Is there any shadow? Will eating enoki mushrooms cause cancer? If the body becomes acidic, will cancer come knocking on your door?

Enoki mushrooms are a must-have ingredient on the dining table and even in hot pot. Enoki mushrooms are an edible fungus that is very nutritious and contains protein, various vitamins and amino acids. However, there is a widespread rumor on the Internet: Enoki mushrooms, which are often added to hot pot, are acidic foods, 7 times acidic than meat, and eating too much acidic food is not good for the body. It will also make the body acidic and prone to cancer. What is the truth? How to eat Enoki mushrooms in a healthy way? Let’s hear what nutritionist Chen Yanhua has to say.

Nutritionist Chen Yanhua from Changhua Christian Hospital said that the acidity and alkalinity of food is not determined by the taste, but is related to the mineral content in the food. Generally speaking, foods that contain more minerals such as phosphorus, chlorine, and sulfur are acidic foods, while foods that contain more minerals such as potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, and iron are alkaline foods.

Eggs, beans, fish and meat are acidic foods, while vegetables are alkaline foods.

The so-called acidic food refers to the food that produces more anions, such as phosphate (Po43-), sulfate (So42-), and chloride ions (Cl-), than cations, such as sodium ions (Na+), potassium ions (K+), magnesium ions (Mg2+), and calcium ions (Ca2+) after digestion and absorption. This is because too many anions can easily form acids in the body and produce acidic reactions; conversely, if more cations are produced, because cations can make the body retain more bicarbonate ions, it is easy to produce more alkali in the body, forming an alkaline reaction.

Looking at the six major categories of food, whole grains, protein (eggs, fish, meat), etc. are all acidic foods; vegetables and fruits are mostly alkaline foods, so enoki mushrooms are also alkaline foods. Although milk contains phosphorus and should be acidic, it contains a lot of calcium, so it is still an alkaline food.

Even if you eat too much Enoki mushrooms (alkaline food), your body will not become alkaline. This is because the body has a regulatory system that balances the acid-base function. When the body's acid-base balance changes, the three major buffers of the blood, kidneys and respiratory system will adjust to keep the body in a weakly alkaline state.

Food cannot change the body's pH value, the body maintains a constant weak acidity

Since Enoki mushrooms are alkaline foods, will the body become alkaline if consumed in excess? Nutritionist Chen Yanhua pointed out that the normal pH value of a healthy person's blood is between the weakly alkaline pH7.35 and pH7.45. The acid-base properties of food have very little effect on the body. Even if you eat too much Enoki mushrooms (alkaline food), your body will not become alkaline. This is because the body has a regulatory system that balances acid-base functions. When the body's acid-base balance changes, the three major buffers of the blood, kidneys and respiratory system will adjust to keep the body in a weakly alkaline state.

Eating a lot of protein often can lead to calcium loss in the body

If the diet is unbalanced for a long time and a large amount of protein foods such as fish, meat, seafood and acidic foods are consumed, the glomerular hyperfiltration rate will increase, maintaining a high renal blood flow and increasing the pressure in the glomerulus. If the diet is too heavy and too much salt is consumed, it will increase the burden on the kidneys, which means that there will be proteinuria with bubbles when urinating, and the bubbles can last for 30 seconds. In addition, frequent and large intake of high-protein foods will also release calcium ions in the bones, making it easy for calcium to be lost in the body, which is one of the causes of osteoporosis.

The purine content in mushrooms is high, eating too much can easily induce gout

Nutritionist Chen Yanhua said that enoki mushrooms are rich in natural mushroom polysaccharides, which can activate the immune system and enhance resistance. However, mushroom foods such as enoki mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, and king oyster mushrooms have a high content of purine. Eating too much may easily induce gout.

Mushroom foods such as Flammulina velutipes, Pleurotus eryngii, and Eleutherodactylus velutipes contain purine values ​​of about 9-100 mg per 100 grams, and are medium-purine foods; while dried shiitake mushrooms contain purine values ​​of about 150-1000 mg per 100 grams, and are high-purine foods. Purine in mushrooms will form uric acid after being metabolized by the kidneys, and the human body mainly eliminates purine, uric acid and other toxins through urination.

If you eat a lot of mushrooms without drinking enough water, the uric acid level in your blood will increase. People with poor uric acid metabolism will easily develop gout. When gout attacks acutely, in addition to drinking more than 2,500 ml of water, you must also strictly limit your purine intake and avoid eating foods from the second and third groups in the table below. Only foods from the first group can be eaten. In addition, the diet should be low in oil, as high-fat foods will hinder the excretion of uric acid in the body.

(Source: Ministry of Health and Welfare, Executive Yuan, ROC Dietary Manual)

(Source: Ministry of Health and Welfare, Executive Yuan, ROC Dietary Manual)

Note: Since the purine in seaweed and shiitake mushrooms is measured after being dried, it is concentrated and has a higher content.

[Nutritionist's Tips]:

It is recommended to consume mushrooms 1 to 2 times a week and eat a balanced diet of various vegetables to maintain good health. If you like to eat hot pot in winter, the mushrooms added to the hot pot must also follow the above intake principles. In addition, meat, tofu, seafood, and broth cooked with large bones and containing too much fat are all high-purine foods. It is recommended that gout patients avoid eating them when eating hot pot, and do not drink hot pot soup that has been cooked for a long time, because the salt in the food will be integrated into the soup base and cause too much salt. In addition, since people drink less water in winter, uric acid concentrations can easily soar. Remember to drink plenty of water after eating to help excrete uric acid and reduce the chance of gout attacks.

👉Recommended reading: There is a magic tool to lower cholesterol and promote metabolism! 5 Health Benefits of Enoki Mushrooms You Must Know

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