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Want to know the health benefits of truffles?
Don’t worry.
Here, we will discuss what experts say about truffles and their health benefits.
Choosing the right food is the primary step when it comes to living a healthy & fit life. And truffle is one of them.
Truffles are validated to be antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antitumor, antimicrobial, and aphrodisiac by the USDA.
I am pretty sure that after knowing the health benefits of eating truffles, you will be encouraged to include them in your regular diet.
(Here, by truffles, I mean the fungus that grows near the roots of certain trees and not the chocolate with the same name).
Let’s start our discussion with a quick introduction to truffles.
Table of Contents
1. What Are Truffles?
Truffles are the fragrant fungus that grows belowground and are best known for their health benefits and unique aromas.
Since they are beneficial for our body, truffles are being used in different regional and international cuisines.
The word “truffle” is a general word used for all the underground fungi.
(Black Truffles)
The genus tuber is one of the most important parts of truffles.
Truffles are extremely hard to source and once they are harvested, they start losing their potency.
More than a hundred different kinds of truffle species are known worldwide, and new species are still being found.
A few truffle species such as garlic truffles, summer truffles, black truffles, white truffles, etc are very famous in the USA.
All of them differ in flavor, cost, and appearance.
These characteristics of truffles are due to compounds, like alcohols, ketones, aldehyde, and sulfur that are secreted by their fruiting bodies.
Among them, the black truffles (tuber melanosporum) and white truffles are the most expensive.
Along with the strong flavor and pungent aroma of truffles, they are highly nutritious and have lots of health benefits.
Now, let’s discuss the nutrient content of truffles.
2. The Nutritional Value of Truffles
Truffles are high in carbs, protein, and dietary fiber. They also contain both saturated and unsaturated fatty acids.
Fact – White truffles are more rich in carbs, protein, and fiber than other species of truffles.
They are also rich in micronutrients such as vitamin C, phosphorus, sodium, iron, magnesium, manganese, and calcium.
Truffle provides protein and all the 9 amino acids (especially the sulfur-containing amino acids i.e, cysteine and methionine) that your body needs the most.
This nutritional fact is based on 100 grams of truffle.
- Dietary Fiber – 2.8 grams
- Carbs – 49.61 g
- Calcium – 167 mg
- Iron – 1.96 mg
- Magnesium – 53 mg
- Phosphorus – 181 mg
- Potassium – 323 mg
- Vitamin A – 126 µg
- Vitamin C – 0.1 mg
- Choline – 41.1 mg
- Saturated Fatty acids – 20 g
- Vitamin E – 0.62 mg
- Sodium – 86 mg
- Caffeine – 17 mg
Along with these, truffles also have nutrients like zinc, copper, selenium, retinol, etc in a very small quantity.
(Source: USDA)
More than 60% of the total fatty acid contents of truffles are occupied by oleic and linoleic acids.
Here, you have to note that the nutrient content of truffles varies in accordance with the types of species.
Now, we will discuss the health benefits of eating truffles.
Let’s start.
3. What Are The Health Benefits of Truffles?
The United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recognized the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antitumor, antimicrobial, and aphrodisiac properties of truffles.
In short, we can say that truffles have lots of health importance if consumed regularly.
Here, we will discuss these health advantages step-by-step.
1) Truffles are Rich in Antioxidants
Free radicals are the main cause of oxidative damage to your body. The best way to get rid of or prevent it is to consume antioxidants.
And you will be happy to hear that truffles are very much rich in antioxidants.
Various studies have concluded that truffles are rich in antioxidants such as lycopene, gallic acid, vitamin C, and homogentisic acid.
These antioxidant contents can help you a lot in preventing various types of diseases.
Here, you have to note that the number of antioxidants varies from species to species of truffles.
2) Truffles are Naturally Anti-bacterial
Truffles are found to decrease the growth of specific strains of bacteria. These bacteria can cause lots of health damage to us.
The amazing fact that I found during my research on truffles is that they can reduce the growth of the bacteria which resist antibiotics.
I found this to be one of the best health benefits of truffles.
However, we need more data about the kind of bacteria whose growth is decreased by truffles.
3) They are Anti-fatigue
Due to workload, poor diet, and less physical activity, the number of people suffering from fatigue is increasing day by day.
Truffles especially black truffles can be the best solution for this.
In one of the research papers published by the Austin publishing group, researchers have concluded that black truffle is naturally anti-fatigue.
The evaluation was performed by measuring the endurance of the mouse during swimming and running tests before and after giving it black truffles.
After a few days of research, researchers confirmed the anti-fatigue properties of black truffles.
The anti-fatigue activities of black truffle involve complex regulation of energy and hormone metabolism and controlling levels of oxidative stress.
From this, we can say that truffles help us fight fatigue naturally which could be one of the best health benefits of eating truffles.
4) They Help Reducing Inflammation
Having a certain level of inflammation is good. It defends our body from various infections and diseases.
But having a high level of inflammation for a longer period can invite lots of chronic diseases.
In short, we need to keep inflammation levels in the healthy range and truffles can help us a lot in doing so.
Some studies suggest that truffles may help us lower inflammation and hence promote overall immune health.
One test-tube study showed that certain compounds in black and white truffles can block the activity of specific enzymes involved in the inflammatory process.
(Source: Healthline)
This shows that by including truffles in our regular diet, we can prevent most illnesses caused by high levels of inflammation in the body.
