Contents:
- What is Amanita Muscaria?
- What is Microdosing?
- Why Microdose over Macrodose?
- How much is a microdose?
- What are the Health Benefits of Microdosing Amanita?
- Mental Benefits
- Physical Benefits
- Spiritual Benefits
- Who Should use Amanita?
What is Amanita muscaria?
Amanita muscaria, also called fly agaric, fly amanita, or Amanita chrysoblema, is the beautiful and magical mushroom that grows in the pine forests throughout the world.
Amanita is one of (if not the) oldest psychoactive substances used by humans, having ties to Siberian Shamans and the Hindu “Drink of the Gods” - Soma. Recently, it has been rediscovered due to its potential to heal people’s mind, body and spirit when used in microdosed amounts.
What is Microdosing?
Microdosing is the opposite of taking a macrodose of “trip” dose of a psychoactive substance. It involves consuming very small, sub perceptual doses of psychoactive substances. Though Microdosers don’t feel “high”, they will often notice subtle changes in their mood, energy and consciousness. Over time these small changes add up to perceivable changes in their mind and outlook on life.
How much is a Microdose?
Typically, a microdose is about 1/10 to 1/20 of a recreational dose. For Amanita that is between 5-20g dried weight. A little bit of 3rd grade fractions and we are left with our answer:
A microdose of Amanita should be between 0.25g - 2g of dried mushroom.
People who are sensitive to substances should start on the lower end of this range and move up if they don’t feel anything.
What are the Health Benefits of Microdosing Amanita?
When used in microdosed amounts, Amanita has the potential to help heal people’s mind, body and spirit. Most people work with Amanita to reduce anxiety, boost their mood and help them sleep, but there is much more that can be found microdosing this mushroom.
Mental Health Benefits of Amanita:
In general, there are two polar effects gained from microdosing Amanita muscaria, depending on when people consume it in the day.
When microdosed in the morning, people report:
- mood boost
- motivation
- calmness
- gaining a rush of energy
- feeling of well-being
- reduction of a mental chatterbox
- reduction of anxiety
- confidence
- feeling of well-being
When microdosed in the evening, people report:
- falling asleep easily
- having vivid, realistic and fantastical dreams
- lucid dreaming
- waking up feeling well rested and lively.
Most of these benefits come from Amanita’s ability to relax the mind and nervous system. This is because the active molecule in decarboxylated Amanita mushrooms (muscimol) acts on the GABA nervous system.
[GABA Neurotransmission, Frontiers Magazine]
GABA is the system that is responsible for calming and bringing balance to the mind. Think of it like a brake. When your mind is stressed, fearful, and your mental chatter is going haywire, GABA helps slow things down.
This explains Amanita's potential to bring calmness, a reduction of anxiety and mental chatterbox, along with an easier time falling asleep and having deep REM (dream) filled sleep.
It's also easy to see how a lack of stress and fear can allow someone to feel more confident in themselves and their decisions, allowing them move through the day with ease.
Physical Health Benefits of Amanita:
Muscimol (the active molecule in decarboxylated Amanita mushrooms) surprisingly has a lot of scientific research on it’s physical health effects. This is because it is used as a study drug to mimic the effects of GABA in mammals. Muscimol looks and acts very similarly to the endogenous GABA.
The problem with studying GABA directly is that, when ingested, it does not pass through the blood brain barrier (BBB). The BBB is the main filter between the brain and the rest of the body, it protects the brain. Muscimol is unique in that it does pass through the BBB.
[Blood brain barrier, Quanta Magazine]
This is great for us! Even though we don’t have a lot of studies on Amanita mushrooms, we do for muscimol. Muscimol, it turns out, has a lot of potential physical health benefits.
Some of the main potential health benefits of muscimol include:
- reducing inflammation (5)
- enhancing memory (6)
- neuroprotective properties (9)
- reduce Parkinson's symptoms (7)
- reduce Alzheimer symptoms (8)
[Muscimol has neuroprotective properties, Xtalks]
Most of these studies are preliminary, but the findings are exciting. Hopefully the resurgence of interest in Amanita helps spur more scientists into taking a closer look at its health benefits.
Spiritual Benefits Of Amanita:
Beyond health benefits, Amanita has unique spiritual benefits. Though most people turn a blind eye to “woo, woo” spirituality, Amanita has a unique ability of opening up our perception of this unseen world. It is as if Amanita helps pull back the veil on the interconnectedness of our lives.
Most of these effects occur when people microdose Amanita for longer periods of time. These include:
- enhanced intuition
- higher levels of consciousness
- increased self-awareness
- feeling at peace in the world
- easier ability reaching states of meditation
- ability to notice meaningful coincidences
- gaining meaning to life
[Amanita, the mushroom of intuition]
This is why Amanita is a great partner mushroom for people who are on a spiritual or truth seeking journey. It can help elevate your awareness of yourself and the world around you, making it easier to see how powerful your thoughts and decisions really are.
Who is the best person to use Amanita?
Anyone can gain benefits from working with Amanita, but those of us with anxiety, low self esteem, lack of spirituality, or trouble sleeping tend to see the most benefits with this mushroom.
There have also been quite a few people with autism, alcoholism and ADHD coming forward with success stories after microdosing Amanita.
