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- A psilocybin shield for dementia 🧠
A psilocybin shield for dementia 🧠
Plus how mushrooms help sustainable agriculture
Patrick Calderale
May 01, 2024
Hi there 🍄
This week’s highlights include how psilocybin may help neural health, how growing mushrooms could lessen the impact of palm oil production, and a mother’s inspiring journey with alternative epilepsy treatments for her daughter.
The link between depression and dementia 🚩 Over 55 million people currently have dementia, with almost 10 million new diagnoses every year. At the same time, about 280 million people suffer from major depression — and adults over 60 are affected at the highest rates.
While depression and dementia might seem unrelated, people with depression are 1.5 times as likely to develop dementia. This suggests depression may initiate or exacerbate the neurodegenerative processes of dementia.
Psilocybin for brain health 🧠 Psilocybin enhances neuroplasticity — the brain’s natural ability to reorganize itself and form new neural connections. Think of neuroplasticity as how well your brain adapts to new experiences.
Potential treatment 🍄 Psilocybin’s ability to enhance neuroplasticity could be a crucial way to fight neurodegenerative diseases like dementia, which lead to deteriorating cognitive function.
Begone, inflammation! 🔥 Chronic inflammation is a major contributor to neurodegenerative disease. Psilocybin’s anti-inflammatory properties show promising potential for neural health. By reducing brain inflammation, psilocybin could protect against neural damage, like a shield for regions of the brain that are more prone to degenerating.
Psilocybin for neuron formation 💪 Adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) is the process of forming new neurons. This process is crucial for learning, forming memories, and regulating emotions as we age.
High-risk ⚠ AHN is extremely vulnerable to Dementia. A lack of new neuron formation contributes to cognitive decline. Psilocybin can stimulate AHN and reduce the inflammatory responses that are central to dementia progression.
Future implications 👨🔬 Psilocybin could be a groundbreaking solution to help delay dementia — especially since early treatment is vital to combat neurodegenerative diseases. Further research is necessary to develop targeted therapeutic strategies that will optimize psilocybin’s neuroprotective properties.
Palm problems 🌴 Palm oil is a key economic resource in Malaysia and Indonesia, which produce over 80% of global palm oil. However, the environmental impact of palm oil production is significant due to deforestation and palm waste.
Between 1995 and 2000, 54% of palm oil production took place on deforested land. Sumatra’s natural forest coverage fell from 57% to 25% between 1985 and 2016. Animals like orangutans and Sumatran tigers are critically endangered, with their populations in rapid decline as their habitats are deforested.
A tricky balance between economy and ecology 🌏 Even though palm oil production destroys rainforests and threatens ecosystems, local economies depend on palm oil for survival. Global shifts in palm oil demand highlight a need to balance environmental sustainability with economic necessity.
Waste management ♻ Aside from deforestation, palm waste is another issue plaguing the industry. While oil palm byproducts can be recycled into valuable biofertilizers, areas that create large amounts of waste often miss out on these opportunities due to a lack of technology, infrastructure, or investment in waste-to-value processes.
And so we turn to mushrooms 🍄 Thankfully, mushrooms provide a solution that could bring environmental and economic sustainability to palm oil production. Palm oil biomass can be an effective mushroom substrate for growing grey oyster mushrooms.
Cheaper and more sustainable 💰 Grey oyster mushrooms typically use rubber tree sawdust substrates, which also face supply issues. Oil palm substrate is 70% to 80% cheaper than rubber tree sawdust substrates.
The takeaway ✔ Transforming palm oil byproducts into mushroom substrate can help manage palm waste while supporting local economies with a new, profitable food source. Plus, unsold mushrooms can easily be dried and turned into tasty snack crackers, which adds another layer of value for mushroom producers.
As shroomer’s Seraiah Alexander says: “Environmental conservation and economic development do not have to be competing interests.”
As an infant, Lily-Kate Boylan was diagnosed with intractable epilepsy. Frustrated by ineffective medications and surgery, her mother researched functional mushrooms … and in the process discovered Lily’s path to wellness.
Shroomer’s Vivian Kanchian sat down with Sarah-Kate Boylan to discuss her family’s trial-and-error journey to find treatment for Lily — and how she started Lily’s Lighthouse to spread awareness about alternative epilepsy treatments.
I’ve shared a few of my favorite quotes from Sarah-Kate below … but do yourself a favor and read our full interview here!
Sibling support network ♥ “She’s got such a support network around her, and because of Lily’s condition, her siblings have this kindness and empathy about them that just can’t be taught … they’re just incredible humans. And that’s the upside of having siblings with a child who has special needs or a disability. It creates very, very kind humans. I’m grateful that I was able to have them.”
Research meets intuition 🧪 “I spent my career in law enforcement. That’s my background. I originally trained as an intelligence analyst, so research is my capability. When this happened to Lily, she was 5 weeks old and I was a first-time mom. So, this was a whole new experience for me, and I didn’t know anybody with epilepsy, but I wanted to find out as much as I could about it — so I did.”
Life-changing benefits 🌞 “We’re seeing huge cognitive gains, we’re getting reports of fewer seizures (if they’re still having seizures), and we’re seeing reports of shorter seizures. We’ve had anecdotal reports of kids being able to do things for the first time, like ride a bike days after they started taking the mushrooms. Or that they couldn’t talk before and are beginning to say a few words.”
Featured event: The Santa Cruz Mountain Mushroom Festival
Bay Area shroomers … you’re invited! ✉ Gourmet mushroom cultivators Far West Fungi are launching the first-ever Santa Cruz Mountain Mushroom Festival.
Head over to Roaring Camp in Felton, CA from May 4-5 for food, drinks, music, and more — all to celebrate the beautiful world of fungi! 🎉
Also look forward to cooking demos, taste testing, educational talks about the therapeutic benefits of medicinal mushrooms, guided nature walks, artisan exhibits, cultivation panels with mushroom growing specialists, and activities for the kids. 🎈
We’d love to bring you more local events, regional news, and mushroom communities closer to home — wherever “home” may be for you! 🌎
So, let us know where you’re reading from! Reply to this email, and we’ll fine-tune the rest. Thank you for reading, and shroom on! 🍄
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