How to Eat Shrooms: Best Ways to Eat Psychedelic Mushrooms
Disclaimer: Psychedelics are largely illegal substances, and we do not encourage or condone their use where it is against the law. However, we accept that illicit drug use occurs and believe that offering responsible harm reduction information is imperative to keeping people safe. For that reason, this document is designed to enhance the safety of those who decide to use these substances.
This article has been medically reviewed by Katrina Oliveros, MSN-ED, BSN
Mushrooms have been used as a natural form of medicine for centuries, with many cultures ingesting them for their many healing properties.
Eating shrooms can protect brain health, provide important vitamins and minerals, and support a healthier immune system.
Certain varieties of mushrooms, commonly called “magic mushrooms,” are also a natural source of the psychedelic compound psilocybin. The consumption of these mushrooms can bring about a range of positive psychological effects, such as enhanced creativity, improved mood, and increased physical and mental well-being.
How do you eat shrooms to experience all of these incredible benefits? Below are some popular ways to eat shrooms and take a psychedelic trip.
How to Eat Shrooms: Consuming Psilocybin Mushrooms
We’ve broken down seven different ways you can take magic mushrooms. Learn how each method can influence your psychedelic trip and see which works best for you.
1. Mushroom Chocolates and Sweets
One popular (and tasty) way to eat mushrooms is mushroom chocolate. This was actually an ancient practice from the Mesoamerican rituals and ceremonies. The mushrooms were either cooked with chocolate or eaten first and then followed by a chocolate drink.
Chocolate helps heighten the effects of the mushrooms and mask the mushroom’s flavor, which tends to be a bit strong and earthy.
You can also make mushroom hot chocolate, magic mushroom chocolate bars, and even mushroom brownies.
2. Mushroom Tea
For those with a sensitive stomach or who find it hard to digest fungi, mushroom tea can be a great option. Drinking mushroom tea offers quicker psychedelic effects while also preventing stomach churns.
Grinding up the mushrooms into a fine powder before steeping increases the mushroom’s surface area. Your gastrointestinal system absorbs more of the substance quickly, and you don’t lose any psilocybin that might occur when the stomach is breaking down full pieces of mushroom.
Because the onset is quicker, the overall journey tends to be shorter as well.
You can brew your mushrooms with popular herbal or decaffeinated tea blends, and then complete your drink with honey, lemon, milk, or other flavors.
Read our ultimate guide to making mushroom tea.
3. Lemon Tekking
Lemon tekking is a method of soaking dried, ground psilocybin mushrooms in lemon or lime juice before eating them. The juice of oranges or pineapples won’t work as well since their pH in the 3.2-4.3 range exceeds that of stomach acid (which tops out at around 3.5).
The citric acids cause a chemical reaction that breaks down and partially digests the dried shrooms for you, resulting in a shorter but more pronounced psychedelic experience once ingested. It can reduce the onset of the mushroom trip from one to two hours to just minutes an empty stomach.
The effects of the mushrooms are usually much more potent than if taken without the tekking process, with some users claiming a trip to be two to three times stronger.
That said, due to the increased potency of the lemon tekking method, this practice is not ideal for those wanting to microdose. However, lemon tekking is perfect for medium- to high-level-dose journeys.
There are multiple benefits when using the lemon tekking method, such as:
- Less nausea
- Faster effects
- Stronger experience
- Less tired during and after the trip
What this video to learn more about lemon tekking mushrooms:
4. Psilocybin-infused Meals
This method is similar to cooking with regular mushrooms–but instead you’re using magic mushrooms. A psilocybin-infused meal might include a pasta topped with magic mushroom truffle or pesto or a slice of shroom pizza.
By cooking magic mushrooms, you can reduce the mushroom taste and prevent the feeling of nausea. It can also be a gentler trip experience and an approachable way to microdose.
In order to cook psilocybin mushrooms without losing their effects, you’ll want to cook your food at a lower temperature than normal. Mushrooms break down in extremely hot temperatures, or at 160 degrees Fahrenheit and above.
5. Juices & Smoothies
Smoothies and juices are another delicious and easy way to consume magic mushrooms. You can add other ingredients like fruits and vegetables to mask the taste of the magic mushrooms. This method also makes it easier for the body to absorb the mushrooms because they’re already partially broken down before consumption.
6. Enjoy Them Plain
If you don’t mind the taste and appreciate a deeper connection with your shrooms, eating them plain is always an option. You can always have food directly before or after eating them to mask the taste, like crackers, nuts, or candies.
You can also use drinks to dull out the taste of the mushroom. However, we’d suggest avoiding citrus if you’re not looking for an intense trip.
7. Mushroom Capsules
To consume mushroom capsules, you need to grind dried mushrooms with a small food processor or coffee grinder. A spice grinder is also great for making fine powders. Once you’ve made your powder, you can measure out the mushrooms on a microscale and put them in empty pill capsules.
There are pill capsule machines that can do this for you. Or, you can order pill capsules online, break them open, and add in the determined amount of dried mushrooms.
Since capsules generally can’t hold too many mushrooms, this can be a good method for microdosing. In this video, you’ll get a clear, step-by-step demonstration on how to best prepare psilocybin mushrooms with mushroom capsule for microdosing.
You can also add extra adaptogens or non-psychedelic mushrooms to each capsule for additional health benefits.
