The Great Shroom Experiment, Part I

“You gotta try these shrooms mannnnnn…”

— some guy

Today’s post is all about my experiment with shrooms.  Lets get this out of the way, I LOVE shrooms.   But before you guys start questioning my sanity, we’re not talking about the psychedelic kind.  No, I’m not talking about the kind that leads you on a spirit journey to the desert, talking quantum physics to a cactus…I’m talking about the kind that increases focus, improves nerve health, and improves memory.  I’m talking about the ‘shrooms that increase performance.

As a curious person looking to optimize my performance, I am constantly on the hunt for things that give an edge.  Whether it be a mental strategy for productivity, a supplement, or a new exercise intervention, I am open to trying anything (within the legal extent of the law of course!).  My aim is to experiment with these things, and share my results.  So decided to conduct a little experiment with dried mushroom powder.

Full disclosure I am NOT a scientist.  But, I can be a science-ish.  We all can be in fact.

I conducted this experiment for 2 weeks.  I documented my experience, and recorded my results.  Now I here to report my findings back to you guys.  The results were interesting to say the least…


Shroom Background

Has anybody heard of Reishi? How about Corpdiceps and Lion’s Mane?….If not, thats Ok.  Until a few months ago,  neither had I.  The aforementioned substances are all different types of dried mushrooms.  More specifically, these dried mushroom are all have natural nootropic properties.   Nootropics are basically compounds that help improve cognitive ability.  The dried mushrooms I mentioned, are natural versions of them.

I had heard about dried mushrooms a while back, and my initial reaction was “hmm thats interesting”….But, when I started listening to The Tim Ferris podcast a while back, my interest was piqued even more.  Tim mentioned in one of his sponsored ads that he uses a dried mushroom product  from a nutrition  brand Four Sigmatic.  More specifically, he mentioned a dried mushroom coffee product , that increased his energy and focus. Once I heard that, I knew I had to try it for myself. The next week, during my normal Sunday grocery run, I picked up a packet and decided to give it a go.

I tried the mushroom coffee on 2 separate occasions.  The first time mixed just with water, and the second mixed into my coffee. I noticed increased energy levels and focus in both ways.  As expected, my energy levels and focus were greater when mixed with coffee.  I also noticed that my mind seemed a little shaper and more clear.  Perhaps you could even say I felt a little bit smarter.  But the question at hand, was I actually smarter? THAT is the what I wanted to know.  This is where a test was in order.

Lets Make a Test

After scouring the internet for various tests and cognitive resources I decided on 2 online tests.  These tests effectively functioned as my baseline measurements.

  1. Memtrax– A picture recall test that measures accuracy and response time.
  2. Food For the Brain Cognitive Function Test-  A test that measures your risk of alzheiemers disease through a series of timed cognitive tasks.

I took these 2 tests using my normal coffee routine, which is basically a modified version of  bullet proof coffee.  Here were my results:

Memtrax- taken 1/26/17, 9:45 am

Results: 94%
Thoughts:
I consider myself to have a pretty good memory, so I wasn’t too shocked by the results.  I did feel that the test was a little easy, however It did get progressive more difficult.

Food For the Brain- 1/26/17, 9:45 am

Results: 43
Thoughts:
Believe it or not, I found this test quite difficult (No, I don’t have Alzheimer’s!). The directions were actually a bit confusing.  The constant clicking and time constraints were a little rough as well. I think the click speed also contributed to a lower score.


Test results in hand, I decided to embark on a quest to see if shrooming would make me smarter.  By now, I’m sure you guys are all wondering a few things…

  1. Did Javi end up becoming a genius?
  2. Does Javi have Alzheimer’s?
  3. Were there any psychedelic episodes?

All these questions, and more will be answered!….Tune in next week for the exciting conclusion of The Great Shroom Experiment!!!

 

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