3. Improve Bone Health
Statistics from the CDC state that osteoarthritis affects over 10-percent of men, and 13-percent of women over the age of 60-years. This statistic makes the condition the most common form of degenerative bone disease affecting seniors in the United States. Symptoms of the disease include painful joints, reduced mobility, and a loss in quality of life.
Eating a diet of foods rich in calcium, and supplementing with the mineral can slow progression of the disease. Mushrooms are an alkaline food, eating them balances the acidity in your gastrointestinal tract. Mushrooms are high in copper and zinc, two other minerals essential for the development of new bone cells.
Zinc enhances the production of osteoblasts that form the cells of new bone. One cup of cooked shitake mushrooms contains over 25-percent of the RDA for zinc. Levels of zinc decline in men and women suffering from osteoarthritis. By adding mushrooms to their diet, people with the disease can slow its progression and reduce symptoms of pain.
