Amanita Muscaria Part II: Active Ingredients, Effects, Nutrition & Legality

• Is Amanita muscaria a psychedelic mushroom?
• What does an Amanita muscaria trip feel like?
• Amanita muscaria Active Ingredients
• s A. Muscaria Poisonous?
• Preparing Amanita muscaria for ingestion
• Is A. muscaria an edible species? 
• Is Amanita muscaria Legal?
• Bottom Line

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The Amanita muscaria mushroom (A. muscaria) seduces you with its vibrant red cap, frosty white spots, and bristling stature. A mycelial muse, this fungi commands your attention, almost imploring you to take a bite. And yet A., muscaria, known as fly agaric, promises nothing but uncertainty to the uninitiated. Depending on the dosage and preparation, A. muscaria’s effects range from ethereal to medicinal to deadly.

This illustrious mushroom leaves most people with more questions than answers. We aim to provide clarity as we explore amanita muscaria’s psychoactive effects, toxic potential, edible preparation, lab testing, and legality.

Is Amanita muscaria a psychedelic mushroom?

Amanita muscaria mushrooms are not considered psychedelic like most magic mushrooms. This red-spotted species exhibits psychoactive effects. However, A. muscaria doesn’t work like classic psychedelics like LSD, DMT, mescaline, and psilocybin. 

Traditional psychedelics, like psilocybin, activate serotonin receptors in the brain, quiet the default mode network responsible for the egoic self, and forge new neural connections that transform people's lives.  A. muscaria, on the other hand, interacts with distinct neural receptors, GABA and glutamate, and typically doesn’t elicit mind-manifesting trips. 

‍What does an Amanita muscaria trip feel like?

Amanita muscaria trips arise rapidly within fifteen minutes and usually last several hours. Some people describe feeling delirious as they drift into a deep, dreamy sleep, experiencing profound visions. Others say they defecated and vomited for hours. 

Famed mycologist Paul Stamets, who ate the fly agaric at least four times, described his friend  foaming from the mouth during one of the trips. In another case, Stamets described a man throwing himself off an eight-foot bridge, surviving the fall, and doing it again, and again. Why? According to Stamets, Amanita mushrooms can cause “repetitive motion syndrome,” or repeating the same action repeatedly for no reason. A. muscaria can also cause temporary insanity and drug-induced convulsions. 

On the other end of the spectrum, some people report the amanita muscaria trip is calming and downright euphoric.

Others feel nothing at all. 

Amanita muscaria Active Ingredients

Amanita muscaria contains three primary active ingredients responsible for its strange psychoactive effects: muscimol,  ibotenic acid, and muscarine.

Muscimol 

Muscimol is A. muscaria's most potent psychoactive agent. In fact, it is ten times stronger than ibotenic acid. Muscimol is a fungal metabolite that binds to and activates GABA receptors, delivering “sedative-hypnotic, depressant and hallucinogenic psychoactivity.” 

Sedative-hypnotic and depressant qualities mean A. muscaria’s effects range from anxiety relief to loss of consciousness. Meanwhile, its hallucinogenic psychoactivity can manifest as intense visuals, hallucinations, temporary psychosis, and confusion. Muscimol also possess analgesic properties, and recent research shows its ability to treat conditions ranging from pain to epilepsy to schizophrenia. 

Ibotenic acid 

Ibotenic acid is A. muscaria’s second most potent psychoactive alkaloid. Unlike muscimol’s GABA affinity, ibotenic acid interacts with glutamate receptors. This mechanism of action makes ibotenic acid more stimulating and energizing. Additionally, when mushrooms contain more ibotenic acid than muscimol, users typically report confusion, agitation, and euphoria. Reportedly ibotenic acid is also more irritating to the stomach. 

Amanita muscaria mushrooms typically contain more Ibotenic acid than muscimol in their raw form. However, ibotenic acid is volatile. As a result, heat, drying, age and digestion partially decarboxylate (convert) ibotenic acid into muscimol. This chemical conversion process makes dried fly agaric mushrooms highly psychoactive.

Muscarine 

Muscarine exists in trace quantities (0.02% dry weight) and is the weakest psychoactive compound in this red-spotted species. Still, this minor alkaloid acts on muscarinic acetylcholine receptors in the parasympathetic nervous system to produce notable effects, including salivation and sweating. Muscarine is also linked to sexual arousal, crying, urination, digestion, and defecation.

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