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.