Every person knows from childhood that the fly agaric mushroom (Amanita muscaria) should never be collected in the forest, that it is very dangerous, and its use leads to serious intoxication of the body. But is it?
The fact is that the red fly agaric, along with pink and yellow varieties, belongs to a conditionally poisonous type of mushroom. Yes, of course, you can be poisoned by them, but only on condition that the person has eaten more than 2 kilograms of fresh mushrooms.
But proper processing and moderate consumption proves that fly agaric is very beneficial for our body. But before you buy dried red fly agaric, read this material.
What you need to know about fly agarics
Amanita muscaria is a psychoactive mushroom. To date, it is not on the list of plants and mushrooms prohibited by law. The substances contained in it are not prosecuted for distribution and storage.
It includes:
- ibotenic acid;
- muscimol;
- muscazone;
- muscarine (it is its content in the mushroom that causes intoxication. Therefore, before eating, it is necessary to boil the product several times to completely remove the substance).
Let's take a closer look at what actions are necessary to obtain a non-toxic product.
Interesting Facts
The red fly agaric is surrounded by a large number of different myths. However, not all of them are true. Interesting facts about red fly agarics:
- Most people are inclined to believe that the poisons of the red fly agaric are deadly. However, in fact, these mushrooms contain less toxic toxins than toadstool.
- Red fly agaric is eaten by many wild animals. It is believed that in this way they cleanse the intestines of parasites;
- In Zambia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania, red fly agarics can be purchased directly at the market;
- Scientists have refuted the insecticidal properties of fly agarics. It turned out that the flies die not from the fruiting body of the mushroom, but because they drown in the liquid accumulated in the cap;
- Mycologist Mikhail Vishnevsky proved that the toxicity of fly agaric is relative after several brews;
- Residents of the Altai region proposed including the red fly agaric in the list of rare mushrooms in the Red Book.
- The red fly agaric has no similar counterparts. Even a novice mushroom picker can easily identify them.
Despite the mystery and unique properties of red fly agarics, experts do not recommend experimenting on yourself and eating these mushrooms.
Amanita use: preparation, storage, contraindications
Drying, gentle thermal treatment, proper 2-3 month storage in vacuum containers (you can use special sealed bags) in a dark, dry place - all this allows you to prepare dried fly agarics for consumption without negative consequences for the body.
For example, in the Greelife store of healthy supplements, only mushroom caps from environmentally friendly regions of the Russian Federation (Ural, Altai, Karelia) are used for preparation.
The drying process takes place at a temperature of 30°C - this allows you to preserve more nutrients in the product. After this, the mushrooms are sorted into sealed bags and, in order for all active poisons to evaporate, they are stored for several months in a dry, dark place. Unpacking occurs only when necessary: a couple of days before the sale of the goods.
As for contraindications for use, the product is not recommended for persons suffering from allergies/individual intolerance to certain substances that make up the mushroom, pregnant/nursing mothers, children, persons with gastritis, stomach ulcers, inflammation of the pancreas.
Special additives from fly agaric, recommended for inclusion in the daily human diet in microdoses, are also popular. Their regular use helps improve the general condition of the body, reduces anxiety, stress, helps normalize sleep, and promote a healthy lifestyle (giving up bad habits, stimulating proper nutrition).
Physical exercise no longer takes a lot of effort, does not require much energy, and recovery is quick and easy. You can learn more about microdosing fly agarics at the link https://greelife.ru/mikrodozing/
Benefit for health
Let's talk about using the mushroom for preventive and health purposes. As already noted, heat treatment allows you to obtain a completely safe product.
For example, after fine grinding, fly agaric is used for:
- prevention of cancer;
- in case of disorder of the digestive system, gastrointestinal tract;
- the product reduces pain in the muscular system due to back and joint pain;
- increasing the body's immune defense, improving resistance to bacteria and viral infections with regular consumption of ground food.
Red mushroom is included in the category of adaptogens, which allows it to provide anti-stress functions, tone the body after physical activity, and effectively combat negative addictions (smoking, drugs, alcoholism). Treatment with fly agaric can also take place in the form of tinctures and special decoctions.
