What Is Microdosing?
With the current legal limits, studying the full range of benefits of microdosing is challenging. But, since microdosing is becoming so popular, we’ve decided to delve deeper into this practice. What is microdosing? Do mushrooms really have such potent mystical properties? Can it improve your health and well-being?
Here we will answer all of your questions.
What Is Microdosing?
Microdosing refers to a specific technique of administering a psychedelic, where people take small doses over the course of a few days. A typical microdose is only 1/10–1/20 of a recreational dose (or about 0.1–0.3 grams of psilocybin).
This is low enough to be easily absorbed by the system but high enough to promote a beneficial cellular response. There is no risk of auditory changes or alterations in perception as microdosing bypasses these hallucinatory experiences while still offering the user opportunities for growth and healing.
Microdosing is used by a wide range of people to achieve improved emotional balance, energy, concentration, and a range of other health benefits.
benefits of Microdosing Mushrooms
While the practice of microdosing can be applied to various types of psychedelics and even marijuana, microdosing with psilocybin (commonly known as magic mushrooms) is the most popular choice. They are mainly used for recreational purposes, but they also offer a range of different benefits.
For example, research has demonstrated that microdosing with psilocybin can effectively help people break their smoking habit. In a study conducted by John Hopkins, participants who followed a prescribed psilocybin microdosing schedule, along with cognitive behavioral therapy, were able to achieve an 80% abstinence rate for the course of six months.
With doses of 10–20 micrograms of psilocybin, it is common to experience better emotional and physical energy, focus, and creativity. While the research is still catching up, hundreds of years of anecdotal evidence supports these claims.
Conclusion
Microdosing has plenty of physiological and psychological benefits. It’s clear that people all over the world are experiencing profound positive benefits from microdosing. But, to uncover the true potential of this technique, more funding for research is necessary.
Microdosing became immensely popular in 2010, mainly for its ability to boost productivity and energy. Even though many people are drawn to microdosing with the goal of enhancing their efficiency, it has numerous other benefits, including:
- Relieving menstrual pain.
- Enhancing creativity and expression.
- Assisting with quitting other substances (such as medication or coffee).
- Improving spiritual awareness.
- Minimizing symptoms of anxiety and depression.
- Increase memory and cognitive function
- Athletic performance
When psychedelics take effect in the brain the default mode network subdues and the left and right hemispheres are able to communicate more easily, this is known as neuroplasticity. The idea of neurons that fire together wire together is common and the main premise of microdosing. When you stick to a consistent protocol over an extended period of time the brains default state becomes one of more connectivity and over time these neurons that now have the ability to fire together wire together, this process is known as neurogenesis.
Since everyone's physiology is different and psilocybin is adaptogenic in nature (meaning it has the ability to adapt to each person's unique makeup to help bring balance to their system), the duration of the effects from microdosing will differ from person to person. Several other factors influence how long a microdose will last, including:
- The type of psilocybin or product taken.
- The amount of time you have been working with it.
- The dose you take.
Typically, a microdose will last between three to five hours before it is metabolized by the body, with positive residual effects lasting the rest of the day. After two to three weeks, this should become very predictable and consistent.
No, if done correctly, microdosing will not get you high. Microdoses are only a tenth or a twentieth of a typical recreational dose.
However, according to Dr. James Fadiman, each human body has a different tolerance level, which is why some people will experience a higher perception state than others.
When microdosing, you would also not take a dose every day, but instead in a three-day cycle. For example, taking a dose, and then waiting until the fourth day to take another one. This approach prevents you from building tolerance, while allowing your body to get accustomed to the substance.
The data is definitely promising! Based on a user survey, 26.6% of people stated that their mood got better after microdosing. Participants also reported increased creativity, motivation, productivity, and self-efficacy. All of these things naturally lend themselves to improved confidence for most individuals.
References
- https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0211023
- https://www.healthline.com/health/beginners-guide-to-microdosing#1
- https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190304100015.htm
- https://www.insider.com/what-is-microdosing-2019-1
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330094963_Microdosing_psychedelics_personality_mental_health_and_creativity_differences_in_microdosers
- https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/stories/mushrooms_quit_smoking.html
- https://theconversation.com/microdosers-of-psychedelics-report-improved-mood-focus-and-creativity-120279
