How Many Shrooms Should I Eat? Probably the most common question a shroomer asks himself is that of how many he should eat. I mean what are you supposed to do? Just take one or two?! You can’t eat just one. And two is just insulting, like are you so scared that you won’t trip on 2? It’s a delicate decision, with too much power to decide between life and impending doom.
Magic Mushrooms
Magic mushrooms (also called shrooms or mushrooms) are a type of mushroom that contains the drugs psilocybin or psilocin. These drugs cause hallucinations. Psilocybin powder can also come in capsule form.
You can eat mushrooms in fresh or dried form. Powdered psilocybin can be snorted or injected. Mushrooms can also be:
- steeped into tea
- added to cooked foods
- added to fruit juice (if powdered)
Some mushrooms that look like psilocybin mushrooms are poisonous. If you eat a poisonous mushroom, you could damage your liver or even die.
It is against the law to grow, sell, or carry mushrooms. If you get caught, you could be fined or even go to jail.
What are the short-term effects of mushrooms?
Mushrooms affect everyone differently depending on:
- how much you take
- where you are
- what you expect
- your age and weight
- what you’ve had to eat around the same time
- past drug use
- your personality
You can feel the effects of mushrooms in about 30 minutes and they last about 3 to 6 hours. The effects are strongest (the peak) during the first 3 to 4 hours.
What’re the effects of shrooms?
The effects of magic mushrooms range from distorting a user’s perception of time to uninhibiting how the brain processes emotions. Since psilocybin mushrooms are a fungus, users may also have nausea when the substance kicks in. Ayize Jama-Everett, author, entheogen activist, and co-founder of sacred plant medicine conference A Table of Our Own, explained the spectrum.
“I’ve met people that have taken large doses of mushrooms. They’ve had a feeling of lightness and love and embracing of the world. I’ve met people that have taken very low doses of mushrooms and have cried for five hours straight,” Jama-Everett said. “In western medicine, we think about it like, you take aspirin and then the aspirin makes your head feel better. That’s not mushrooms, it works with what’s already there.”
Ultimately, each experience is subjective, and although personal recounts of one’s own trip can offer beginners a glimpse of what may come with their own experience, it’s important to be mindful that your trip is your own.
“It’s specific to your soul and your spirit,” Mama Ayana Iyi, wife of late-psychedelic science pioneer Baba Kiliindi Iyi, and an elder in the Detroit Psychedelic Community, said. “Psilocybin can put you in a place of acceptance of what is real. It strips away the illusion of what this planet has given to us.”
Photo Credit: Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post
Are there different shroom strains?
An integral part of safely taking magic mushrooms is becoming familiar with the apothecary of potent strains. Golden Teacher (also known as Psilocyne Aurumescens) offers meditative guidance, visual distortion, and heightened emotions. Psilocybe Cubensis B+ is beginner-friendly, producing warm and spiritual energy. The psychedelic mushroom canon is infinite, and first-timers can choose to microdose for lighter effects or take heavier amounts for an immersed experience. Also, it’s important to note that if a person takes Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a drug used in antidepressants, it may cause challenging trips, competing with psilocybin to reach a user’s serotonin receptors.
Harvey recommended Golden Teacher and another strain with heavily visual and introspective properties, known as Albino Penis Envy or “APE.” APE is a highly potent, pale-capped subvariety psilocybe cubensis, causing widened pupils, a distorted sense of reality, and spiritual experiences.
“With Albino Penis Envy, you can take two grams and still have a pretty fulfilling trip,” she said. “You don’t have to take as many mushrooms to get the effect. It’s definitely one of the most visually intense experiences I’ve had.”
No matter the strain, it’s always best to “start low and go slow,” as Divine said.
“You can always take more,” she continued. “However, if you take more than you’re comfortable with, then all you can do is wait until they’re out of your system.”
What’re the ways I can take shrooms?
Whether fresh or dehydrated, magic mushrooms can be taken on a spectrum, whether in food to disguise its bitter taste (Harvey recounted how she first tried mushrooms by smashing them in a peanut butter sandwich, while Nikki Steward, culinary entertainment chef and creator of The High-End Affair, said that shrooms can be eaten with fruits or nuts but not in dairy or on a full stomach) or brewed infused in herbal tea. There’s also methods to heighten the psychoactive experience by consuming oranges, ginger or THC. As magic mushrooms are generally dried, they can also be grounded into a capsule so the dosage can be effectively controlled. Those seeking a flavorful trip may opt to cook shrooms, too.
“I like to tell people that you can’t add a whole bunch of heat to psilocybin mushrooms. For the experiences that most people like to have [with] incorporating them into food, which is taking turkey tail or lion’s mane–things that are usually identified as adaptogenics–and pairing them with lower doses of psilocybin,” Steward said. “When you’re incorporating them in food, certain mushrooms can have a higher yield. You can’t really heat psychedelic mushrooms over to a certain temperature, typically it’s one hundred and sixty degrees.”
Should I do shrooms by myself or with others?
Once users have their strains and either dilute or ingest the shrooms wholly, they can then decide on whether to trip solo with a responsible trip sitter or group. The decision is also based on someone’s intention for tripping, whether someone wants to understand more about their consciousness, see trippy visuals, or resolve a personal trauma. Those who need a standby contact throughout their trip can also use real-time support initiative The Fireside Project with qualified psychedelic care providers.
“For first-time users, it’s much more necessary to be intentional about the way they’re going into it. I also feel like it’s a communal experience, so if you’re doing it alone, the results might be different than if you’re doing it with a friend,” Kristina Modeste, Clinical Psychology MFA Student at San Francisco State University, said. “Even doing some shadow work practices before taking something that can really unearth a lot of trauma is very important, especially if you want to have a fulfilling trip.”
