The Amanita muscaria mushroom, often overlooked for its more mainstream magical counterparts, holds untapped potential for enhancing physical and mental well-being. Beyond its iconic appearance and psychoactive properties, this fungal marvel offers a range of unconventional uses that can contribute to a healthier lifestyle.
From its potential as a sleep aid to its mood-stabilizing effects, Amanita muscaria presents intriguing possibilities for those searching for alternative health solutions.
This article delves into the mushroom’s multifaceted benefits, backed by scientific research and expert insights, to shed light on its transformative capabilities.
What is Amanita Muscaria?
Amanita muscaria, also known as the fly agaric mushroom, is a distinctive mushroom with a red cap covered in white spots. Like magic mushrooms, it also has psychoactive abilities, with the power to alter consciousness and produce hallucinations.
However, Amanita muscaria doesn’t contain psilocybin, the psychedelic ingredient in magic mushrooms that causes intense visuals and alters the senses. Instead, Amanita muscaria is less hallucinogenic and more sedative, with some people falling asleep and experiencing vivid dreams. Read more about Amanita muscaria effects.
Amanita Muscaria Active Ingredients
Amanita muscaria mushrooms have three main psychoactive compounds: muscimol, ibotenic acid, and muscarine.
- Muscimol Muscimol interacts with GABAa receptors in the brain to unleash its psychoactive and therapeutic effects. This connection reduces central nervous system activity, unleashing physical relaxation, euphoria, and tranquility. Muscimol is Amanita’s most potent and well-tolerated active compound.
- Ibotenic acid is a naturally occurring neurotoxin that acts as a stimulant on the central nervous system. In large doses, ibotenic acid can cause hallucinations, confusion, vomiting, nausea, and seizures in severe cases. However, it is also a prodrug to muscimol, meaning it converts to muscimol when someone dries, boils, or ingests the Amanita muscaria mushroom. At high doses, ibotenic acid is dangerous to consume.
- Muscarine is an active psychoactive compound with toxic properties. It occurs in Amanita muscaria in trace amounts, but muscarine can still cause harmful effects in rare cases, such as excessive sweating, crying, salivation, and abdominal cramps.
Due to potential toxicity, Amanita muscaria products and extracts remove ibotenic acid and muscarine. They focus entirely on muscimol to harness Amanita muscaria’s potential therapeutic applications.
Ancient Medical Uses of Amanita Muscaria
While Amanita muscaria mushrooms might appear new in the wellness community, they have a deep history in traditional medicine. The earliest written reference to consuming Amanita muscaria as medicine appears in Sanskrit hymns in the Rig Veda, one of the most important Hindu texts, describing a ritual drink with “divine powers.”
For thousands of years, indigenous people in Russia, Europe, and Asia continued to use Amanita muscaria’s psychoactive properties for spiritual and medicinal purposes. Some of the earliest therapeutic uses include:
- Improving stamina and cognitive function
- Pain relief, such as for bruises and headaches
- Treating gastrointestinal issues and stomachaches
- Relieving inflammation and arthritic symptoms
- As a sleep aid
Exploring the Therapeutic Potential of Amanita Muscaria
Muscimol’s interaction with the GABA system likely provides Amanita muscaria various physical and mental health benefits. Recent studies investigating Amanita muscaria and muscimol show that the neurotransmitter GABA helps regulate different body functions like mood, anxiety, and sleep.
Muscimol’s therapeutic potential has spurred a growing interest in microdosing Amanita muscaria for its health benefits. Microdosing is taking small, sub-perceptual doses of a substance to enhance creativity, productivity, and overall well-being. For Amanita extracts, one to two milligrams is an ideal starting point.
The book “Microdosing with Amanita Muscaria” includes results from the first international study on the medicinal effects of microdosing with Amanita muscaria. Led by a Russian doctor under the pseudonym “Baba Masha,” the large-scale research involved 5,900 people over two years. Overall, the results were 92% positive and only 2% negative. Some of the most commonly experienced microdosing effects of Amanita muscaria included:
- 79% had improvement in depression and lack of energy
- 88% had more energy and virility
- 63% had a positive change in creativity
- 73% had improved sleep and less insomnia
The study also reported positive outcomes for a broad range of health conditions, including many common physical ailments, such as:
- Allergies
- Asthma
- Swelling
- Gingivitis
- Nail fungus
- Digestive issues
- Skin conditions, such as eczema and psoriasis
- Pain relief, including rheumatoid arthritis, menstrual pain, and migraines
Amanita Muscaria Research for Mental and Physical Health
Scientific studies on Amanita muscaria’s medical properties are in the early stages but show promising results, especially those related to muscimol. Here is what the current research says about Amanita muscaria and its wellness potential.
Anxiety and Stress Reduction
- A 2021 study determined that, as a potent agonist to GABAa receptors, muscimol suppresses the activity of the central nervous system, giving it anxiolytic properties that may effectively reduce anxiety.
- Another animal study showed that muscimol increases dopamine, a chemical released in the brain that makes people feel good and boosts mood.
Brain Health
- Studies show that Amanita muscaria extract has neuroprotective effects that can suppress essential tremor symptoms (a neurological syndrome that causes involuntary movements) related to Parkinson’s disease. Another study showed muscimol microinjections successfully reversed critical tremor symptoms in patients.
- Research on muscimol indicates Amanita muscaria has memory protection and enhancing effects, which could treat symptoms associated with Huntington’s Disease and Alzheimer’s. An animal study showed muscimol’s GABA interaction could prevent learning deficits associated with Alzheimer’s.
Pain and Inflammation
- In a 2014 study, three evaluated doses of muscimol gave patients a significant decrease in acute neuropathic pain.
- A 2022 animal study showed muscimol could protect against systemic inflammatory responses, highlighting the compound’s potential anti-inflammatory effects.
- Polymers called fucomannogalactan and glucan isolated from Amanita muscaria significantly inhibited inflammatory pain, indicating that muscimol is not solely responsible for anti-inflammatory effects.
Sleep
- An animal study and a study using muscimol microinjections showed muscimol increases the number and duration of REM episodes, the sleep stage most important for mood, memories, and learning.
Skin Conditions
- A Psyched Wellness study showed that Amanita muscaria extract inhibits mast cell activation. Mast cells are often closest to the skin, gut, brain, and lungs and contribute to inflammatory diseases such as atopic dermatitis and hives.
Amanita Muscaria Risks and Responsible Use
Despite its beautiful appearance, whole, unprocessed Amanita muscaria mushrooms can be poisonous and extremely dangerous. Ingestion of even a small amount of fresh Amanita muscaria can cause adverse symptoms, such as:
- Sweating
- Nausea and vomiting
- Blurred vision
- Agitation
- Involuntary body movements
- Bizarre cognitive and perceptual changes
- Coma (severe cases)
From a chemical standpoint, the ibotenic acid and muscarine in fresh mushrooms are most responsible for the poisonous and adverse side effects of Amanita muscaria. Consumers must seek lab-tested Amanita extracts that do not contain muscarine and remove or convert (also called “decarboxylate”) ibotenic acid to muscimol before consumption.
The Bottom Line
Many people are interested in alternative, natural medicines for health and wellness. Studies show that muscimol, the primary psychoactive substance in Amanita muscaria, has numerous potential therapeutic effects. Acting on the brain’s GABA system, Amanita muscaria can reduce pain and inflammation, relieve stress, help with sleep disorders, and even reduce skin problems.
Tapping into psychoactive Amanita muscaria extracts with centuries of use in traditional medicine can be an unconventional and successful way to boost mental and physical health.
