A common rule of thumb when it comes to nutrition is to “eat the rainbow”—meaning, eat a wide variety of colorful fruits and vegetables. But there are certainly a few exceptions. Though they aren’t bursting with vibrant color, mushrooms are full of vitamins and minerals and can certainly be considered a part of a healthy diet.

Of note, we’re not talking about special, hard-to-find functional or “medicinal” mushrooms here. We’re talking about the wonderful variety you can find in your produce section, like button, cremini, oyster, portobello and shiitake mushrooms—and wild mushrooms too.

Here’s the nutrition breakdown of the most common types of mushrooms, plus five reasons to add one or more of these varieties to your plate.

Mushroom Nutrition Facts

Nowadays, you can find many different types of mushrooms in the grocery store, from classics like button mushrooms and cremini mushrooms, to more unique varieties like oyster mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms. Here’s how the nutrition compares for the most commonly used mushrooms.

Portobello Mushroom Nutrition

The original vegetarian “burger,” portobellos are delicious as an accompaniment to a meal or as the star of the show. These hearty mushrooms impart a meaty, umami flavor to dishes—without the meat. According to the USDA, one medium portobello mushroom cap contains:

• 19 calories
• 2 g protein
• 0 g fat
• 3 g carbohydrates
• 1 g fiber
• 306 mg potassium
• 4 mg niacin

Baby Bella Mushroom Nutrition

Also called a cremini mushroom, nutrition facts for this variety don’t vary from that of portobellos all that much. This is because they’re the same type of mushroom—creminis are just harvested earlier, while portobellos are left to grow longer to reach their larger size. According to the USDA, one cup of whole cremini mushrooms contains:

• 19 calories
• 2 g protein
• 0 g fat
• 4 g carbohydrates
• 1 g fiber
• 390 mg potassium
• 3 mg niacin

Read more: https://shorturl.at/zBDY3