Blasting mushrooms with UV light boosts vitamin D

Mushrooms are delicious, nutritious mini-pharmaceutical factories. They produce well over a hundred compounds with links to good health, from immune system enhancement to protection of the cardiovascular system.

Wild mushrooms are a rich source of nutrients, but commercially grown mushrooms are diminished in this regard. 

Insufficiency and deficiency in vitamin D have been linked to increased risk for dozens of diseases — osteoporosis, cancer, and COVID, just to name a few.

Mushrooms are the only non-animal food source that provides a notable amount of vitamin D. In fact, some species of wild mushrooms contain four times the daily value (DV) of vitamin D in just a 3.5-ounce serving.

Similar to humans, mushrooms produce vitamin D when exposed to UV radiation. When we humans are hit by UV light, our cholesterol starts producing vitamin D in the skin through a photochemical process. This is similar to what happens in the mushroom, but here it’s the ergosterol that’s converted into vitamin D by means of the energy from the UV light.

Researchers discovered a new method that enriched vitamin D levels to a whopping 4600% DV per serving. Suspending the mushrooms in ethanol during irradiation to protect the vitamin D from degradation.

Irradiated mushrooms are effective in preventing osteoporosis, due to the ideal combination of vitamin D and minerals that can exert constructive effects on bone density.

You can irradiate your mushrooms at home. Simply drying shiitake mushrooms in sunlight for 6 hours with the gills facing up can boost their vitamin D levels nearly 460%.