The New Superfoods Fitness highlights the common white button mushroom as one of ten lesser-known superfoods that will keep your body healthy and slim – without costing you a fortune at the grocery store. Swapping meat for mushrooms is highlighted as a successful weight-loss strategy, and the most common of all ‘shrooms is recognized as one of few natural food sources of vitamin D.

Vitamin D levels dip San Francisco Chronicle interviews the world’s leading vitamin D expert, Dr. Michael Holick. Lack of vitamin D can lead to heart disease, cancer, depression, insomnia, diabetes and chronic pain so be sure to get adequate amounts of this crucial nutrient. Adequate daily vitamin D intake may be hard to come by as this nutrient is often not found naturally in foods. But, rest assured that all mushroom contain D – they’re the only source in the produce section.

The Trading Post 2009’s Taste of Home “Mushrooms: Every Day, Every Way” recipe contest winner is highlighted. Have you entered this year’s contest? If you’re lacking inspiration, give this winning portabella burger recipe a try.

EAT YOUR VEGGIES: Adding vegetarian dishes to the menu will benefit your health Vegetarian diets are becoming more common these days. They’re not simple though, without a little planning the risk of depriving yourself of key nutrients is high. But if done right, a vegetarian diet can be satisfying and good for your waistline. A tip the Bradenton Herald offers readers is one of our weight-loss favorites – substitute meat with mushrooms. Studies have shown that substituting four ounces of mushrooms for four ounces of meat once a week for one year could save more than 18,000 calories and nearly 3,000 grams of fat – that adds up to more than five pounds!

Chef’s kitchen: Try an Herbed Mushroom Tulip The Olympian’s resident chef admits she used to avoid mushrooms at all costs but now she just can’t get enough. Chocked full of selenium, B vitamins and fiber, mushrooms are not only a nutritional powerhouse but they also add flavor to everyday meals.

Mushroom has a lot to offer Our friends up in Canada agree that there’s no reason to not love mushrooms. No fat, hardly any carbs or calories, low in sodium – mushrooms lack all the bad stuff and provide nothing but the good: vitamins, minerals, fiber and flavor.