At the end of the day, Amanita is another natural ally we can turn to when we are struggling to live a happy, peaceful and fulfilling life. For anyone who can’t find a solution to their problem, Amanita may be worth trying.
Why Not Macrodose Amanita?
When people first hear that Amanita is psychoactive, they most often look into how much they need to consume to have a "trip". They've tried and familiarized themself with the traditional psilocybe mushrooms (that produce psychedelic trips) and want to experience something new. In their eyes, "trips" are enjoyable, world altering and predictable. This is not the case with Amanita. In fact, psilocybe and Amanita muscaria mushrooms are closer to being opposites than one in the same.
Those that have formed a relationship with Amanita know that "tripping" or "macrodosing" (taking large amounts) is not the path to take with this toadstool.
Instead, microdosing allows people to reap the healing benefits of Amanita without having to risk a bad trip. It allows you to drive, go to work, visit family, or go about your daily chores without it negatively interfering with your life.
Read: the difference between psychedelics and Amanita Muscaria
How Much is a Macrodose?
A macrodose of Amanita muscaria is typically over 10g, which is the amount needed to feel the full effects of Amanita’s power. With a macrodose there are major perception changes, hallucinations, and trippers often get thrown into dreamlike states. The experience people often report following a macrodose is often negative or at the very least one that leaves them with great respect for this mushroom.
What are the Negatives of Macrodosing Amanita Muscaria?
With Amanita specifically, larger doses can be very overwhelming, with people often reporting nausea and entering dreamlike states that they struggle to recall when they wake up. The main issues with macrodosing come down to:
1. Unpleasant Mental Experience
When macrodosing Amanita muscaria, many people experience:
- Looping (mentally or physically)
- Experiencing infinity and multiple dimensions
- Visiting a place resembling hell
The most often reported effect is the feeling of "looping" or having the need to repeat the same thing over and over again. There's a well known story Paul Stamets (celebrity mycologist) told while on Joe Rogan's podcast of this exact effect. He recalled taking a large amount of Amanita pantherina (a stronger variety of Amanita muscaria) with his friend Dave when he was in his 20's. While trying to walk home, he experienced a bad case of mental looping:
"I dropped my camera and I went over looked around and there was my camera. I picked it up. I'm going Wow Dave I dropped my camera. I dropped my camera again. Oh ah Dave's I dropped my camera. I pick up my camera and go whoa I dropped my camera. I did this over and over and over again. Repetitive motion syndrome kicked in, it is a very common symptom of Pantherina, I dropped my camera dozens and dozens of times. I looked at it in the end and well it was shattered"
At even higher amounts, Amanita will send you into a deep dreamlike state, with strange and even frightening things occurring, like living through multiple timelines simultaneously or experiencing infinity. Many report feeling extreme elation at one point in the trip and then quickly being thrown into a place they can only describe as hell.
No macrodosing experience is the same, but almost all who decide to walk that path come out of it with a deeper respect for Amanita, as well as a desire to take much less of it the next time.
2. Unpleasant Physical Experience
Most unpleasant physical side effects involve either:
- Vomiting
- Convulsions
Vomiting can be reduced greatly with a full decarboxylation. At extreme amounts, however, many people report falling asleep and then waking up in a puddle of vomit, or feeling the need to vomit with every mental loop.
Read: the benefits of decarboxylation here.
Convulsions or body twitching also occur at very high amounts. Sometimes they can be perceived as "pleasant" to the person consuming Amanita, as if they need to repeatedly "convulse" to feel better. To an outsider, however, it can be quite frightening to watch their friend convulse while (often) unconscious.
3. Risk of Muscarine Toxicity
Muscarine is a molecule that is most often found in inocybe and clitocybe species of mushroom. It activates the muscarinic acetylcholine receptors in the body, which control the parasympathetic response in the body. For those that have taken a physiology class in college, you'll know the parasympathetic system as the system that activates the body's rest and digest response. As the name suggests, it’s responsible for relaxing your muscles, kick starting digestion, and slowing breathing. In addition, muscarinic receptors are also found in the sweat glands.
Clitocybe mushrooms (contain muscarine) credit: mycoweb
Muscarine has also been found in Amanita muscaria in very small amounts. When microdosed, the amount of muscarine is so small, it often cannot be detected in samples. When macrodosed, however, the effects from muscarine consumption are visible.
Symptoms of muscarinic toxicity include:
Overall, All of these symptoms can be avoided with properly dosing Amanita muscaria and keeping amounts in the microdosing level (0.25-2g). Only people who are well versed in Amanita or who are trained shamans should attempt macrodoses of this medicine.
Conclusion
Overall, Amanita is an incredible mushroom, with a unique ability to bring peace, clarity and presence into people’s lives. It is this mental peace that is so important for us to have.
Society, news and the world constantly tell us to live in a state of fear. By slowing down and realizing everything is okay and there is nothing to worry about, we can let down our guard and go after the things that truly matter to us.
This is when we find fulfillment and true joy in our lives and realize why Amanita was so revered throughout history.
Sources:
(1) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1074742705000547
(2) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0144861713006577
(3) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29133125/
(4) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10443891/
(5) https://springerplus.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/2193-1801-4-S1-P36
