Enoki Mushroom Health Benefits

Enoki mushrooms are considered to be a healing mushroom, frequently used in cooking, with an interesting collection of health promoting properties and benefits. Golden mushroom, another name for enoki mushroom, is also the fifth most cultivated mushroom globally. The health benefits from enoki mushroom are thought to result from bioactive compounds such a specific enoki polysaccharides, or sugars, healthy dietary fibres and sterols.

There is an ancient similarity between fungi and animals at a cellular level. This may be why some non-pathogenic fungi, like enoki mushroom, contain many compounds which are considered to be healing. While some mushrooms are highly toxic, enoki mushrooms are recognized for their medicinal properties. Potential benefits from enoki mushroom consumption include cardiovascular health promotion and reductions in blood sugar levels.

Here we will look at the possible health benefits of enoki mushroom, considering some of the latest research on enoki mushrooms and how consuming them could affect our health.

Enoki Mushroom Polysaccharides Health Benefits

As with most of our foods, enoki mushrooms contain complex sugars or polysaccharides. Polysaccharides are basically sugars that have been joined together by a plant or fungus. There are different types of plant or fungal polysaccharides, some of which are and are not digestible.

Types Of Polysaccharides

One type of polysaccharide, known as starch, is how lifeforms can store their energy for use later on. This store of potential energy is used at a later date to make a new plant within a seed or to grow new plant branches. Starch is the equivalent of human fat stores for winter but for plants. Humans digest plant starch into sugar for energy.

Another example of a complex polysaccharide is cellulose, which forms plant cell walls. Humans aren’t equipped to digest cellulose themselves. This is why it is a dietary fibre and can’t be easily digested. Cellulose is part of another group of complex polysaccharides, that are found mainly in cell walls of plants and fungi. In terms of nutrition and diet, they are classed as dietary fibre with other indigestible complex polysaccharides.

Enoki Mushroom Polysaccharides

There is a growing body of research to support these possible health promoting roles of certain mushroom polysaccharides. Most of the polysaccharides found within enoki mushrooms are the complex type of indigestible sugar that forms a part of dietary fibre.

Within the wellness community, complex cell wall polysaccharides like those found in enoki mushroom are very popular and generating excitement. This is because of the role they can play in optimizing gut health and other effects that they may have on our bodily functions.

Enoki Mushroom β-glucans

One of the most well researched enoki mushroom polysaccharides are the group of complex sugars known as β-glucans. β-glucans are also the most abundant complex polysaccharide in enoki mushrooms. They make approximately 23% of the total dry weight of enoki mushrooms.

This is largely because enoki mushrooms, being fungi, have thick cell walls. These mushroom cell walls are distantly related to plant cell walls.

β-glucans are complex sugars or less digestible polysaccharides, classed as healthy dietary fibre. While dietary fibre is not readily digestible by humans, healthy gut bacteria within the gastrointestinal tract can readily digest these complex sugars. Certain bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract are very highly specialized for digesting these complex sugars.

This is how dietary fibres or specific complex sugars found in plants, herbs and mushrooms have health promoting qualities in our body.

Researched Benefits Of Enoki β-glucans

β-glucans are considered to be the most abundant polysaccharide in most mushrooms, contributing to numerous pharmacological effects. Lentinan is thought to be the dominant β-glucan in enoki mushrooms.

Dietary fibres, such as β-glucans, improve the diversity and levels of non-pathogenic gut bacteria, providing them with food. Gut bacteria can ferment β-glucans, producing short-chain fatty acids. These are ancient relationships, where the gut bacteria then support body functions. While these are only just starting to be understood, they are thought to encourage optimal brain health, immune system functioning and play a role in energy production too.

These are just some of the exciting health benefits that are possible with consuming enoki mushrooms with their prebiotic dietary fibre content.

β-glucans can also encourage lower blood sugar levels. In many cases the addition of β-glucans, or elevated levels of β-glucans in foods, can result in lowered blood glucose and positive effects on insulin responses for those at risk of diabetes. High sugar levels and insulin resistance are two key risk factors for diabetes. These effects are therefore thought to have benefits to diabetics and in the prevention of diabetes. Enoki mushroom β-glucans may also have immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects.

Other important enoki mushroom polysaccharide compounds isolated from the whole enoki mushroom include flammunlinolide, enokipodin and proflamin. In depth studies have shown that enoki mushroom polysaccharide extracts may have possible health benefits in improving memory or cognitive functioning, gut microbe health and helping to modulate the metabolism. Enokipodin is also considered to be a mild antibacterial and anti-parasitic compound. Proflamin may have cancer preventative activities, but this requires more research to confirm.

