Americans have recently started to embrace the health benefits of mushrooms, though often in powder or supplement form. The health and wellness market grows more saturated every day with ads for the likes of reishi lattes, lion’s mane energy shots, and nootropic blends.
But for people living in blue zones, mushrooms – in their whole form – have been an integral part of healthy diets for centuries. Recent studies have confirmed mushrooms’ status as a nutritional powerhouse with significant anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. They can help decrease the risk of cancer, boost gut health and immunity, and protect brain health. They’re excellent sources of fiber, B vitamins like riboflavin and niacin, and minerals like selenium and copper. Mushrooms are also the only form of produce that provides vitamin D.
Recent studies have confirmed mushrooms’ status as a nutritional powerhouse with significant anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. They can help decrease the risk of cancer, boost gut health and immunity, and protect brain health. Share on XOkinawa’s traditional umami-forward menu
Okinawans regularly include mushroom varieties like shiitake, matsutake, oyster, maitake, and shimeji in miso and mushroom soups, veggie dishes, and stir-fries. Vegetables make up nearly 60% of the typical Okinawan diet. So from a culinary perspective, it helps that mushrooms are also rich in umami, the flavor compound that provides a “meaty” taste.
Mushrooms growing in popularity in Sardinia
In Sardinia, residents have foraged a few wild varieties like oyster and porcini mushrooms for generations. According to a 2018 study, “until recently only a handful of species were regularly picked and eaten in Sardinia. This is intriguing, in a land inhabited by an ancient people with a strong agro-pastoral culture and generally believed to possess full knowledge of the natural resources of their environment.”
The study notes that in recent years, Sardinians have branched out dramatically in the kinds of mushrooms they gather and eat, taking greater advantage of the dozens of edible species on the island. Mushrooms fortify Sardinian staples like the pasta dishes, cardulinu ’e petza (a simple starter with mushrooms, garlic and parsley), and zuppa cuata (from Northern Sardinia), a bread soup that often uses a medley of local mushrooms.
Foraging in Ikaria
Plant-based cooking is foundational to the lifestyle in Ikaria, Greece. Greek-American chef and cookbook author Diane Kochilas called mushrooms a “crucial” ingredient to the local diet. Islanders gather together to forage for king oyster mushrooms, portobellos, coral mushrooms, and saffron milk caps. This social activity benefits Ikarians particularly during the long, wet winters, when warm-weather produce is unavailable, but many species of mushrooms are abundant.
According to Kochilas, residents of Ikaria use mushrooms in staple dishes like manitaria yiahni stew; grilled portobello steaks topped with feta and oregano; and savory mushroom stifado, stewed with whole onions. They also use mushrooms as a nutrient-dense substitute for red meat in mushroom gyros and souvlaki.
A staple in Loma Linda
In the blue zones region of Loma Linda, California, residents are similarly rooted in vegetarian cooking. They bring mushroom-based dishes like mushroom-walnut patties or plant-based “steaks” with mushroom sauce to Sabbath-day potluck dinners. The Loma Linda University Cancer Center lists mushrooms among foods that fight cancer and heart disease.
In the blue zones region of Loma Linda, California, residents are similarly rooted in vegetarian cooking. They bring mushroom-based dishes like mushroom-walnut patties or plant-based “steaks” with mushroom sauce to Sabbath-day potluck… Share on XCosta Rica’s ‘chicken of the woods’
People living in the Nicoya, Costa Rica blue zones region rely on a diet based on the “trinity” of beans, squash and corn. Their mushroom usage is less documented, but Costa Ricans can avail themselves of gallina de palo – chicken of the woods – mushrooms that grow wild in the region. The Mushroom Birria Bowl frozen meals from Blue Zones Kitchen boast Nicoya-like Central American flavors.
While mushroom supplements might be on-trend, cooking delicious, robust meals with wild or cultivated mushrooms has never gone out of style in parts of the world where people live the longest, healthiest lives.
While mushroom supplements might be on-trend, cooking delicious, robust meals with wild or cultivated mushrooms has never gone out of style in parts of the world where people live the longest, healthiest lives. Share on XTim Cebula is a former senior editor for Cooking Light magazine. His work has appeared in national and regional publications, including Time, Health, Food & Wine, Boston magazine, and The Boston Globe. He lives on the southern coast of Maine.
