In this great wide world of internet fads there are many trends, but too little time. And let’s be honest, 90% of them can be ignored without a moment’s hesitation. However, you shouldn’t skip out on this one. Recent attention to microdosing magic truffles is not really a trend, but it’s been happening for arguably a millenia now. These subterranean nuggets of gold have seen their popularity explode over the last decade.  

But why exactly? 

The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide bridging microdosing to the spotlight

This current wave of microdosing has a clear source. Back in 2011, Dr. James Fadiman published a book entitled The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys. As one of the few researchers into these practices, Fadiman dives into the culture of microdosing, the indigenous people around the globe that indulged in these practices for centuries, and more importantly, providing practical information for any beginner that wishes to give microdosing a try.  

With his book, Fadiman brought the term ‘microdosing’ into the popular consciousness. As a result, he created a demand from curious people across the globe. People were interested in the benefits coming from his research. This interest was then solidified during a podcast interview in 2015 with the famed business-novelist Tim Ferris, in which Fadiman shared the core concepts and benefits of microdosing to Ferris’ rather large audience made up of entrepreneurs, biohackers, spiritualists and more. 

Now a decent chunk of people had the information they needed to microdose on truffles. They went forth to experiment, shared their experiences and further grew the mainstream reach of microdosing. Its popularity grew so much, journalists picked up on this, with news and articles filling our digital space.     

The ‘Limitless Effect’ in Silicon Valley  

Silicon Valley is notorious for breeding top innovative thinkers, engineers, developers, etc. This kind of environment breeds competition, where optimal productivity reigns in the hierarchy. Therefore to reach increase in productivity, they considered strategies to boost the worker’s mind and body. 

You’ve probably heard of some obscure routines coming from Silicon Valley figures who’ve implemented certain practices to optimize their body and mind. Like from something as low scale as drinking lemon juice in the morning to something a bit more radical like ‘dopamine fasting,’ or even injecting DNA. And perhaps, the most popular form of optimization is intermittent fasting.  

The core of these routines is called biohacking, meaning we can engineer, or rather ‘hack’ our bodies’ shortcomings with solutions. The list of possibilities goes on and on, but what can be said is that on a core level, biohacking is the need & want to feel better. For different reasons, some people don’t want to live with ailments, while others want to optimize their focus, or radically extend their lives past 100 years. 

For the last few years or so, biohackers from Silicon Valley have taken very tiny amounts of psychedelics like magic truffles to ‘upgrade’ to their best selves. And now microdosing, along with the core philosophies of biohacking reached the lives of the mainstream.

“Citizen Scientists” boosting the trend in microdosing

So when Silicon Valley started to biohack, especially microdosing psychedelics, the world saw, paid attention, and began implementing. Regular everyday folk quickly realized microdosing wasn’t just for people looking for an added boost in their performance in the workplace. Microdosing magic truffles can be for self fulling purposes, like alleviating symptoms of: depression, stress, cluster headaches, anxiety, addiction, OCD, you name it. 

These “citizen scientists” have united online via dedicated web pages like Reddit, sharing information on each other’s methods of microdosing. Generally, the anecdotes and information are positive towards alleviating certain mood disorders, like depression. Which means that the positive attention has the clinical world conducting research parallel to citizen scientists’ anecdotes.  

As one article puts it:

“…the cost of not investigating these [positive] claims [on micodosing] is high.”

Behavioral Scientist

The people microdosing might surprise you!

As of now there’s no ‘single group,’ nor generalisations that can be made about the type of people who practice microdosing. A few years ago, you wouldn’t hear much about the subject outside of Silicon Valley techs or psychedelic forums. But with its growing popularity, all kinds of folk are now taking magic truffles.  

Across the globe a sub-trend has developed with mothers microdosing.  

“You don’t feel high, just… better.”  

Says Rosie, a mother of two from the UK. She takes a small amount, around 0.12g of her own home-grown magic mushroom powder every 3-4 days. She describes that it helps her cope with her life as a mother and a person with depression. 1 in 10 women suffer from postnatal depression, so microdosing truffles could go a long way to alleviating this issue. Even better, it can further increase the bond you have with your partner and child.