Mushrooms are complicated. We collect and eat all kinds of mushrooms and really enjoy it. We belong to a mushroom club and never eat a mushroom unless we are 100% certain of the genus/species. As part of the identification of a new (to us) individual mushroom, I do spore prints and consult with a mycologist.
That said, I came very close to dying years ago when I ate a big plate of delicious mushrooms that we had a positive ID on. I spent the night vomiting and having severe diarrhea, until eventually I thought I was going to die. My gf was sound asleep the whole night. When I decided to wake her up and have her drive me to the ER or call an ambulance it was “too late”. I tried to put some clothes on, but fell to the floor with muscle cramps.
I pulled blankets off of the spare bed and wrapped them around me, then passed out. In the morning my gf found me in our spare bedroom and woke me up with some difficulty. Over the next few days I became well again.
So, my gf had eaten the same mushrooms and was fine. With further research I learned that the mushroom that made me so sick is considered safe to eat except by individuals with a rare sensitivity to them. All “exotic” foraged fungi should be tasted first in small quantity, then consumed the next day just to rule out rare, idiosyncratic reactions.
Yeah, that can happen, too. Also idiosyncratic interactions with other food: I’ve also heard of a mushroom that’s perfectly safe to eat on its own, but is sickening and potentially deadly when consumed with alcohol.
Even among “true morel” species there’s caution to be had. I knew morels could be slightly toxic if eaten raw, but I recently learned one early species, “VERPA BOHEMICA” can cause intoxication-like symptoms if eaten in large quantities, and “MORCHELLA ANGUSTICEPS”, the “black morel” can cause stomach upset if consumed with alcoholic beverages (though probably not as bad as the mushrooms mentioned above).
Repeated for emphasis, despite the risk of squee-harshing.
The idea of “superfoods” seems to be that you can add one or more to your diet and marked health benefits will ensue, when the reality is that healthy eating requires adherence to mundane aspects like calorie limitation and eating a higher percentage of plants. Mushrooms, like many other foods contain antioxidants, but aren’t fabulously “super” in that regard (and overdoing antioxidants can actually promote cancer). Mushrooms are said to be “rich” in B vitamins; a cup of white button mushrooms is reported to contain a whopping 7 percent of your daily thiamin requirement (higher percentages for other B vitamins, though forget B12). Other foods may be better sources and offer other benefits.*
I’m as suspicious of the hype over “superfoods”, although not as :dubious: as I get when I hear someone going on about their “healing journey”. Anytime someone goes on such a “journey”, you can be pretty sure they’re taking the bridge to Woo-Land.
*I am not anti-mushroom. I like them funguses just fine.