5) Truffles Have Anti-diabetic and Antinephritic Properties
According to research conducted by the researchers of IIT-Kharagpur, India, black truffles are found to have anti-diabetic and antinephritic (preventing anti-nutrients) properties.
A prolonged study of eight weeks using varied oral dosages of black truffles was conducted on mice.
The study showed the improvement in the Nrf2 signaling pathway via modulation of oxidative stress and cytokines.
After critically analyzing the data provided by the study, it was easy for researchers to conclude the anti-diabetic and antinephritic properties of black truffles.
Looking at these amazing health benefits of truffles, I often recommend to people that if they can afford the truffles, they should consume them.
6) Truffles May Prevent The Growth of Cancer Cells
Well, this claim is completely based on test-tube studies and we need more research to confirm this.
One of the test-tube studies showed that compounds extracted from different types of truffles helped block the growth of tumor cells in the liver, colon, lung, and breast.
Another test-tube study found that the extracts of both black and white truffles exhibited anticancer effects on breast, cervical, and colon cancer cells.
But since the evidence is very less, we can’t consider it to be established health benefits of truffles.
7) Truffles Help in Slowing Down The Ageing Process
Aging is inevitable but at least we can slow down the aging process and look younger even at older ages.
Truffles can very help us with it.
The process of aging is generally increased because of oxidative damage to the skin and other organs of the body.
Since truffles are rich in antioxidants, they can help us reduce oxidative damage and consequently helps us reduce the aging process.
8) Truffles Can Lower The Risk of Developing Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)
We saw above that truffles are foods that are rich in potassium.
100 grams of truffles can provide you with 323 mg of potassium which is a wonderful amount.
Since truffles are rich in potassium, you get all the health benefits of eating potassium-rich foods and one of them is a lower risk of CVDs.
Potassium is very good for heart health. It also keeps the blood pressure in the healthy range.
Studies conducted by fungal biotechnology show that truffles have a higher content of polyphenol than other phenolic-rich foods such as cherries, onions, strawberries, etc.
These polyphenols are very important to manage your blood pressure levels and keep your blood vessels healthy and flexible, promoting good circulation.
They also help reduce chronic inflammation which is one of the risk factors for heart disease.
Oleic acid and linoleic acid present in the truffles are known to reduce cholesterol levels.
So, if you eat truffles, you can easily lower the risk of suffering from heart-related problems in the future.
9) Truffles Are Rich In Important Bioactive Compounds
Truffles are high in bioactive compounds such as ascorbic acid, ergosterol, phenolics, flavonoids, terpenoids, phytosterol, and polysaccharides.
These compounds help truffles to have antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, anti-mutagenic, and anticancer properties.
100 grams of black truffles contain 611-1355 mg of rutin which is a flavonoid useful to prevent and cure oxidative stress.
Various species of truffles are also known to contain Ergosterol which is a biological precursor of vitamin D2.
These bioactive compounds show various health-promoting activities such as antihyperlipidemic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities.
(Source: Fungal Biology and Biotechnology)
10) Truffles May Stimulate Your Sexual Desires
Truffles have been used as an effective sexual enhancer since ancient times.
The best reason for claiming this health benefit of truffles is the androstenol content present in them.
Androstenol is also found in the underarm perspiration of men and urine of women to increase sexual attractiveness.
Studies on rats also confirm that truffles have the ability to increase testosterone levels.
11) They Improve Digestion & Help in Weight loss
Truffles are low in calories and fats and they are also rich in dietary fiber.
Since they are rich in fiber, they improve your digestion and keep your weight in a healthy range.
These are some health benefits of truffles.
You can get all these health advantages if you include truffles in your daily diet.
4. How to Use Truffles to Get Maximum Health Benefits?
First, clean the raw truffles as you get them by cutting off any bad spots and brushing off the dirt.
Then gently rinse it in water and blot dry it.
Then cover the truffles with a dry paper towel and keep them in the refrigerator until you use them in food dishes.
You can grate raw truffles and add them to pasta, eggs, rice, sauces, fish, chicken, etc.
You can also infuse it into olive oil or butter.
Consume them regularly to get all the above-mentioned health benefits of truffles.
5. Truffles Are Out of My Budget…What Should I Do?
Though truffles are rich in many nutrients, we have to pay a big cost to consume them. (one pound of truffles can cost you $450-$500)
In short, price is the real barrier between people and truffles.
But we have to find a solution so that we get all the health benefits of truffles.
And one of the best solutions is to use truffle oil and truffle salt.
Yes, many health experts suggest consuming truffle oil and/or truffle salt instead of highly-priced truffles.
La Tourangelle provides medium-heated, expeller-pressed, and sodium-free white truffle oil.
This product is completely Gluten-Free, Kosher, GMO-Free, and 100% Vegan white truffle oil.
You can easily use this oil in pizza, pasta, marinades, soup, etc.
=> Conclusion For The Health Benefits of Truffles
Truffles are one of the healthy foods that provide us with numerous health benefits.
Though they are extremely high in cost you can still use them in the form of salt or truffle oil.
Here, we have discussed almost all the health benefits of eating truffles.
If you have a good budget to spend on your health, I will definitely recommend you to use truffles in various food items.
The only care you should take before buying truffles is to choose the trusted source that supplies the original truffles.
If you have any questions related to the health benefits of truffles, you can ask me in the comment box.
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Thanks for reading….!!!
