Medicinal Mushrooms - Part 3
Psilocybin & Microdosing
The “magic” compound in “Magic Mushrooms” is the psychedelic compound psilocybin. Psilocybin is only found in certain strains of mushrooms, it’s not found in any of the mushrooms we’ve talked about so far.
Psilocybin mushrooms have been used for thousands of years throughout the Americas and Europe mostly for spiritual reasons among indigenous people and they grow in the wild in many parts of North America.
Currently, psilocybin mushrooms are illegal in Canada and many places in the US due to their psychedelic properties, but things are starting to change. Some states have legalized these mushrooms for therapeutic use and there’s a movement to use large doses of psilocybin as a part of the treatment for mental health issues and addictions.
There was a lot of research done in the 1950s & 60s on using psilocybin to treat addictions to alcohol and cigarettes. With virtually no side effects, the treatment had a very high success rate but this research was stalled when they were made illegal in the late 1960s.
If you’d like to learn more about this research, check out the book “How to Change Your Mind” by Michael Pollen. He does an interesting dive into the use of psychedelics in treatment and the politics behind them becoming illegal. He also does some personal experiments…which are fun to read. He’s a great journalist and writer and I felt he did a great job on this topic.
While little is known about exactly how psychedelics work to treat various mental health issues, the current philosophy is that they help to open up certain parts of the brain you normally don’t have access to and allow you to see traumas and difficult things in life in a different way.
Studies done on people with Stage 4 cancer found that one treatment with psilocybin dramatically reduced their fear of death. It seems to me that there’s a lot of potential here!
Mainstream medical communities, including John Hopkins University, are calling for a reclassification of psilocybin from Schedule I (totally illegal) to Schedule IV so it can be used medicinally.
Please note: If you’re interested in using large doses of psilocybin, this is still very much illegal in most places. And, you must use them in a safe environment with a trained practitioner. They’re not party drugs and if the setting isn’t right then they may cause some long-term damage (a.k.a. a “bad trip”).
And, due to the illegal nature of this topic, please don’t try this at home. The information I’m providing does not mean I suggest you do anything illegal. I find this topic wildly interesting and I’m excited by the future… since this only goes out to our members, it feels like a safe place to explore this. But I don’t want to get arrested, so take this all with a grain of salt.
What is microdosing?
Microdosing is the use of a very small dose of any psychedelic and psilocybin mushrooms are the most popular psychedelic to microdose. The dose is so small that the user doesn’t feel any psychedelic properties, so…why would anyone take this?
The theory behind microdosing is similar to the higher doses of psilocybin. The experimenters are looking to open up new parts of the brain. It’s very popular in Silicon Valley and other places where creativity and looking outside of the box are very important.
Depending on the strength of the mushroom, medicinal/healing doses (that will cause a psychedelic experience) range from 1g to 20g (20g is often called a “heroic dose” and should only be done with a trained practitioner). Microdosing is usually around 1/20 to 1/2 of a gram. Most microdoses are around 1/10 of a gram.
Many people report feeling sharper, less anxiety, more aware, and able to think creatively. Others…just want to lay down (it’s easy to take a wee bit too much).
This trend started over 10 years ago when psychologist and psychedelics researcher James Fadiman introduced the notion of microdosing and devised a widely followed protocol for it. Even today with its huge popularity, most of the evidence is anecdotal. The lack of research is mostly due to the fact that it’s illegal…so hopefully more studies are done in the next few years now that it’s legal in some areas.
There’s a study from the Netherlands. It found that psilocybin microdoses have no noticeable effect on the problem-solving, rational-thinking, and abstract-reasoning ability called fluid intelligence. But they do seem to improve two forms of thinking that underlie creativity.
From Nature, this study found that microdosers had lower levels of depression and anxiety.
New microdosing products are coming onto the market each year including manufactured supplements to help with all sorts of issues including insomnia (which I’ve heard can be really effective for some people). It seems these companies are walking the line between legal and illegal, waiting for the day when the government allows the legal sale (similar to the legalization of marijuana).
Overall, there’s no doubt that more research is needed. And, it’s becoming more and more mainstream each year. Do a quick google search and you’ll see it covered by very large publications including National Geographic, CBC, and Scientific American.
And, just to be clear and to keep me out of jail, please don’t try this at home unless you happen to live where it’s legal and you’ve been able to source a standardized source of psilocybin. If you do…enjoy :).
In Conclusion
I feel that this masterclass is just a drop in the ocean of what mushrooms are all about. I hope it’s tweaked your interest in the topic. If you have any questions, please email me and I’ll point you to resources for the answers. And, if you want to learn more, do check out the Fantastic Fungi documentary if you have access to Netflix. It’s really interesting and very well done :).
Got any questions or comments? Comment below, jump to our private Facebook Group, or the Ask Lisa page :).