Enoki Mushroom Mycosterol

Enoki mushroom extract, rich in dietary fibre and mycosterol, improved HDL levels while also lowering LDL levels. Other studies have found this too, suggesting that mycosterol can reduce LDL levels and also blood pressure. Mycosterol is thought to have a similar action to cholesterol in fungi and there is evidence that mycosterols could have antioxidant properties. Ergosterol is the main mycosterol in enoki mushroom. There is about 37mg of ergosterol per 100 grams of enoki mushroom.

The LDL lowering effect of enoki mushroom was also thought to be due in part to the complex polysaccharides within enoki mushroom. Plant β-glucans are well known to be able to influence levels of HDL and LDL cholesterol in many cases. Dietary supplementation or inclusion of β-glucans is known to be able to change blood lipid profiles.

This is another means as to how enoki mushroom extracts could have possible benefits. They may encourage more optimal heart health, considering that good levels of HDL to LDL cholesterol encourage optimal cardiovascular health. This ratio is thought to be important in lowering the risk of developing heart diseases.

Enoki Mushroom Polyphenols

Polyphenols are important compounds for optimal health and nutrition because of their antioxidant effects. Antioxidants are calming, helping to soothe inflammation in the body, supporting healthy energy production.

Mushroom polyphenols can also support healthy metabolism and energy production. Enoki mushroom contains phenolic compounds such as quercetin, catechin, gallic acid and caffeic acid which can support the health of mitochondria. As potent antioxidants, like zinc, enoki mushroom polyphenols can ensure that the oxidative status of mitochondria is healthy. They can protect these key cell parts, extinguishing high energy and inflammatory free radicals.

Free radicals can damage cells because of their energy, disrupting fatty acids and DNA. This is how cancers can begin to form in the body, while oxidative damage is a major contributor to cellular ageing. Mushroom polyphenols could have some possible health benefits in the maintenance of healthy cellular ageing.

Studies show that the total antioxidant capacity of enoki mushrooms is very strong relative to other mushrooms. Enoki mushroom polyphenols may be capable of preventing cholesterol oxidation, which would have benefits to circulatory and heart health.

Key Enoki Mushroom Nutrients

Mushrooms share some similar key nutrients, but there are clear differences between types of mushroom.

Mushrooms tend to be fairly rich in B vitamins and enoki mushroom contains good levels of vitamin B1. This vitamin, known as thiamine, is a crucial supporting part of cellular energy production and also DNA synthesis. Chronic alcoholics suffer most from deficiencies in this vitamin. Supporting optimal energy production may be considered to be a potential health benefit of consuming enoki mushrooms.

Niacin levels are also elevated in most mushrooms and enoki mushrooms are no different. Enoki mushrooms contain 7.03mg of niacin per 100 grams. Niacin, or vitamin B3, is another key energy production supporting nutrient that is vital for optimal mitochondrial health, DNA repair, and body growth.

Enoki mushroom also has trace amounts of zinc. Zinc is of course a natural antioxidant and is essential to the optimum functioning of our bodies. It is heavily implicated in supporting optimal cell growth and also fertility.

Enoki mushrooms are a good source of potassium, an essential electrolyte, containing 359mg of potassium per 100 grams of mushroom. This nutrient is needed for optimal muscular and nervous system functioning.

Summary

Enoki mushroom is considered to be a healing mushroom with high culinary significance. This mushroom is the fifth most cultivated mushroom globally. Enoki mushrooms are rich in specific enoki polysaccharides, dietary fibres and sterols.

One of the main potential benefits of eating Enoki Mushroomscomes from their specific polysaccharides. These are mostly indigestible complex sugars that form nutritional dietary fibre. Because of the role they can play in optimizing gut health, enoki mushroom polysaccharides have generated excitement in the wellness community.

β-glucans make up 23% of the total dry weight of enoki mushrooms. They are the most abundant complex polysaccharide in enoki mushrooms. This is mostly due to the thick cell walls of enoki mushrooms. They are undigestible dietary fibres that gut microbes can digest. This is how β-glucans have their beneficial effects, through promoting optimal microbial health.  

Your gut microbes are thought to encourage optimal brain health, immune system functioning and support energy production. β-glucans may also reduce blood sugar levels, lowering risk of diabetes and promote cardiovascular health. Another enoki mushroom compound, mycosterol, is also thought to involved in the enoki mushroom induced lowering of LDL to HDL levels. While mycosterol may also lower blood pressure, also showing heart health promoting qualities.

Enoki mushroom polyphenols may help to promote healthy cellular ageing. Enoki mushrooms contain a good amount of zinc, which is also a health promoting antioxidant. They are also rich in vitamins B1 and B3, which help to support normal energy production and DNA production or repair.

Taken together, enoki mushroom presents itself as an interesting addition to one’s diet with powerful health promoting potential. Especially in terms of promoting optimal gut health.

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