What are the dangers of wild mushrooms? PP-soup made from them can do more harm than good

nutrition expert, founder of the GetVegetable nutrition delivery service

Why can forest mushrooms be dangerous?

“Let’s go mushroom picking!”, “Do you go mushroom picking?” – such suggestions and questions can often be heard at the height of mushroom season from friends and family. Someone goes on a “mushroom hunt” at the dacha, someone specially goes to the forest, to the lake or chooses already familiar mushroom places. But do we always think about how safe this hobby can be? The recent shocking case of watermelon poisoning in Moscow reminds us once again – be careful when choosing products and always remember about your health. The pleasure of picking mushrooms or any other harvest should not turn into sad consequences.

Forest mushrooms from your own harvest can have a negative impact on your body, even if they are not poisonous. Since mushrooms absorb various substances: they accumulate salts of heavy metals, falling, for example, from rain or dust. Among other things, collecting mushrooms near fields can be dangerous, since pesticides are widely used in agriculture. If you get a small amount of harmful substances in the body, you may feel weakness, malaise, dizziness, nausea. These symptoms are likely to last about a day.

Old mushrooms are also dangerous, as they have accumulated not only useful but also harmful substances. If you found an old mushroom, cut it off, do not need to cut it, leave it in place. Will not help neither frying, nor boiling, nor salting.

One of the most dangerous forest mushrooms – collected along highways. It seems like it: the forest, nature, cleanliness. But, of course, the mushroom along the road will absorb and exhaust fumes, and all the harmful substances from passing cars. The busier the highway – the more chemistry absorbed the mushroom and the more negative impact it will have on the body. At the height of the season in the news we can see reports on how often people are brought in with such poisonings.

Pregnant and lactating women are also not recommended to eat mushrooms, because in case of what poison can penetrate into the fetus.

How to properly cook mushrooms?

If a mushroom in the forest seems beautiful and edible to you, does not mean that this is the case. Improper storage or cooking can cause an eating disorder or poisoning.

Still, if you are confident in the quality of the collected forest mushrooms and are going to cook them, remember that first they must be boiled for at least 15 minutes. And you can fry or bake them only afterwards. The better the quality of boiling mushrooms – the lower the risk of getting intoxication of the body.

Store mushrooms in any form can not be more than seven months. Therefore, when preparing them, do not forget to label them with the date of packaging.

• Always cut the mushroom with a whole stem.
• Pick and boil the mushrooms the same day you harvest them. Don’t forget to re-examine them thoroughly again.
• If some mushrooms are already suspicious at home – for example, because they are flabby, have no stems, have worm marks or are overripe – don’t be afraid to throw them away.

Do you often pick your own mushrooms? Or do you prefer to buy ready-made preserves in trusted stores?