Shrooms vs. Mushrooms: What’s the Difference?

There is a misconception that makes people mix up medicinal or functional mushrooms with shrooms of the so-called “magical” kind. However, medicinal mushrooms do not always mean psychedelic mushrooms. It is true that psychedelic fungi are gaining recognition in the psychiatric world these days for their therapeutic effects, helping folks with major depressive disorder and addiction, but they only make up a small portion of world of medicinal mushrooms like Lion’s Mane or Shiitake.

The world of medicinal mushrooms is massive, consisting of fungi that create penicillin and other antibiotics, culinary mushrooms, and thousands of others with secondary metabolites that benefit human beings.

About Secondary Metabolites

Are you familiar with secondary metabolites? Essentially, they are compounds not required for the normal growth and reproduction of organisms, but they can promote survival by giving an organism a competitive edge. For instance, it may be able to help ward off predators. Sometimes, secondary metabolites are bioactive. In other words, they incite “biological activity” in the organism that consumes them.

An appropriate example would be menthol. This secondary metabolite from the mint family is an antimicrobial agent often used in traditional medicine for throat irritation, nausea, and sunburns. Consuming large quantities of menthol is toxic for animals, protecting the mint plant from being eaten by herbivores. In essence, menthol aids in the mint plant’s survival.

Another example of a secondary metabolite is penicillin, derived from the fungi Penicillium. It is a compound that prevents bacteria from attacking and overtaking the fungi. Apart from laying the foundation of a revolutionary antibiotic, this genus of fungi also naturally produces bioactive compounds that have become key pharmaceuticals, such as anti-fungal griseofulvin, the immunosuppressant mycophenolic acid, and the drug that lowers cholesterol called compactin/mevastatin.

Many life-saving medicines come from the secondary metabolites of plants and fungi. The ability of humans to heal one another is based on co-existing with nature.
Compared to plants, fungi are more closely related to humans. That is why it is believed that a fungi-derived medicine is a better fit for humans than a plant-derived drug. Then again, plants and fungi did not evolve to create medicines for people. They evolved to survive their own predators, and the mechanisms they use to survive happen to benefit humanity as well.

We have coevolved with our environment, using plants and fungi as medicines before the age of synthetic chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Remarkably, we have receptors in our bodies that bind to nonhuman molecules, such as proteins, carbohydrates, nucleic acids, and glucans from fungi, plants, and bacteria. The affinity of our innate receptors to foreign compounds facilitates defense mechanisms of other organisms to have health enhancing effects in our bodies.

What Makes a Mushroom Medicinal

Most medicinal mushrooms like Reishi, Cordyceps, and Chaga are immunomodulating. It means that when incorporated into our diets, they enhance the immune system. Based on our bodies’ needs, mushrooms can down-regulate or up-regulate our immune response and simultaneously support other areas, such as gut health, stress management, and brain and nerve health.

More specifically, there are two active compounds found in medicinal mushrooms in abundance: beta-glucans and triterpenoids. Beta-glucans are polysaccharides found in the cell walls of mushrooms, yeast, mycelium, cereal grains, and certain bacteria. While not all beta-glucans have immunological activity, the beta-glucans found in fungi do. When we consume them, the beta-glucans bind to receptors in the small intestine and unlock a chain reaction that stimulated the immune system by increasing immune cells and improving their ability to fight pathogens.

Triterpenoids, on the other hand, are lipids or fats found in higher plants and fungi. They show a wide range of biological activity, such as anti-cancer, anti-oxidative, liver protective, lipid-lowering, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and wound healing capabilities, helping our bodies function at a higher potential.

Coming back to beta-glucans, they up-regulate the immune system and also down-regulate an overactive immune system to reduce inflammation by increasing the level of anti-inflammatory chemicals in the body. By bi-directionally regulating our immune system, beta-glucans keep our bodies balanced and healthy.

Our ancestors have known the healing properties of mushrooms, having used them for medicinal purposes for thousands of years since 3000 BCE. In fact, the use of fungi like Turkey Tail and Maitake has traversed millennia, cultures, and continents. Hippocrates, for example, the famous Greek physician, classified the amadou mushroom (Fomes fomentarius) to have anti-inflammatory properties c. 450 BCE!

More than 1500 years later, the Ming Dynasty (1264-1644 AD), Shiitake mushrooms (Lentinula edodes) became used widespread as a tonic that counteracted daily aches, pains, and fatigue associated with aging.

In the meantime, across the Atlantic, the Aztecs called psilocybin mushrooms “teonanacatl,” which translates to “God’s flesh.” The connection to God and these mushrooms emphasizes the importance of these fungi in their culture, especially in religious and healing rituals.

While all the mushrooms discussed above are considered medicinal, psilocybin or psychedelic mushrooms carry a stigma unlike the others. In fact, in many countries, these mushrooms are illegal and are classified as Schedule 1 drugs under the United Nations 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, signifying that they have a high potential for abuse and serve no medical purpose. However, the long history of traditional use of these mushrooms and recent scientific studies prove otherwise.

What Makes a Mushroom Psychedelic

A mushroom is considered psychedelic when it contains psychoactive secondary metabolites, such as psilocybin, psilocin, and baeocystin. There are over 180 varieties of fungi containing these compounds and are found all over the world, whether it is Alaska, Southern Chile, Australia, Europe, Southeast Asia, New Zealand, or Siberia.

While the exact reason why fungi evolved to secrete these compounds is still unknown, one popular theory is that they may reduce the appetite of predatory insects. It is considered that these chemicals will stop the insect from eating before they consume the entire fungus. In other animals, such as ourselves, these chemicals manifest quite a profound altered state of consciousness.

About Psilocybin and Its Effects

Psilocybin is the most prevalent and stable psychoactive chemical found in psychedelic mushrooms. Albert Hofmann was the first man to synthesize LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), isolated psilocybin in 1957 from Psilocybe mexicana mushrooms.

Upon ingestion, psilocybin turns into psilocin in the body. Psilocin is able to cross the blood-brain barrier and bind to serotonin receptors, transiently causing the brain to deviate from its normal waking state. Neuronal avalanching is thought to occur bringing about a chain reaction of brain changes; the visual cortex increases in activity, resulting in changes of perception, while parts of the brain that are active during wakeful rest decrease in activity, resulting in a loss of ego.

In this psychedelic state, the neural connections in various parts of the brain are enhanced, leading to communication between regions of the brain that are usually compartmentalized. This novel synchronization of the brain is why people can have profound insight after consuming magic mushrooms and why these compounds may be healing for individuals who battle addiction, depression and PTSD.

Closing Thoughts

Magic mushrooms are considered medicinal and have been used for millennia for their healing powers. However, magic mushrooms are one of many in the world of medicinal mushrooms. While medicinal mushrooms like King Trumpet tap into secondary metabolites for their therapeutic properties, the secondary metabolites of most medicinal mushrooms are not psychoactive. Rather, plenty of mushrooms often help modulate the immune system to help you and your body reach its highest potential.

Also Read: Is Lion’s Mane Addictive?