Mushrooms are the new cockroaches.

Did you know there are interesting facts about mushrooms that you never knew before?

Welcome again to the world of Silly Butts Food Fun Facts!

If you missed the last episode of the Silly Butts Food Fun Facts series, don't worry, I won't spoil it for you.

But, between us, you should check it out here - Bomb tacos, aka miners, can also invent a food trend. Hurrah for Mexican miners!

Today, we're going on a short but mind-bending journey that will turn your understanding of mushrooms upside down!

So brace yourselves for a mushroom revelation that will make you go, "Whaaat?!"

You probably know mushrooms are more closely associated with the animal kingdom than plants. However, an intriguing piece of information that links mushrooms and animals is chitin, a structural component of fungi cells.

So, what's the deal with chitin, you ask? And what's so interesting about its presence in mushrooms?"

Let's dive into biochemistry.

Chitin is one of the essential polymers in nature. It is the crucial part of the exoskeletons, or we can call them shells, of cockroaches, spiders, mites, centipedes, lobsters, mollusks, and ... mushroom cell walls!

Chitin helps all these creatures, and mushrooms also protect their soft bodies by making their shells so tough that even if you step on a centipede, it won't kill them.

It depends on your weight, so please, don't try to do it yourself.

Also, chitin is an excellent source of fiber for human and other animals' bodies. It contains a lot of antioxidants and even works in our guts as a probiotic.

In many countries on Earth, people cook and eat insects, spiders, and centipedes and make broth from mollusks, lobsters, and shrimp shells. We compare their taste with the taste of mushrooms. And now we know why.

When we eat stewed mushrooms, biochemically speaking, it is the same if we eat stewed grasshoppers or cockroaches and vice versa.

Bon appétit!