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Move Over Milk: D Is In The Mushrooms

Until now, people had to be sun worshippers, drink fortified milk or take supplements to get enough vitamin D. This poses a problem for vegans, especially in northern climates with cold winters, short days and weak winter sun. Now, however, researchers in Helsinki have discovered a new and delectable way to get vitamin D and its calcium benefits: wild chanterelle mushrooms.

Terhi Outila and colleagues from the University of Helsinki in Finland invited 27 women in their mid-20s to lunch for three weeks running. Nine were served 2 oz ground Cantharellus tubaeformis mushrooms, which contained 14 mcg of the vitamin D precursor ergocalciferol. Nine women received an equivalent amount of vitamin D—about 560 IU—from a supplement, while the rest served as the control group. During the three-week trial, the level of serum-hydroxyvitamin D (a marker for active vitamin D) rose significantly in both the mushroom and supplemented groups but not the control group.

This demonstrated that not only do the mushrooms contain the vitamin D precursor, but that it is biologically active. Most plants are low in vitamin D, but chanterelle mushrooms are an exception, containing up to 0.298 mcg/g of ergocalciferol. Chanterelles are abundant in the northwestern United States.

—American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1999 Jan;69:95-8