The following Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Lehman.

Five obscure nutrients. Why we need them and how GROC likely got them.

Everyone listening to this knows about the macronutrients.

You're all eating enough protein, fat, carbs, and the various subcategories like fiber,

omega-3s, muffas, sphas, linoleic acid, and so on.

You know the major macronutrients like magnesium, calcium, vitamin B12, and most of the

minor, but still vital ones, like plant polyphenols, iodine, and vitamin K2.

Today I'll be talking about the truly obscure nutrients.

The ones health food hipsters were super into like five years ago. The ones GROC was super into like 50,000 years ago. What are they?

What do they do for us? And if they're so great, how did GROC obtain them?

Number one, beta glucans. Beta glucins are fibrous carbohydrates that make up the cell walls of certain organisms.

They're found in oats, yeast, and most relevant to you, mushrooms.

Rather than just provide colonic bulk or prebiotic substrate,

what makes beta glukins so uniquely attractive

is their ability to modulate the immune system. Given to critically ill patients on enteral feeding,

they reduced CRP and improved immune function. They may improve the immune system's ability

to fight tumors. According to a recent survey of wild and cultivated mushrooms,

both types contain appreciable levels of beta-glukins.

Were our hunter-gatherer ancestors eating mushrooms?

Almost certainly.

Recent research into dental residues found that Neanderthals living in Spain

ate gray shag mushrooms. They may have even used mushrooms for their medicinal properties,

...