Charlottes James, co-founder of psychedelics education platform The Ancestor Project, also suggested that first-time users set boundaries to stay grounded if tripping with a group.
“If you plan to journey with friends, have a conversation before ingesting the medicine to check-in about what is and is not ok throughout the journey,” she said.
Best Ways to Take Shrooms (Psilocybin)
Magic mushrooms are growing in popularity each day. Also known as “shrooms,” these psilocybin mushrooms are consumed for a distinct and often profound psychedelic experience. People all over the world have come to see them as nature’s gift that offers a taste of magic and they have been making headlines in different parts of the world, especially in places where psychotropic substances are being legalized such as Canada.
Today, alternative medicine experts claim that psychedelic mushrooms can help consumers in various ways, mainly by causing a drawn-out sense of euphoria caused by psilocybin which is the most prevalent hallucinogenic substance in them, offering users various health benefits.
Remember to do your research and purchase them from a trustworthy source because they can often be poisonous and damage your liver cells. If, for instance, you live in a country like Canada, make sure to look up the best shroom dispensary in Canada to guarantee that you buy top-quality verified products that will protect your health.
Shrooms are best taken raw but people find their taste unpleasant and cannot enjoy them without accompaniments. For this reason, you must first find your preferred method of ingestion, and in this article, we offer some tips on how to consume them.
Smoke The Shrooms
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This is one of the most popular ways of consuming shrooms. Some people prefer to smoke them, while others believe that smoking doesn’t have the same effect as eating them. Nevertheless, the effects of smoking them don’t last as long as eating them raw.
Also note, it has been reported that smoking mushrooms could lead to a serious health risk associated with fine particles getting into your lungs. While some people enjoy smoking mushrooms, it’s not something Spinfuel can recommend.
Mix Shroom With Other Foods
Rather than eating your them raw, you can sprinkle them onto or blend them with some other dish. Most commonly, people mix them with their favorite dishes like pizza, burgers, and pasta but feel free to get more creative.
For example, you can grind them up and eat them with Japanese rice crackers or rice cakes that will help mask the shroom flavor with practically zero preparation needed. Many people even add it as a baking ingredient while baking and to their favorite chocolate chip cookies or brownies.
Don’t forget to clean the fungi before mixing or sprinkling the powder onto your dish. Virulent bacteria reproduce at infectious levels even with a little heat.
Take Them With Tea or Mix With Juices
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As most people find eating shrooms an unpleasant experience, you can drink them as tea. Making them into tea is one of the best ways to consume shrooms as they can be easier on your digestive system and more pleasant for your taste buds that way.
It’s best consumed hot and mixed with spices, all depending on your preference. During the process of preparation, it’s recommended to get creative and use your favorite spices and flavors to enjoy a relaxing cup of shroom tea as you embark on your magical journey.
Take Them As A Shroom Smoothie
For those who’re looking for ways to mask the taste, a shroom smoothie might be a perfect option. Start by crushing the magic mushrooms in a plastic bag. Proceed by making your smoothie with your favorite ingredients and then add the shrooms and pulse the blender several times so that everything mixes well.
To make things simpler, get your favorite type of juice, be it orange juice or any naked juice, drink a little, and then add the crushed shrooms and shake the bottle. The body absorbs liquids easier which may result in a quicker experience.
Shroom-Infused Chocolates and Other Sweets
One of the best things about them is that they go with almost anything. If you have a sweet tooth, this method might work best for you. Place small bits of into chocolates, or any other mouth-watering confections like caramels, cookies that require baking.
Remember that psilocybin breaks down around a temperature of 190°F so baking for extended periods beyond this time may affect potency. There is always an option to try no-bake versions to preserve potency as well.
Can You Overdose on Psilocybin?
An overdose refers to taking more of a substance than the body can handle in one moment. Because drug overdoses are usually reported in cases where people took cocaine, meth, heroin, or prescription pills, many hallucinogen users wonder, “can you overdose on shrooms?”
The answer is yes; however, a magic mushroom overdose isn’t usually fatal. Common symptoms of a psilocybin overdose include:
- Anxiety
- Lightheadedness
- Dizziness
- Nausea and/or vomiting
- Excessive sweating
- Flushing of the skin
- Delusional thinking
- Confusion
- Slowed perception of time
- Agitation
- Diarrhea
- Muscle weakness
- Panic or paranoia
- Psychosis
- Seizures
- Coma
It’s also important to note that it’s not uncommon for poisonous or laced mushrooms to be misidentified as psychedelic shrooms. Consuming mushrooms that have been laced with other potent drugs can increase the individual’s chances of overdosing as well as dying.
How Many Shrooms Is Too Much?
Considering shrooms aren’t sold or used as tablets or other easily measurable formulations, it can be difficult for users to know exactly how much psilocybin they’re consuming. This is especially true of organic shrooms.
There are also many different strains of psilocybin mushrooms, each of which has its own level of potency. Psilocybe cubensis is the most commonly used strain of magic mushrooms and happens to be fairly potent.
Normally, one dose of psilocybe cubensis is approximately 3.5 grams or ⅛ of an ounce. If we were to apply this dosage to all strains of mushrooms, then we could say that taking double or more than 3.5 grams of shrooms can increase your chances of experiencing OD on shrooms. Taking shrooms with alcohol or other substances can also increase your chances of overdosing, an unfortunately common habit among psychedelic drug users.