Microdosing with magic mushrooms or truffles is a great way to work on your health, but when you use the Paul Stamets stack, you benefit from a combination of microdosing, Lion’s Mane and niacin. Both additives work synergistically with psilocybin. A lot of people are excited about this stack. What exactly it entails and what the benefits are, we explain to you below.
The thinking of Paul Stamets
Paul Stamets is a familiar face in the psychedelic community. He is a mycologist who has taught himself all about mushrooms in practice. He has written six books and also recently made a documentary about the benefits of mushrooms called Fantasic Fungi. If anyone is passionate about the power of magic mushrooms, it’s him.
One of his patents is a nontropic stack. This is a combination of substances that can enhance your cognitive functioning. The Paul Stamets stack includes three supplements for microdosing, namely a microdose of psilocybin mushrooms or truffles, Lion’s Mane (a medicinal mushroom, with no psychoactive compounds) and niacin (vitamin B3). Ideally, Stamets would like to see this combination available as a vitamin complex. According to him, it could be the next step in boosting human development.
When discussing human evolution, Stamets also often brings up the Stoned Ape Theory. This theory was developed by the McKenna brothers and is considered a possible hypothesis that explains how it was possible for Home sapiens to make a “quantum leap” in terms of consciousness. The fact that the human brain doubled in size in a relatively short period of time (about 200,000 years) is still a mysterious phenomenon.
The McKennas have put forward in their theory that the cause for this sudden development may have been magic mushrooms. Stamets is also a fan of this theory. Our distant ancestors may have occasionally ingested small amounts of magic mushrooms. These low doses may have allowed these early humans to see better and hunt better and therefore reproduce faster. But to what extent could microdosing in our current lives help us, and what can the Paul Stamets stack add?
The power of microdosing with the Paul Stamets stack
Microdosing with psilocybin affects the brain. When you microdose, new neurological pathways are created. For example, when you are anxious, it can hinder you from socializing or engaging in new activities. You are stuck, so to speak. Microdosing can help break stuck patterns and discover new behaviors. It can enhance your sense of empathy, stimulate creativity and improve your concentration.
If you also combine microdosing with Lion’s Mane, you support this process. Lion’s Mane is also known to stimulate the brain to produce new neurons and new neurological pathways. Also, this medicinal mushroom can help repair nerve damage. So that’s a powerful combination!
In Paul Stamets stack for microdosing, niacin (vitamin B3) is also added to this. This is because of some of niacin’s special properties. It promotes the availability of the active ingredients. Niacin is a substance that stimulates blood flow. And precisely because neurogenesis occurs mainly in the extremities, it can support this process. Furthermore, it also helps transport GABA through the blood-brain barrier, supporting the diffusion of psilocybin molecules.
Niacin also plays an important role in the body’s energy supply. There are two forms of vitamin B3: nicotinic acid and nicotinamide. Nicotinic acid has vasodilatory effects at higher doses. This can cause the well-known hot flashes you can get from this supplement (it’s called a flush). Nicotinamide does not have this side effect. But Paul Stamets believes that the heat and itchiness that occur with nicotinic acid is actually a positive effect that may also further the effectiveness of Lion’s Mane. However, there is no evidence for this fact yet. Be careful not to take too much vitamin B3, as it can be harmful to your liver and eyes.
The dosages of the Paul Stamets stack
When looking for information on microdosing with the Paul Stamets stack, you may come across different dosages. He himself varies in his recommendations on how much of each supplement you should take. Therefore, it is best to look for what best suits your situation. The same is true of microdosing in general. Start with a low dose and slowly increase based on what you experience. Niacin, in particular, can cause flushes and therefore make you feel uncomfortable. So be careful when dosing.
Stamets’ microdosing protocol
The most widely used microdosing routine is by James Fadiman. This involves taking a dose on the first day and then not for two days. The next day you do take another dose and so on. Protocols aim to prevent habituation, after which your body would no longer respond to the active ingredients.
Stamets suggests a different protocol of taking a dose five days in a row and not taking a dose for two days. This can also prevent tolerance. As for protocols, you can experiment on your own. Taking a dose every other day is also an option. After four to six weeks of following the protocol, it is wise to take a break for one to two weeks and not take microdoses.
The recommended dosages are as follows:
- Dried mushroom: 0.1 grams or fresh truffle: 1 gram
- Lion’s Mane: 50 to 200 mg
- Niacin: 100 mg
Microdosing is not an exact science, where exactly what and when to take something is fixed, and the same goes for the Paul Stamets stack. Take the time to figure out what works. Here you can also make good use of microdosing tracking. This means keeping a journal or diary in which you write down how you feel each day and how your symptoms are progressing. This gives you a clear overview of your progress.
Want to go microdosing with the Paul Stamets stack? The Wise Rootz Full Focus package includes microdosing truffles, Lion’s Mane, Ginkgo Biloba and raw cacao. With these pre-packaged truffles and included supplements, microdosing is made easy!