By: Madison Lawson
What comes to mind when you think “mushrooms”?
Many people think about “magic mushrooms” when asked this question. People know “magic” mushrooms are supposed to induce a hallucinogenic trip. People don’t know that more than 1.5 million species of fungi are currently on the Earth linked to ScienceDirect topics here. These species range from extremely dangerous to humans to extremely beneficial. The only way to learn about the amazing benefits of other types of mushrooms is to look past psilocybin. Did you know a group of researchers found a golden fungus on a cantaloupe and then discovered this was a strain of penicillin? This would save tens of thousands of soldiers’ lives during WWII. This was able to show people the benefits of this fungi for human health and being used in health care.
Over many years scientists have studied mushrooms and one specific mycologist was inspired at a young age to learn about mushrooms in the wild. His name was Paul E. Stamets and he founded Fungi Perfecti in Olympia, Washington over 10 years ago. This company invented host defense products that are made from mushrooms. They have supplements that are made from a variety of different mushrooms to help with immunological support. This company grows their own mushrooms on their farm in Washington state.
Paul E. Stamets was able to buy land in Canada for his mushroom research and has been able to make ground-breaking discoveries such as entomopathogenic fungi. These are fungi that infect insects. How this happens is the mushrooms infect a single insect that goes back to the whole colony to infect them. Then, the spore repellency properties protect the house from future invasions of those insects. Stamets was able to help people see mushrooms from a new perspective as a household product.
Now to shift in a new direction. Psilocybin mushrooms have been stigmatized to be a party drug. This is a major reason why mushroom research was stunted by the 1970 Controlled Substances Act in America. This created a huge challenge for mycologists to experiment with psilocybin to learn about the true medicinal uses of this substance. Thankfully, in 2019 John Hopkins Medicine established The Center of Psychedelic and Consciences Research which is the first psychedelic research center in the U.S. This allowed for studies to be done and for people to learn about their benefits. According to Healthy@UH reports, studies have shown that psilocybin therapy is beneficial in relieving symptoms of treatment-resistant depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and other mental health disorders.
People are almost never educated about mushrooms or how they can be used in a myriad of ways. I hope that I was able to pique your interest in fungi and how they are a tool for all to use and better their health. If you’d like to learn more about mushrooms, I recommend watching Fantastic Fungi or How to Change Your Mind on Netflix.