Contents:
- Intro
- What is Amanita Muscaria?
- What is Microdosing?
- What are the Health Benefits of Microdosing Amanita?
- Mental Benefits
- Physical Benefits
- Spiritual Benefits
- How to Reap the Most from Amanita
- Who Should use Amanita
- Conclusion
What is Amanita muscaria?
Amanita muscaria, also called fly agaric, fly amanita, or just “Amanita”, is a beautiful and magical mushroom that grows in forests throughout the world. It is considered to be the most well known mushroom in the world, most likely due to its unmistakable bright red cap and entheogenic properties.
Amanita muscaria has intrigued humans for centuries. Cave art dates Amanita use back to at least 6000 years, with most of its entheogenic use by Siberian tribes and the ancient Vedics of India (with their infamous “Drink of the Gods” or Soma). Over time, knowledge was lost (or was it hidden?) on the safe usage and benfits of Amanita.
Recently, it has been rediscovered due to an increased interest in microdosing. When the Fly Agaric mushroom is microdosed, its benefits truly shine.
What is Microdosing?
Microdosing is the act of consuming a very small and consistent amount of a psychoactive substance. This helps unlock its benefits without the intensity of a shamanic or (macro) dose. Though Microdosers don’t feel “high”, they will often notice improvements in their mood, energy and consciousness. Over time, these add up to perceivable changes in their daily actions and outlook
What are the Health Benefits of Microdosing Amanita?
1) Mental Health Benefits of Amanita
Most people microdose Amanita to reduce anxiety, boost their mood and help them sleep, but there is much more that can be found microdosing this mushroom.
There are many mental health benefits gained from microdosing Amanita muscaria, but the effects seem to vary depending on when they are consumed.
When microdosed during the day:
- mood boost
- calmness
- increased motivation
- feeling of well-being
- mental clarity
- reduced anxiety
- Increased confidence
- improved focus
When microdosed in the evening:
- falling asleep easily
- having vivid and realistic dreams
- getting lessons in their 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 primary inhibitory system in the body, helping to calm overactive neurons and bring balance to the nervous system. Think of it like a brake. When your mind is stressed, fearful, and your mental chatter is going haywire, GABA helps slow things down.
Overall, Amanita muscaria has a unique and powerful ability to cut down on stress and calm our nervous system, putting us in a state of true peace and vitality. For people looking to have a more productive, clear and stress-free day, Amanita is worth trying.
2) Physical Health Benefits of Amanita
Although scientific research on Amanita muscaria is limited, muscimol (the active molecule in decarboxylated Amanita mushrooms) surprisingly has a lot of scientific research on its physical health effects. This is because muscimol 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 Blood Brain Barrier: It is the filter between the brain and the rest of the body. It protects the brain from harmful substances while also allowing essential nutrients through.
[Blood brain barrier, Quanta Magazine]
Muscimol is unique in that it does pass through the BBB. 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.
Amanita muscaria microdosing benefits include:
Sleep
Muscimol helps decrease wakefulness, promote slow wave sleep, and also increases the number and duration of REM episodes. Additionally, muscimol increases the ability for the brain to form sleep spindles, which facilitate long term memory storage and neuroplasticity.
Anxiety
Muscimol has been shown to reduce conditioned fear-responses (long term anxieties) in rat studies. It can also quiet an overactive mind by increasing the amount of GABA in the brain.
Fun fact: 1/4 of reviews collected on luminita.co include a comment about Amanita muscaria’s benefits to their anxiety or stress.
“I have tried a couple different companies Amanita and have enjoyed the most consistent results with Luminita’s 250 and 500 options. Not only is helping my mental game (clarity, focus and anti-anxiety) but also my recovery from physical endurance activities.” - Martin
“I have been microdosing for a while now. It took me some time to figure out the right dosage and right frequency, but once I got tuned in I noticed a big decrease in stress and anxiety. I also feel more creative and confident.” - John
Inflammation
Brain Health
Amanita muscaria extract has neuro-protective properties. It also has memory enhancing effects on the brain.
Parkinson's
New research is showing that muscimol microinjections in the sub thalamic nucleus reverse Parkinsonian symptoms.
Alzheimer’s
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.
3) 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 pulls back the veil on the interconnectedness of our lives, revealing the mirror like nature of the universe. What we think, believe and dream has a direct correlation on what occurs outside of us, Amanita helps us tangibly experiencing this.
Spiritual benefits include:
- enhanced intuition
- higher levels of consciousness
- increased self-awareness
- Being able to face life lessons with ease
- easier ability reaching states of meditation
- ability to notice meaningful coincidences
- gaining meaning to
[Amanita, the mushroom of intuition]
Most of these benefits come from Amanita’s unique ability to quiet the ego mind (or false self), opening up the doorway to our higher (or true) self. It’s when we quiet our chattterbox of a mind that we can more easily access our intuition, life lessons, meditative states and magic. Learn more about how Amanita quiet’s the mind here.
Overall, Amanita is a great partner mushroom for people who are on a spiritual, creative or truth seeking journey. It can help elevated your consciousness and give you better access to the divine side of yourself, allowing you to flow with the current of the universe.
Large Scale Observational Study
Recently the results of a large-scale observational study was released to the public in a book named: "Microdosing with Amanita Muscaria". It was led by a Russian doctor under the pseudonym “Baba Masha” and involved the participation of 5,900 people over the course of 2 years. It aggregates data on the most commonly experienced effects of microdosing Amanita muscaria.
