Dear Mrs. Iyengar, Can you please tell me what benefits I can get from eating mushrooms? I am an egg-eating vegetarian and I want to know if mushrooms will help build my muscles. Thank you, Sanjeev   Hello Sanjeev, I am glad you asked this question for a lot of kids don't realize that mushrooms are loaded with nutrients. As a ten year old your body needs protein rich food to start building muscles, in preparation for your active teenage years. Well think of mushrooms as a kind of Asterix`s magic portion (the comic character) as they have excellent nutrient power. Did you know that those cute white mushrooms are low in Fat and salt, and very low in Cholesterol (The bad fat). They are loaded with Fiber, Protein, Vitamin C, Folate, Iron, Zinc and Manganese....phew!... ... and best of all Vitamin D, Vitamin B6, Potassium, Copper and Selenium. Ok, no more bragging about mushrooms!!!! In exotic China, Japan and Korea mushrooms are also eaten for their medicinal properties. But beware Sanjeev, please make sure you do not pick them up from your garden but buy them from your local vegetable store because some wild varieties may be poisonous and we do not want you to get sick eating them. ....Mushrooms with scrambled eggs ....Umm ...you can almost taste it!! ...Mushrooms on toast.... I definitely like that. ...Freshly washed mushrooms sliced into a green crunchy salad... I'm hungry. I hope you are active every day because thats what is going to make you tall and strong as you eat a lot of mushrooms. Enjoy. Sincerely, Mrs. Iyengar