Let's look at the key features of their use:
- the product acts as a powerful natural antidepressant;
- normalization of the human brain;
- analgesic effect;
- healing of shallow wounds, cuts, bruises;
- treatment of gout, eczema, neurodermatitis and so on.
The Greelife.ru store of healthy supplements offers a wide range of fly agaric mushrooms (including in the form of microdosing), as well as other types of medicinal mushrooms.
Caution: poisonous mushrooms
This section is dedicated to some of the most dangerous creatures of our forests. Yes, fly agarics cannot attack, yes, they are easy to crush with your foot, but they are dangerous because they pretend to be weak, and some are very beautiful. Their beauty is criminal and deadly. And the toadstool is an ideal killer that never fails.
Last week we told you how to avoid poisoning from mushrooms on your table. Today we’ll talk about truly poisonous mushrooms, which contain substances that can immediately harm a person.
Pale grebe (Amanita phalloides)
“What magnificent mushrooms! - the ancient Roman emperor Claudius said admiringly to his wife Agrippina, who treated him to a home-cooked dinner. “Why weren’t they served at my table earlier?” From now on, let them serve me only such mushrooms!” The emperor's order remained unfulfilled: the next day he died of poisoning.
We are “lucky”; the toadstool is found in all corners of our vast Motherland. This inconspicuous-looking mushroom is an almost perfect poison. Oddly enough, I found quite a few toadstool lovers on the Internet. One friend, for example, buys it for a thousand per kilo. Kilograms! For what? Interesting question.
I will not describe what this mushroom looks like, its appearance is quite characteristic, but people manage to confuse it with champignons and milk mushrooms. Although, in my opinion, only poisonous mushrooms have a miniskirt (frill).
The pale grebe is always dangerous: you cannot handle it, its spores are poisonous! You shouldn't even pick mushrooms nearby. You can’t smell it and admire it—it’s better to pass by and let it grow.
The active fighting substances of this plant are divided into two groups: amanitins (amatotoxins), which kill slowly but surely, and phalloidins (phallotoxins), which act much faster but are less insidious. When united, they shoot almost flawlessly, the target being liver cells. Energy processes in the liver are practically paralyzed, resulting in necrosis.
Is there an antidote, you ask? It’s funny, but it’s in the mushroom itself and it’s called antamanid. It can weaken the effects of both amatotoxin and phalloidin. The sad thing is that the concentration of this substance is so insignificant that it is practically unnoticeable in the general toxic effect.
The point is that the antidote must be taken before taking the poison or during it, then it can protect the liver cells in almost 100% of cases, otherwise it’s too late. So experiments to find an effective antidote continue. Not very successful yet.
Specific symptoms
The insidiousness of this mushroom is that it is sometimes difficult to associate the clinical picture of the disease with poisoning, since the poisoned person feels great for another day. And only on the second day, when the body has already been completely saturated with poison, the patient will suffer from sharp pains in the abdomen, loose stools will begin, sometimes mixed with blood, and painful, gushing vomiting.
As a rule, on this day the patient receives treatment for some kind of intestinal colic, with obvious positive dynamics; on the third day he feels better, the pain stops. It seems like you can calm down. But the poison is insidious because it waits in the wings.
For the fourth day, the unfortunate man is knocked down. The dying person turns yellow, he is tormented by severe pain in the right hypochondrium, the kidneys refuse to filter the blood, and there is less and less urine. Later, he develops symptoms of cardiovascular failure, from which he dies.
And if you don’t help the patient correctly on the second day, then in principle there is no need to go to the hospital. Almost all children die. This is such an insidious mushroom.
How can you help?
There is no need to invent anything - the classic scheme for detoxifying the body works. Drink five to six glasses of water, induce vomiting, drink again, vomit again, and so on in a circle six times.
No milk or alcohol! They speed up the absorption of substances. You can take sorbents, such as activated carbon, or give the victim brackish water.
Be sure to call an ambulance. Remember about the day of imaginary well-being; poison will not simply remove its tenacious paws from the liver. Without professional help, the patient will die.