How To Eat Shrooms Infographic:
How to Eat Shrooms: A Step-by-Step Guide
Disclaimer: Psilocybin is a largely illegal substance, and we do not encourage or condone its use where it is against the law. However, we accept that illicit drug use occurs and believe that offering responsible harm reduction information is imperative to keeping people safe.
1. Source Your Mushrooms
Knowing where you get your mushrooms from is key for safety and the quality of the experience. How you can legally source and buy your mushrooms can differ depending on what country, state, or even county you live in. Each state has changing laws and regulations, so it’s important to stay up to date.
Check out our Ultimate Guide to Safely Sourcing Psychedelics to start this process.
2. Plan and Prepare Your Dose
Dosage will vary depending on whether you’re looking to microdose, macrodose, or something in between. The average dosage is about 1.0 to 1.5 grams of shrooms for every hundred pounds of your body weight for a full trip. If you want to microdose, you could use 1/10th to 1/20th of that.
The amount of psilocybin in mushrooms could also vary depending on the mushroom type. For example, one of the most potent magic mushrooms is the penis envy mushroom, and professionals recommend that you lower your regular dosage by 30 percent before ingesting them.
The following chart shares the doses for dried Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms. Remember, the potency of mushrooms can vary.
As we’ve noted before, different methods of taking shrooms can have different trip potencies. For example, lemon tekking reportedly leads to a stronger mushroom trip.
Read more about dosing in our Microdosing Mushroom Guide.
3. Choose Your Setting
Make sure to choose a comfortable setting that you’re familiar with, especially if you are eating magic mushrooms for the first time.
Here are some suggestions to create an ideal setting whether you’re indoors or outside communing with nature:
- Add pillows and blankets for comfort
- Have a trip-friendly playlist playing at a medium volume
- Create a sense of darkness using eye covers, blankets, or pillows
- Have water (and snacks) ready
4. Hydrate
Psychedelic trips can be physically tiring. Your body can have difficulty regulating your temperature, so having water nearby (and drinking water before and after) can keep you from feeling run down.
5. Set Your Intention
Taking shrooms and psychedelics can amplify the mind, including any current thoughts, feelings, and expectations. When it comes to preparing your mindset, do your best to release any negativity from your mind before beginning your trip.
Using shrooms while feeling strong emotions can intensify those feelings. If you’d like further guidance on your mushroom trip, consider working with a psychedelic therapist or clinician.
Check out Third Wave’s directory for vetted mushroom coaches, retreats, therapists, and clinics.
6. Eat the Mushrooms
Consume the mushrooms with the method of your choosing, whether that’s mushroom chocolates, mushroom pizzas, or some plain mushrooms.
If you start to feel any nausea after eating, drink a cup of water and try to eat a light snack. Eating mushrooms with a meal can help prevent nausea. Drinking tea with ginger or lemon tekking can also be good methods.
This can help alleviate nausea because the mushrooms are already partially digested, and it’s no longer necessary to break down the chitin in their cell walls.
7. Use a Guide
Having a guide by your side during a mushroom trip is a great way to maximize your experience. They can advise you on the correct dosage for the type of trip you want, help create a pleasant atmosphere, and be a companion throughout your journey to support you through any challenging moments.
Our vetted directory of clinics, retreats, and therapists can also help guide you on your mushroom journey. With all of these resources, you can learn how to have positive trips and take your mushroom knowledge to the next level.
8. Learn From the Experience
Once the trip is over, reflect. Jot down your thoughts in a journal, talk about them with a trusted friend or your guide, or meditate on them.
This time can be known as “integration,” or the reflecting and incorporating of lessons into your life. Make sure you give yourself time to understand what you experienced during your trip and see how to apply it forward–whether in future trips or everyday life.
Get more details about the full psilocybin experience here.
FAQs on Eating Shrooms
How do I know how many shrooms to take?
The normal dosage for a trip is normally based on weight. You can consume 1.0 to 1.5 grams of a mild magic mushroom for every hundred pounds of your body weight if you’re interested in tripping.
Watch this video for more information on how to measure psychedelic mushrooms.
How do you microdose?
Microdosing incorporates smaller doses of psychedelics and mushrooms into your day-to-day lifestyle to increase creativity, overall energy, focus, and more.
These are tiny amounts, less than or almost 1/10th to 1/20th of the above dose.
To determine your microdosing dosage, read our guide to microdosing mushrooms.
How do you macrodose?
Macrodosing is the consumption of large amounts of magic mushrooms to induce more potent trips. There is no set “macro” dosage, though it is often 2.5 grams or more.
Read more about macrodosing in our Microdosing Mushrooms Guide or check out this video where we explain Microdosing VS Macrodosing.
How long do shrooms last?
Depending on the method used, you should feel the first effects of psilocybin mushrooms between 10-40 minutes after ingestion. Then, depending on your dosage and method of consumption, trips may last two to three hours for a smaller dosage and four to six hours for a larger dosage.
Grow Your Own Psychedelic Mushrooms
Cultivating your own magic mushrooms provides 100% certainty on how mushrooms are sourced and handled before consumption. Not only can the process deepen your relationship with shrooms, but it can also provide peace of mind regarding their cleanliness, purity, and safety.
Third Wave offers our own Mushroom Growing Kit with an accompanying course so that you can explore the world of psychedelics right from home. We worked with experienced mushroom cultivators to create detailed, step-by-step directions to help your grow succeed. No need to become a mycologist or search dozens of internet forums or go to a dozen shops to find all of the right materials.
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