Pleurotus mushrooms

Pleurotus ostreatus, also called oyster mushroom, is one of the most popular and most known mushroom all over the world. This mushroom has cholesterol-lowering properties and is able to boost the immune system. In fact, the oyster mushroom contains, among other substances, lovastatin, also present in the red yeast rice, which helps to lower the levels of bad cholesterol LDL and VLDL, by reducing their absorption and synthesis in the liver. Studies performed by the Research Institute of Nutrition of Bratislava and published on the scientific journal Die Nahrung, now called Molecular Nutrition and Research, have shown that the regular consumption of this mushroom is able to counteract the atherosclerosis in coronary arteries and results helpful in heart attack prevention. The immune system benefits from taking this mushroom, which seems to help cause the death of cancer cells. In addition to these properties, the oyster mushroom has antioxidant, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory properties and can inhibit platelet aggregation, this helps prevent the formation of blood clots. Finally, thanks to the presence of beta glucans the mushroom is able to delay the assimilation of sugars, this characteristic is very important for those who have to keep the blood sugar under control. You can eat the mushroom, it is not toxic.