Red fly agaric (Amanita muscaria)
However, everything written below will also apply to other fly agarics (panther fly agaric, rough fly agaric, bristly fly agaric and many others); they differ in the type and amount of active substances.
Fly pest. People have used it since ancient times for two reasons. First, he put the flies to sleep. He put to sleep, but did not kill. If you crumble a fly agaric cap into a plate of water, a fly will sit there; after drinking the water, it will fall asleep, but after 10-12 hours, if you remove it, it will wake up.
The fly agaric was also used in rituals by northern peoples to communicate with spirits. The active ingredient is ibotenic acid, which is converted into muscimol during the drying process. So, ibotenic acid and its metabolites, being psychomimetics (altering consciousness), perfectly penetrate the blood-brain barrier and cause hallucinations. Muscimol also has a hypnotic and sedative effect.
There is an unofficial version that in February 1959, the Dyatlov group was punished by a shaman of the Khanty people for indecent behavior. In the backpacks of the dead students they found sable skins, marten skins, and artifacts from burials. According to the reindeer herders, tourists then became completely insolent - they robbed hunting huts, took prey from traps and traps, and even reached the point of sacrilege: they robbed burial grounds and places of sacred sacrifices of the Khanty.
The guys laughed at the shaman who came to the bivouac. Then he called the spirits and poured dry fly agarics into the teapot. Visions after eating fly agarics are often threatening in nature, so the guys ran away in all directions without clothes.
Everything would be fine, even if the shamans summoned spirits and the junkies stuck out, but the fly agaric contains another substance - muscarine.
Muscarine is tropene (fits like a key to a lock) to M-cholinergic receptors, that is, the drug begins to work when it is connected into a single block with the receptor. But this compound, in case of overdose, can cause negative effects in the form of nausea, vomiting, and paralytically dilates blood vessels, causing a drop in blood pressure. At the same time, the victim sweats heavily and saliva flows, like Pavlov’s dog. Then coma and death.
It is still difficult to kill yourself with a fly agaric, but, as you can see, it is possible. So don't risk your health.
Procedure for poisoning
The same classic scheme: gastric lavage using the restaurant method, taking sorbents such as activated carbon, and a cleansing enema.
There is also an antidote - atropine. But you can’t buy it at the pharmacy; even in medical institutions it is kept in a safe (drug police watch us day and night). Antidotes also include belladonna tincture (take 15 drops) and belladonna preparations (becarbon, belargin, belloid).
In general, be careful, don’t take questionable mushrooms into your basket; it’s better not to pick up enough than to pay with your health later. And the last piece of advice is do not buy wild mushrooms from unknown sellers. Perhaps among these mushrooms there will accidentally be a toadstool, and then the entire harvest will turn out to be poisonous.
Be healthy!
Vladimir Shpinev
Photo thinkstockphotos.com
Products by topic: [product](becarbon)
Who is the product suitable for?
Dried caps, tinctures or microdosing - mushrooms can be used in completely different forms, but the benefits of their use are the same. The products will help reduce stress and improve memory, which is ideal for an ordinary employee of a large company who constantly solves certain complex problems.
Fly agaric is also recommended for those who want:
- get rid of bad habits
- improve the quality of your work and creativity;
- increase concentration and attention;
- develop communication skills
- get rid of emotional disorders, depression.
But remember, fly agaric is not a panacea, not a cure for all adversities and troubles. Before using it, be sure to consult your doctor.
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A little about recipes
Recipes with fly agarics
Radiculitis
You will be surprised, but a fresh fly agaric cap can help in the treatment of radiculitis. To prepare the drug, you need to mix the crushed cap with sour cream in equal proportions. Let it brew in the refrigerator.
This ointment must be applied to the affected area before going to bed and wrapped in plastic wrap, followed by a shawl. In the morning, be sure to thoroughly wash the area where the ointment is applied with soap.
Prevention of cancer cells
You will need four finely broken caps. Place them in a dark glass container and add one hundred and fifty milliliters of alcohol. Leave to infuse for two weeks in a place without light. After two weeks, you can safely take the tincture two drops a day, gradually doubling it. Should be taken no more than two weeks.
