7 Best Ways to Eat Psychedelic Mushrooms Safely

How to eat shrooms is ultimately your call. While someone might love tea, chocolates, or a lemon tek, others will say the best way to eat magic mushrooms is the old-fashioned way, dried with no alterations. No matter your choice, we share seven ways to enjoy these consciousness-expanding fungi.

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.

Magic mushrooms have been used as a natural form of medicine for centuries, with many cultures ingesting them for their spiritual and healing properties. However, as psilocybin mushrooms continue gaining popularity, questions linger: How do I eat shrooms? Is there a best way to eat shrooms? Does a lemon tek really eliminate nausea? 

Ultimately, only you will know the answer to these questions. For some, a simple mushroom tea will be the best way to take shrooms. For others, putting them in a smoothie is the answer. 

No matter how you end up consuming your shrooms, there are a range of positive psychological effects you can experience, such as enhanced creativity, improved mood, and increased physical and mental health conditions.

So, while you’re your own best judge of how to eat shrooms, we’ll offer some guidance on some popular ways to do so, what the experience can look like, and end with some FAQs. 

Seven Ways to Consume Psychedelic Mushrooms

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 cooked with chocolate or eaten first, 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 this 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 breaks down full pieces of mushroom.

Because the onset is quicker, the overall journey also tends to be shorter.

You can brew your mushrooms with popular herbal, functional mushroom powders or decaffeinated tea blends and then complete your drink with honey, lemon, milk, or other flavors.

3. Lemon Tek

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 acid causes 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 on an empty stomach.

There have also been studies that note citric acid can help improve the absorption of minerals like magnesium and calcium. So, it could be that the lemon tek also impacts the absorption of the active compounds in magic mushrooms, thus making the experience come on sooner and stronger.

Some lemon tek users claim a trip to be two to three times stronger when consuming shrooms this way.

Nathaniel Jackson from Third Wave’s community shares:

“I like to use lemon tek for the quick onset, increased intensity, and shorter duration. While I find the duration of a trip without lemon tek deeply beneficial, I don’t have the time to delve into them regularly. Lemon tek allows for a powerful experience I can fit into a busy schedule. It seems to halve the duration roughly, and I don’t need to take as much to reap the benefits the sacred mushroom has to impart.”

That said, due to the increased potency of the lemon tek, this practice is not ideal for those wanting to microdose.

There are multiple benefits when using lemon tek, such as:

• Less nausea
• Faster effects
• Stronger experience
• Less tired during and after the trip

Watch 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.  psilocybin-infused meal might include pasta topped with magic mushroom truffle, pesto, or shroom pizza.

You can reduce the mushroom taste and minimize nausea by cooking magic mushrooms. 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, as it’s believed that psilocybin degrades around 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

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

Eating mushrooms plain is always an option if you don’t mind the taste and appreciate a deeper connection with your shrooms. You can always have food directly before or after eating it 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 must 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 of how best to prepare psilocybin mushrooms with mushroom capsules for microdosing.

You can also add extra adaptogens or non-psychedelic mushrooms to each capsule for additional health benefits.

Other 101s For You to Support Your Mushroom Trip

Now that you know a little bit about the various ways to take mushrooms, we’ll briefly share other knowledge worth learning to support your psilocybin journey. 

How Long Does it Take for Shrooms to Kick in? 

Depending on the method used, you should feel the first effects of psilocybin mushrooms between 15-60 minutes after ingestion.

A lemon tek is usually the quickest way to feel the effects, whereas eating them dried or on a pizza could take much longer.

Should You Take Shrooms on an Empty Stomach? 

Shrooms on an empty stomach often lead to quicker onset times and, occasionally, a slightly more potent experience. This is because the mushrooms don’t have to compete against anything else in the stomach. 

Eating magic mushrooms on a full stomach can take much longer to come on (60-120 minutes), as the body must process whatever else is in your stomach. 

How Long Do Shrooms Last?

Depending on your dosage, tolerance, and method of consumption, the length of time a mushroom trip lasts will vary. Some trips can last two to three hours, while others might last four to six.

Plus, you might have an episode where you go down the “what is time” rabbit hole. 

On a physical level, though, most mushroom trips last between four and eight hours from when you take the shrooms to once the prominent afterglow has subsided.

In a typical experience, the mushrooms take 30-60 minutes to take effect. From there, it takes another 30-60 minutes to reach the peak. Then, the peak can last 1.5 to 4 hours. And then coming down can take anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours. 

Ted Ritter from our community shares that although he and his wife lemon tek together, her experience will go almost twice as long as his! 

He says, “I often lemon-tek with whole dried mushrooms, simply letting them soak in the lemon juice for 15 minutes. Onset can be as soon as 15 minutes, and my journey usually ends within 2 hours (though for my wife, it can be double). It’s a quick up and a quick down. Although reports say this is more of a heady journey, my body is certainly activated.”

Let Ted’s story be a reminder that each trip will differ from the timelines to the experience from person to person. 

A Step-by-Step Guide to a Psilocybin Mushroom Experience

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 to safety and the quality of the experience. Many poisonous mushrooms look very similar to magic mushrooms, and it is easy to mistake them for magic mushrooms. How you can legally source and buy your mushrooms differs depending on what country, state, or even county you live in. Each state has changing laws and regulations, so it’s important to stay current.

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.

Read more about dosing in our Microdosing Mushroom Guide.

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

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.

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.

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. Consuming magic mushrooms with a meal can help prevent nausea. A lemon tek or mushroom tea with ginger can help alleviate nausea in their own respective ways. 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.

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.

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.

Use the code MAGIC to save $50!