There are 1000 bacteria strains living in our gut. That’s at least as many bacteria in our gut (39 trillion) as cells in our body, which is almost a billion times more than neurons in our brain (86 billion). These bacteria have a deep relationship to our system. They influence:
- Our digestion
- Inflammation in our body
- The structure of our Gut Brain Axis, which is the information highway connecting our gut and our brain.
Dysbiosis is the condition of having imbalances in microbial communities. Dysbiosis is associated with many negative symptoms, such as inflammatory bowel disease, chronic fatigue syndrome and even depression. So it makes sense that having a healthy symbiotic relationship with our gut biome and having a balance between different bacteria populations is important for our wellbeing.
As I’m planning to start a microdosing experiment in Amsterdam with iMicrodose truffles, tracking the experiment with iMicro app (full disclosure I’m the CTIO of the company excited to legally try our product for the first time) this is a great time to test how microdosing might influence with my gut biome.
There is a lot of research showing non-psilocybin mushrooms are beneficial for our gut biome. There is also an established hypothesis that changes in the microbiome caused by microdosing play a central role in their effects. Mushrooms, as well as sclerotia, the scientific name of magic truffles, have polysaccharide. Specific types of germs can benefit and grow by breaking down different polysaccharides.
Magic truffles also have Psilocybin, which is an Alkaloid, a naturally occurring organic compound that contain at least one nitrogen atom. Psilocybin is derived from the amino acid L-Tryptophan. Alkaloids can have antibacterial properties that might reduce the amount of some bacteria and at least in mice Alkaloids from other plants have shown to treat depression by modulating gut biome.
Psilocybin also activates the serotonin 5h2ta receptor as well as some other serotonin receptors which are very abundant in the gut. If this receptor does the same thing in the gut’s neural network as it does in the brain, meaning it diffuses top down prediction, this could change the guts activity which would influence the biome.
To test out these theories me and one of my partners are conducting a self experiment. Testing our gut biome before we start microdosing in Amsterdam and we will test our biome in 3 weeks again to see if there are any differences.
If anyone has had any experience with microdosing effecting digestive issues or has done their own experiment testing their gut biome, I would love to hear from you.