Eat mushrooms to avoid brittle bones: Australian researchers

Australians should be heaping mushrooms onto plates during winter to avoid becoming vitamin D deficient, new findings released by the Australian Mushroom Growers Association suggests.

The research, which has been vetted by Foods Standards Australia New Zealand - the bi-national food safety authority - shows one serve of mushrooms bought in store can provide 20 percent of an adult's daily vitamin D needs.

Mushrooms that have been exposed to one or two seconds of UV light, a single serve can provide 100 percent of an adult's daily vitamin D needs.

Local media reported on Tuesday Australian nutritionists have long claimed mushrooms are a great source of vitamin D when people aren't getting enough from the sun, however this is the first time such research has been conducted.

Dietician Glenn Cardwell said mushrooms, like humans generate vitamin D in response to UV-light.

"We now know that mushrooms are the only food to provide 100 percent of vitamin D in one serve," Cardwell said.

Though present in only very few foods, Vitamin D is important to maintain strong bones, helping the body absorb calcium.

People who get too little Vitamin D risk developing soft, thin, and brittle bones.

Over Australia's winter period, six in ten women and four in ten men who are likely to be vitamin D deficient.

Those most at risk of being Vitamin D deficient are people who work indoors or who work night shifts, the elderly and housebound, naturally dark skinned people, and those who cover their bodies for cultural or religious reasons. Endi