Always Eat Mushrooms Cooked
Summary
Mushrooms should always be eaten cooked rather than raw due to their unique cellular structure. The primary reason is the presence of chitin in mushroom cell membranes, which is completely indigestible and can cause digestive discomfort when consumed raw. Cooking — particularly steaming — breaks down this material and makes mushrooms significantly easier to digest.
Key Takeaways
- Always cook mushrooms before eating them to avoid digestive issues like stomachaches
- Mushrooms are fungi, not plants, and have fundamentally different cellular membranes
- Mushroom cell membranes contain chitin, the same indigestible material found in the exoskeletons of crabs, lobsters, shrimp, and insects
- Raw mushrooms can cause stomachaches due to the indigestibility of chitin
- Steaming is a recommended cooking method to break down chitin and improve digestibility
- Mushrooms contain a precursor to vitamin D2, which the body can convert to vitamin D3
- Leaving raw mushrooms in direct sunlight for a day can increase their vitamin D2 precursor content
Details
Why Raw Mushrooms Are Problematic
Mushrooms are fundamentally different from plants in their cellular structure. Their cell membranes contain chitin — the same fibrous substance that forms the hard outer shells (exoskeletons) of arthropods such as crabs, lobsters, shrimp, and insects. The human digestive system cannot break down chitin, making raw mushrooms difficult to process and potentially causing gastrointestinal discomfort.
How Cooking Helps
Cooking mushrooms — with steaming specifically recommended — effectively breaks down the chitin structure in the cell membranes. This makes the nutritional content of the mushroom far more bioavailable and eliminates the digestive discomfort associated with eating them raw.
Bonus: Mushrooms and Vitamin D
As a secondary point, mushrooms naturally contain a precursor compound used in the production of vitamin D2. To boost this content:
- Place raw mushrooms in direct sunlight for approximately one day
- This increases the concentration of the vitamin D2 precursor
- The body can then convert that vitamin D2 into vitamin D3
This sunlight trick is noted as an added benefit, though the primary recommendation remains to cook mushrooms before eating them.