Some in the raw food movement include generous amounts of mushrooms in their recipes while others feel that they are not healthy since at least some species feed on decaying matter. I don't remember seeing them incorporated in recipes based on 8/1/1 or Natural Hygiene principles.

Any opinions for or against including mushrooms in a raw/live food diet?

Wishing you vibrant health

Opinion: I think if the alternative is eating meat or 'junk food', then they are certainly a good thing.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

i like them; and they have some good b-vitamins among other great things

i'd like to see a good scientific debate of how a mushroom (the edible kind) could harm you, because i seem to have a good time eating them

i think they were how kombucha was discovered.. though i don't drink the modern day kind because of the sugar they use in it

anyway..i love mushrooms some people hate them and some people love them
shitakeee..portebello.. yessss

Most mushrooms are decomposers. They are a crucial part of nature. The good ones are also good for you. Different mushrooms have different qualities.

I love them and they love me -- I don't get any reactions or bad symptoms from them.

When my father read "Mycelium Running" a few years ago, he convinced me that I should only eat organically grown mushrooms. Because they are really good at lifting toxins out of contaminated soil, you wouldn't want to actually eat the ones that might have been grown in contaminated soil.

VeganLife Wrote:
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> Most mushrooms are decomposers. They are a crucial part of nature.

frances Wrote:
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> .... they are really good at lifting toxins out of contaminated soil

That is partly what I had in mind in pondering my question about mushrooms and other edible fungi. They are some that are traditionaly used for supporting the immune system and some people say some varieties may help the body in dealing with cancerous conditions. I forgot where I came across informationn suggesting that candida in the body isn't really the bad guy so to speak, but that it flourishes because there was already an imbalance, such as excess sugar present, and the candida feeding on it basically helped get rid of the excess sugar and help in bringing it back to a lower level.

On the other hand ingesting fungi that basically serve as a scanvenger by feasting on decomposing mater isn't appealing either since it may mean ingesting some of the matter the mushroom was feeding on as well.

Wishing you vibrant health

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others feel that they are not healthy since at least some species feed on decaying matter

We all feed on "decaying matter". Raw foodists just prefer the term "ripening matter".

I'd speak on mushrooms but... well, I plead the 5th.

When I used to make mushroom-based cooked meals where I would have to fry mushrooms at the start, they would give off the weirdest, *wrong* smell (you'll only smell it if you use a lot otherwise the oil will overpower it).

Less of a mushroom, more of a horrible musty/bodily fluid smell!

Weirdly, I only noticed this after being raw the first time.

Obviously, raw mushrooms don't smell like that, but it does make me wonder...

this leads to the question of all vegetation in general
they all take in whatever is in the soil up their roots into their stems and into their tissues

so it makes me also question what ORGANIC is all about

at the very LEAST, organic means " no pesticides'

but i'm wondering what the condition of the soil must be in terms of toxicity in order to qualify as organically grown

i'll probably post this in another thread cuz i always wondered about it

mushrooms

very interesting discussion
barring the question of the soil however

there have been a history of medicinal uses
especially in chinese medicine
so its a subject worth talking about

"but i'm wondering what the condition of the soil must be in terms of toxicity in order to qualify as organically grown"

I don't know about that, but I do know a plot of land has to be grown without pesticides etc. for a two year period before the produce can recieve a certified organic sticker on it. So a farmer can't just grow conventionally fertilized carrots one season, and next season use the same piece of land for an organic patch; Which makes a lot of sense.

la_veronique Wrote:
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> this leads to the question of all vegetation in
> general
> so it makes me also question what ORGANIC is all
> about...
> at the very LEAST, organic means " no pesticides'
> but i'm wondering what the condition of the soil
> must be....

LaV:
Your post reminds me of the effort of mainstream agribusinesses years ago who were trying to make inroads into the organics business and were pushing to modify the definition and criteria of 'organic' soil and wanted to include sludge that could also contain toxic waste matter. They backed off later due to public resistance.

On the other hand, in nature, absent of human intrusion, everything recycles on a timely basis both in breaking down, due to decay (with the help of bacteria, fungus, due to time, etc) or other factors such as fire, as well as rebuilding as the materials that were broken down are later reassembled to become new substances.

To me the definition most people have in the back of their mind with the term 'organically grown' is food grown in soil composed and decomposed--hopefully in a rich fertile environment-- following these natural cycles without application of synthetics.

LOL "Mycelium Running" also introduced me to the world of mushrooms! Its a fantastic book!

I remember reading about how chinese organic mushrooms are more "polluted" than regular American mushrooms because the rain washes down all the smog and pollution and the mushrooms end up absorbing and concentrating it. I think it was in "Mycelium Running".