Return of the Magic Mushroom

Super Mario fans play with them. Doctors study them. Chefs from all over the world cook with them. They appear overnight, disappear just as quickly, and leave no trace of their visit. The students of this world are called mycologists, and now the fungus is being considered as a possible treatment for cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and some psychological disorders.

Mushrooms, sometimes called poison mushrooms, are fleshy bodies of mushrooms that grow above ground or on a food source. They are separated from the plant world in a kingdom of their own called the Myceteae because they do not contain chlorophyll like green plants.

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Without the process of photosynthesis, some fungi obtain nutrients by breaking down organic matter or feeding on higher plants. These are known as decomposers. Another sector attacks living plants to kill and consume them and are called parasites. The edible and poisonous varieties are mycorrhizal and are found on or near the roots of trees such as oak, pine, and fir.

For humans, mushrooms can do one of three things: nourish, heal, or poison. Few are benign. The three most popular edible versions of this 'meat of the plant world' are oysters, morels and chanterelles.

They are widely used in the cuisine of China, Korea, Japan, and India. In fact, China is the world's largest producer, growing more than half of all mushrooms eaten worldwide. Most of the edible variety in our supermarkets has been commercially farm grown and includes shiitake, Portobello and enoki.

Oriental medicine, especially traditional Chinese practices, has used mushrooms for centuries. In the US, studies were conducted in the early 1960s on possible ways to modulate the immune system and inhibit tumor growth with extracts used in cancer research.

Mushrooms were also used ritually by the natives of Mesoamerica for thousands of years. Called the 'meat of the gods' by the Aztecs, mushrooms were widely consumed in religious ceremonies by cultures across the Americas. Cave paintings in Spain and Algeria depict ritualized eating dating back 9,000 years. Questioned by Christian authorities on both sides of the Atlantic, the use of psilocybin was suppressed until it was rediscovered by Western psychiatry after World War II.

A 1957 article in Life magazine titled "Finding the Magic Mushroom" sparked interest in the United States. The following year, a Swiss scientist named Albert Hoffman identified psilocybin and psilocin as the active compounds in 'magic' mushrooms. This prompted the creation of the Harvard Psilocybin Project led by American psychologist Timothy Leary at Harvard University to study the effects of the compound on humans.

In the quarter century that followed, 40,000 patients received psilocybin and other hallucinogens such as LSD and mescaline. More than 1,000 research papers were produced. Once the government became aware of the growing subculture open to adopting the usage, regulations were enacted.

The Nixon Administration initiated regulations, which included the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. The act created five lists of increasing severity under which drugs would be classified. Psilocybin was placed on the most restrictive schedule along with marijuana and MDMA. Each was defined as having a "high potential for abuse, no currently acceptable medical use, and a lack of accepted safety."

This brought research to a close for nearly 25 years until recently, when studies opened up for its potential use in treating or resolving post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) along with anxiety issues. Since June 2014, whole mushrooms or extracts have been studied in 32 human clinical trials registered with the US National Institutes of Health for their potential effects on a variety of diseases and conditions. Some diseases that are addressed include cancer, glaucoma, immune functions, and inflammatory bowel disease.

The controversial area of research is the use of psilocybin, a chemical found naturally in certain mushrooms. Its ability to help people with psychological disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, PTSD, and anxiety is still being explored. Psilocybin has also been shown to be effective in treating addiction to alcohol and cigarettes in some studies.