sun-activated mushrooms’ whereby leaving the fungi gill-side up in direct sunlight will convert D1 into D2 (ergocalciferol).
- Ergothioneine: There’s currently a small movement to classify this amino acid as ‘Vitamin L’ due its antiaging effects, with the likes of oyster mushrooms, porcini and chanterelles having exceptionally high concentrations (although this largely depends on their growing conditions).
- Statins: Of the numerous pharmaceutical drugs that were first discovered in natural species, lovastatin was first isolated from aspergillus terreus, but trace amounts of this cholesterol-buffering compound can even be found in regular button or cremini varieties.
- Triterpenes and triterpenoids: This class of Olympic-ring-shaped molecules comes in many forms yet a large number of them are starting to show profound adaptogenic benefits, for which fungi contain some rather extraordinary ones.
Mushrooms & Molecules
Now in this section, let’s drill even further into the unique molecules of medicinal mushrooms by looking at individual species and some of the potent health compounds that have been identified. The point herein is both so that you can see the full complexity of what’s out there and also to drill down to specific types that you may want for your hotel or your own regimen.
In alphabetical order, these species and their molecules are:
- Agarikon: agaricin, a strong relaxant
- Black Hoof Mushroom: Also known as mesima or meshimakobu, both hispolon and hispidin are being studied for treating leukemia and tempering autoimmune diseases
- Chaga: amongst other molecules, this birch-tree-symbiotic polypore with strong anticancer implications tends to siphon the triterpene betulin and its triterpenoid counterpart betulinic acid from the birch bark (and as an aside, this is why it’s best consumed with a bit of birch syrup if you can find it, reinforcing the principle of nature’s symphony)
- Chicken of the Woods: eburicoic acid when combined with trametenolic acid B has been shown to reduce liver cell damage; laetirobin, an anticancer compound; dehydrotrametenolic acid has implied benefits for hyperglycemia
- Cordyceps: cordycepin, a powerful energy booster and likely the reason why this species is now called ‘Himalayan Viagra’
- Devil’s Tooth: atromentin with antibacterial properties
- Enoki: expopolysaccharide (EPS), an antiaging compound; flammulinol, a specific blended extract studied for anticancer effects
- Horn of Plenty: a natural source of d-mannitol that inhibits angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) for blood pressure modulation
- Lion’s Mane: erinacines, a group of compounds being studied for their ability to inhibit enzymes in nerves that trigger brain cell decay or death; hericenones, another group of compounds being studied for improving memory; hericene A, a neurotrophic compound being studied as a preventative for several types of dementia; corallocin A, implied to upregulate nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)
- Oyster Mushroom: pleuran, a polysaccharide with strong antioxidant capacity
- Pioppino: Known as popular mushrooms in English because of the trees their mycelium forms a symbiosis with, found within is agrocybin, a peptide with antifungal properties
- Reishi: labeled by Asian cultures as the ‘mushroom of immortality’, amongst other key constituents this polypore contains the triterpenoid ganoderic acid which possesses antitumor properties and is a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor (this enzyme converts testosterone into DHT and is a main contributor to male-pattern baldness)
- Shiitake: eritadenine that inhibits homocysteine production (an inflammatory amino acid); lentinan, a beta-glucan in clinical trials for its ability to increase white blood cell count; active hexose correlated compound (AHCC) which also improves the immune system; high in estrogen aromatase inhibitor which converts testosterone in estradiol and has been implicated as a main contributor for why Japanese men stay virile well into their 90s
- Stout Camphor Fungus: Endemic to only Taiwan, the unique compound here is methyl anticinate-A (MAA), although others include the anti-inflammatory antrodioxolanone and the triterpenoid zhankuic acids with immune-boosting properties
- Turkey Tail: polysaccharide krestin (PSK) and polysaccharide peptide (PSP) as two chained molecules showing promising immune system support benefits
Fun Facts About Fungi
To revert back to the opener, some mushrooms (edible or otherwise) have very amusing names. Consider almond mushrooms, black trumpet, candy caps, hen of the woods (maitake in Japanese), jelly ear fungus, puffballs, red-belted conk, saffron milk caps (niscalos in Spanish), slippery jacks or tiger milk (mostly found in Malaysia). Or, you can go by cost, for which white truffles can now claim outrageous sums while the pungent matsutake is often referred to as the ‘king of mushrooms’ in Japan and commands appropriate prices on the menu.
And need I mention that the largest organism on the planet is a fungus? With its mycelium root network spread across 6.5 square kilometers (over 2,300 acres) in the Malheur National Forest in Oregon, this single armillaria ostoyae is aptly named the Humongous Fungus. Aside from the whoa factor, the answer to your next question is, yes, its fruiting bodies are considered somewhat edible, although they need to be thoroughly cooked (like many other species) and solitary lookalikes are probably toxic.
Next, besides statins, many other earth-changing drugs have been isolated from fungi. Top of mind is, of course, penicillin, which was first observed by chance growing from a fungus mold in a lab by Alexander Fleming in 1928. Despite what we now know about antibiotics’ potentially deleterious effects on the gut microbiome, lest we forget that this class of drugs has saved countless lives since its commercialization in the 1930s. Similarly, cyclosporine was discovered in tolypocladium inflatum – this being an immunosuppressant that has been used for organ transplants as well as other proinflammatory-mediated diseases like Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis.
Now to go back in history so that you have a trendline to suggest that eating mushrooms for their medicinal properties isn’t anything new but simply putting science behind what past cultures cherished, it’s been found in the hieroglyphs that Egyptians often touted mushrooms as the ‘flesh of the gods’. Back even further, Otzi the Iceman, who has been carbon dated to around 3,250 BCE, was found with birch polypore in his pouch.
And lastly, if we want to go way, way, way back in time, we can start with the paleontological quandary of how the fungi kingdom emerged on our planet and how they specialized to contain all these wondrous or toxic compounds. Besides some conjecture about panspermia origins, the going theory is that fungi really took off in the immediate aftermath of the meteor strike that killed the dinosaurs, surviving and thriving in the cloud-covered, polluted post-apocalypse landscape that also eventually gave rise to mammals.
In this sense, we (mammals and fungi) grew up together. Evidence on what the world looked like 65 million years ago at the sharp end of the Cretaceous era is a bit hazy (as was the sky back then), but one final, cool inference comes from how the psilocybin molecule makes us humans trip out while it’s absolutely lethal for insects and land molluscs – that is, slugs – representing two classes of terrestrial critters that also flourished during this dark period. So, for all our glorious proclamations revering the magical mushroom, we were never the intended target, only a coincident side effect. I know I said I wouldn’t mention the psilocybes again, but given the irony, I just couldn’t help myself in not sporing you the details.
All told, we have a ton left to unearth, both literally and metaphorically, about mushrooms. For now, get in the habit of incorporating them into your meals and, for hoteliers and restaurateurs, start to think about how you can leverage this next big thing in functional food trends. Money may not grow on trees but perhaps it can sprout from a mycelium root.
Adam Mogelonsky
Hotel Mogel Consulting Limited
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