Some of the most surprising results from the study
- Overall opinion after microdosing AM: 92% positive results, 2% negative results
- Depression, lack of energy: 79% positive results, 3% negative results
- Mood enhancer: 88% had more energy and virility, 12% had more sleepiness
- Creativity: 63% positive, 37% no change
- Sleep aid: 73% improved sleep, 10% had insomnia
I break down all the results in the blog post "Summary of Baba Masha’s Book: Microdosing Amanita Muscaria?"
5 Tips to Reap the Most Benefits of Amanita Muscaria
Amanita muscaria is a very powerful entheogen which means it must be treated with the utmost respect and intentionality to reap the most benefits. So before you take your freshly picked mushrooms and start eating them, you may want to know a few things first.
1. Consistent Potency
Unlike most mushrooms, Amanita muscaria cannot be grown at home or farmed. This is because they form a symbiotic relationship with trees and so they must be hand foraged from nature. The plus side is that it encourages the protection of forests, the down side is that every mushroom is unique and has differing potency. One mushroom can have up to 10x the potency of another, causing an issue if you just want to microdose Amanita.
The solution: Homogenization. To prevent yourself from getting a “hot” batch (an unusually highly potent microdose), the best thing to do is forage a bunch of mushrooms, chop them up and then mix it all together. That way each dose is consistent and predictable.
2. Mushroom Quality:
Another feature of Amanita is that it is a bioaccumulator. This means it likes to accumulate substances from the soil to help it fruit as well as remove toxins from its immediate environment (remember that Amanita mushrooms are just the “fruit” of the larger fungi that branches underground). The down side is that mushrooms collected from the unclean environments (like the sides of roads) may contain harmful metals or other toxins.
The Solution: Sourcing clean mushrooms. The only solution is to make sure every mushroom you consume is sourced from a clean and natural environment, away from busy roadways and old mining sites. City parks and yards are probably okay, but you may want to test them for heavy metals to be sure.
3. Proper Preparation:
Proper preparation is key. Raw Amanita muscaria mushrooms contains very little muscimol (the main beneficial molecule). Instead it contains ibotenic acid, the prodrug of muscimol. Ibotenic acid acts on the NMDA receptors which encourage cell firing. Small amounts are fine, but daily use, like with microdosing, runs the risk of cell death and other side effects like nausea and body twitches.
The solution? Decarboxylation. This is the chemical process of removing a carboxyl group from the ibotenic acid to convert it to muscimol. There are several methods to decarboxylate Amanita such as acidification and fermentation, with both requiring quite a bit of time and a strong nose. In the end, decarboxylation is essential to make Amanita safe to consume. Get the full scoop on decarboxylation here.
4. Low Dosage:
The amount of Amanita muscaria you take can be the difference between a good time and a bad time. Medium to large amounts can cause lack of coordination, disassociation and nausea. Higher doses, like those used by shamans, often cause people to enter a dream filled coma-like state where they may experience the looping and infinite reality of the universe with possible vomiting and convulsions.
The solution? Microdosing. It gives you the ability to reap the healing benefits of Amanita without having to risk a bad trip. It also allows you to drive, go to work, visit family, or go about your daily chores without it negatively interfering with your life. In general, microdoses of Amanita are between 0.25g - 2g of dried mushroom.
5. Amanita Specific Protocol:
You won’t get much from microdosing Amanita muscaria if you just take it once and move on. You also won’t see the same benefits if you follow a traditional psychedelic protocol, which ask users to take a break between doses to reduce the tolerance build up. The reason? Amanita’s effects are cumulative, meaning the more you take, the more you see benefits.
The Solution? Consistency. The best way to work with Amanita is by taking it everyday for 3 weeks and then taking 1 week off to evaluate changes and determine if you’d like to keep working with it. This allows you to experience the compounding effects while also staying mindful. In general, microdosing Amanita is like a relationship. If you visit it regularly and stay conscious of how it affects you, you will get the most from it.
While I don’t discourage DIY microdosing of Amanita (I did it myself at the start of my journey - to be fair I was out of a job and had loads of time on my hands), quality and convenience matters.
Overall, I recommend finding a reputable company that already makes high quality Amanita muscaria microdoses, one that publicly state that their mushrooms are homogenized, decarboxylated, and sourced from clean environments and be sure to keep your doses low while staying consistent. Do so and you will get the most from this sacred mushroom.
Check out luminita! Though I’m a bit biased because I started the company, Luminita is unique because I forage, process, package and ship all the mushrooms personally, ensuring the end product is of the utmost safety and quality. Plus I infuse the final mushrooms with music and reiki energy. I believe energetics are important for such a spiritual mushroom.
Who is the best person to use Amanita?
Anyone can gain benefits from working with Amanita, but those of us who are more sensitive, anxious, have low self esteem, lack direction in life, or have 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.
Conclusion
Amanita is an incredible mushroom with a wide range of benefits, both physical and spiritual. Ultimately, its is unique ability to bring peace, clarity and presence into people’s lives that make it special. By calming our overactive nervous system down, we have the space, energy and intuition to go after the things that truly matter to us.
When we align our lives towards peace and fulfillment, with or without the help of Amanita, we find lasting joy in our lives.
Interested in exploring Amanita a little further? Check out my small batch, wild foraged and pre-decarboxylated microdoses at luminita.co and start your journey today!
