The Physical Effects of Psilocybin

Many of us are aware of its mental effects, but how does it affect our bodies? :)

By Gabriel MohrPublished 3 years ago • 7 min read

Photo by Jaap Straydog on Unsplash

Quick Facts

-Psilocybin has been proven to regenerate our brains and be very beneficial to our bodies!

-The mental effects of psilocybin are often seen as incredibly healing and eye-opening, among other things!

-We can reduce the potential risk of consuming psilocybin by taking the necessary precautions!

Intro

Psilocybin is the psychoactive molecule found in 'certain' mushrooms that some of us consume! It's been the initiator of many psychedelic, loving, playful, transformative experiences that often permanently change people's lives for the better.

However, something I've wanted to know for a long time is how the chemical physically affects our bodies. I've come across some information over the years but I've purposely withheld from researching until I decided to write this post. Let's go on an adventure together, shall we?

Magic Mushrooms Are Best Known For…

...their mind-blowing effects! These kinds of mushrooms are special in the sense that they can show us some very deep and wonderful parts of the mind, and because they can show us what enlightenment is really all about. I wouldn't be surprised if 50 years of meditation cannot bring any of us to the kind of enlightenment that 5 grams of magic mushrooms produce, although I haven't meditated for 50 years so I can't confirm from first-hand experience ;)

I say 'can' because psilocybin mushrooms don't do the enlightening for you - you do. The experience just helps you a little bit, kind of like a mushroom in Mario Kart. You get a good boost but you still drive around the track yourself.

But, How Does Psilocybin Biologically Affect Us?

I argue that the physical effects of psilocybin are just as important as the mental experience itself! Partly, of course, because the ingestion of the physical molecule is the reason the experience happens in the first place.

It's interesting because, when we ingest psilocybin, our body turns it into another chemical called psilocin. Psilocin has almost the exact same molecular structure as serotonin, so you can guess what happens when our body converts psilocybin to psilocin - it attaches itself to our serotonin receptors, specifically the 5-HT2A receptor. It has to pass through the blood-brain barrier to do this, and it also invites itself right into your bloodstream.

Psilocybin mushrooms generally feel good to consume, like how it feels good to produce a balanced amount of serotonin. This seems to be the nature of the chemical itself! Also, psilocybin has been proven to initiate neurogenesis and neuroplasticity which helps depressed people since their neurogenesis and neuroplasticity is often impaired. These two reasons are good enough to assert psilocybin as an alternative to SSRIs for curing depression, and this assertion is not farfetched in the least! I speak from personal experience ;)

It's well-known that they make your blood pressure increase for a short time, so beware if you're ingesting psilocybin with high blood pressure. Fear makes your blood pressure increase, so relaxing before and during consumption is very ideal, and I recommend avoiding high doses (or perhaps, psychedelic mushrooms entirely) if you have chronic blood pressure problems until you do some research.

It amplifies all of our senses, including our physical senses, which is great for doing physical activities!

You may experience nausea when you eat psychedelic mushrooms. Eating a raw vegan diet 3 days before the experience and eating nothing the day of the experience greatly lessens the possibility of being sick!

This is all I can find, but to be honest, the fact that psilocybin has physical effects that are this amazing along with the mental and emotional benefits is astonishing to my eyes! It really makes me wonder why we haven't accepted these little things like we've accepted oranges and apples, with a little more caution, of course.

If It's That Good, Why Don't We Ingest It Regularly?

That's a good question, especially if we're depressed and the conventional methods aren't working for us.

The primary reason, from what I can tell, is because it simply isn't in our minds or part of our intentions. And beyond that, even if we've heard of the amazing effects of psilocybin we may be suspicious of whether or not it's actually good for us.

The secondary reason is that they're illegal. Many of us respect the law a little too much and don't give much thought to the possibility that they don't know what's best for us, and so even if we properly inform ourselves as to the amazing effects of psilocybin we may be afraid of getting caught and thrown in jail.

As far as the first point is concerned, it's no longer a question or a theory - it's a fact that psilocybin is healthy and helpful for our brains and bodies! Most of the sources I cite below are based on real, credible scientific studies that were carried out just to obtain an unbiased view of the effects of psilocybin. Almost all of them are positive and end with something like "more research is needed in this field," which is a lot better than "we should never test the effects of psilocybin ever again since they're harmful to the human body."

And for the second point, this is often where I become angry - the government keeps psilocybin, LSD, and DMT as schedule I-C substances, and Schedule I-C drugs have "...a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision." Psychonauts already understand the ways in which we can safely ingest these substances, and I've explained how we can safely integrate psychedelics into our society here, so they shouldn't be illegal whatsoever.

However, since they keep them on schedule I status many people assume that these are just more drugs that should be avoided. Many people view psychedelics with a suspicious eye simply because the government, who aren't necessarily the smartest people, have a certain opinion about them.

Not to mention that if a cop sees you with mushrooms they'll probably just throw you in jail, they usually don't stop to think that "gee, since psychedelic mushrooms are good for you and healthy for your body, and since the law should is wrong in this regard, maybe I should turn the other way." They want to make detective or otherwise uphold the law with no questions asked, and if you can be a stepping stone to their goal they won't mind in the slightest.

This is where intelligence comes in. Since most of us benefit from ingesting psilocybin we should do everything we can to do so behind the government's back. It's kind of like snatching and eating a cookie from your parent's cookie jar - you have to do it before they see you or else you'll get in trouble! Grow your own mushrooms, know your local area, know your local police routines (where they go and when, and where they don't go), take them when you're least likely to get caught. Why? Because the people who outlawed psychedelics probably did it for nefarious reasons, reasons that we don't need to adhere to today. We're adults who can make our own decisions, and I encourage you to make the decision that's best for you!

I say "most of us" because people who are mentally ill (or who have a family history of mental illness) and people with high blood pressure/cardiovascular problems probably shouldn't ingest psilocybin. I recommend getting tested if you're suspicious of one or the other, otherwise, if you're a healthy person you're going to be okay :)

Final Thoughts

I apologize for the (probably unnecessary) rant about the law, I'm sick and tired of their corrupt and detrimental ways.

When it comes to buying psychedelic mushrooms I would be very, very careful. Many people who sell them are shady and afraid of getting caught, I encourage you to only buy them from somebody you trust, love, and respect, otherwise, I encourage you to grow them yourself.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading! I'm so excited that you chose to learn about psilocybin, if you're curious about other psychedelic substances you can read my post on DMT! See you in the next one!