Mushrooms: Caution

A Few Words of Caution: On a much more serious note, mushrooms can be very dangerous! Most species of mushrooms are not edible, are highly poisonous and look strikingly similar to their edible counterparts. Don’t ever try picking mushrooms for consumption from the woods unless you have been trained to identify them very well. Mushrooms have the unique ability to absorb the material that they grow on, either good or bad. This quality is what gives mushrooms so much of their beneficial power, but also their dangerous aspects. Many mushrooms, when picked in the wild, contain heavy metals, which can be very toxic, as well as air and water pollutants.

Also, do not trust any unknown vendors when you buy mushrooms. Always trust sealed products from reputable companies or those which you have grown yourself under controlled conditions after buying their seeds (called spawns) from a trusted source. A single poisonous mushroom among others in a dish can threaten a large amount of people’s health, resulting in comas, severe poison symptoms, nausea, vomiting, convulsions, cramps, insanity. Many species can even be fatal if ingested.  Always avoid eating discolored mushrooms or those which are different in color than the typically accepted color of their species.