Eating mushrooms is a great way to help you lose weight~ Freeze them before cooking to get more nutrition and better taste?

Eating more low-calorie mushrooms in your daily diet can help you get rid of obesity faster, but it is human nature to love delicious food. How can you make mushrooms more delicious and make the days of weight loss less boring? There is a method circulating on the Internet that says “freeze mushrooms in the refrigerator before cooking”. It is believed that freezing can destroy the cell walls and make the mushrooms release more umami ingredients, but is this really effective? Let’s listen to the nutritionist’s analysis.

Three Keys to Mushroom Weight Loss: Low Calories, High Fiber and Rich in Protein

"What should I eat to lose weight?" Almost everyone has asked this question when trying to lose weight, and in the minds of weight loss and health experts, "mushrooms" are definitely one of the recommended answers. Hou Wenyi, director of the Nutrition Department of St. Martin's Hospital, said that the biggest advantage of eating mushrooms to help lose weight is "low calories". According to the Food and Drug Administration's Food Nutrient Database, every 100 grams of dried Agaricus blazei (Brazilian mushroom) has only 293.6 calories, while wet mushrooms have even lower calories. For the same 100 grams, King Oyster Mushroom has only 41.3 calories, Shiitake mushroom has 38.5 calories, and Button mushroom has only 25 calories, which is very suitable for calorie control for people who are trying to lose weight.

In addition, whether it is shiitake mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms, enoki mushrooms or shimeji mushrooms, they are all rich in dietary fiber, which not only helps intestinal peristalsis, but also increases satiety, thereby reducing unnecessary intake of snacks or desserts and helping to lose weight. Moreover, although the protein content of mushrooms is not as high as that of meat, seafood, milk and other foods, it is still the leader among fruits and vegetables. From this we can see that mushrooms have become a favorite for weight loss, and it is absolutely well-deserved!

Freeze fresh mushrooms before cooking to upgrade their nutrition and taste?

We can eat mushrooms to lose weight, but how can we make mushroom dishes more delicious? Some articles on the Internet suggest that raw mushrooms should be "frozen" first. The water in the mushrooms will expand when frozen, which can destroy the cell walls and release more umami ingredients, making the mushrooms more delicious and more nutritious. However, nutritionist Hou Wenyi has a different opinion on this. Since household refrigerators and the food industry have different freezing rates and freezing points, the effect still needs more research to confirm. It is also necessary to pay attention to the freshness of purchases to avoid excessive microorganisms. If the products are not cleaned, disinfected, and sterilized, the quality will be affected during the freezing process.

The 6th taste! The source of mushrooms' umami flavor

Umami is the sixth food flavor besides the traditional five flavors of “sour, sweet, bitter, salty and spicy”. It has a moderate effect on saltiness, sourness and bitterness, and enhances sweetness. It is the key to delicious cooking! Nutritionist Hou Wenyi explained that the main sources of "umami" in mushrooms are more than 12 kinds. For example, button mushrooms contain soluble sugar alcohols (mannitol), organic acids (oxalic acid, malic acid and citric acid), nucleotides (guanylic acid, carnosic acid and xanthosyl acid), and some free amino acids (aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glycine, thiocyanate and alanine). Different mushrooms have different organic acid compositions, but they all have a synergistic effect.

If we analyze it from the perspective of the three major nutrients needed by the human body, protein can be hydrolyzed into a variety of amino acids. Each amino acid has its own unique function. Amino acids that the human body cannot produce on its own and must be taken in from food are called "essential amino acids"; amino acids that the human body can synthesize on its own are "non-essential amino acids."

Among the four sources of umami amino acids mentioned above, glutamic acid and aspartic acid have higher umami intensity and belong to the "non-essential amino acids" like alanine. Threonine, also known as "hydroxybutyric acid", is an "essential amino acid" that helps maintain protein balance in the body and is also an important component of human collagen and tooth enamel.

Nutritionist: To make mushrooms more delicious, freezing is not practical

It is worth noting that, whether it is nucleotide umami or amino acid umami, domestic experiments have found that when mushrooms are stored in an environment of 4°C, 12°C and 25°C, not only will the sweetness of the mushrooms decrease over time, but the number and speed of microbial reproduction, as well as the browning, will also become more serious. Therefore, in order to maintain the quality and delicious taste of mushrooms, in addition to being cooked and eaten while fresh, they are often preserved in cans or seasoning packages.

As for whether freezing mushrooms and then cooking them can release more umami ingredients, nutritionist Hou Wenyi thinks it is not very practical! She explained that from a food safety perspective, even if fresh mushrooms are to be frozen, they must first be sterilized with hot water. They must be boiled in boiling water for 1 minute to kill most of the bacteria and microorganisms, and then quickly rinsed with cold water to reduce their freshness.

This approach can certainly ensure food safety, but while the hot water is used to kill the mushrooms, the flavor and aroma of the mushrooms will also dissolve in the water. Unless the water is recycled and extracted through distillation, chemical separation, or other methods, frozen mushrooms will usually not taste better than freshly cooked ones. Therefore, people do not need to overly believe the saying that "mushrooms taste better after being frozen." After buying mushrooms and bringing them home, just put them in the refrigerator as soon as possible and try to cook and eat them while they are fresh. You can easily feel the nutrition that mushrooms bring to your body and the stimulation to your taste buds.

Are shiitake mushrooms most delicious when eaten fresh and raw? Beware of microorganisms that harm your stomach and intestines

Nutritionist Hou Wenyi particularly emphasized that mushrooms are most delicious when they are just picked, but even if they are picked in space bags and stored in the refrigerator, we must pay attention to the possibility of excessive microorganisms. They should not be eaten raw. It is best to cook them before eating for safety. Especially for the elderly and children who have less gastric acid secretion, eating raw mushrooms may cause gastrointestinal discomfort.

【Tips for Mushrooms on weight loss】:

Although eating more mushrooms can improve weight loss results, nutritionists remind us that healthy weight loss still requires attention to the principle of "balanced diet". If you consume 400 grams of vegetables a day, it would be enough to eat about 100 to 200 grams of fresh mushrooms. Don't eat too much and neglect the intake of nutrients from other foods. In addition, when consuming mushrooms, don’t forget to drink plenty of water and exercise more to facilitate smooth bowel movements.