Posted by “Microdosing” is a term that originally referred to taking tiny doses of psychedelic mushrooms for creative, cognitive, and potential therapeutic benefits. Today’s mushroom microdosing looks very different from what it was in the last century, though. The modern options are amanita, syndelics, or a combination of nootropics and one or more syndelics.
Every syndelic is somewhat different from the other. Let’s explore the synthetic psychedelic tryptamine compounds and why biohackers are using microdosing products to boost their brain power, lock in, and flow between tasks.
The Different Types of Psychedelic Tryptamines
There are some different synthetic psychedelic tryptamines that mimic the effects of psilocybin or psilocin, the key ingredients in real psychedelic mushrooms. But first, we must review the chemical names. You’ll understand better when we get into the syndelics.
- Psilocybin’s shorthand chemical name is 4-PO-DMT, which stands for 4-phosphoryloxy-dimethyltryptamine.
- Psilocin’s is 4-HO DMT, for 4-nydroxy dimethyltryptamine.
Psilocybin is a “prodrug” (meaning “before the drug”) your body must break down into psilocin, which is the active metabolite or compound in psychedelic (psilocybin-containing) mushrooms that makes you high. The effects of psilocin are what modern “magic mushroom” microdosing products attempt to mimic, whether directly or as a prodrug.
Following are the currently existing synthetic psychedelic tryptamines, also called “syndelics”:
- 4-HO-DET (4-hydroxy-diethyltryptamine or ethocin), which mimics psilocin (4-HO-DMT) and is partial agonist at serotonin 5HT2A receptors.
- 4-HO-MET (4-hydroxy methyl ethyltryptamine or metocin), which mirrors psilocin (4-HO-DMT)
- 4-AcO DET (4-acetoxy-diethyltryptamine or ethacetin), a prodrug for 4-HO-DET (ethocin)
- 4-AcO DMT (4-acetoxy-dimethyltryptamine or psilacetin), a prodrug for psilocin (4-HO-DMT)
The Federal Analogue Act
If the synthetic psychedelic tryptamine in question is a direct analogue of psilocin, then it falls under the Federal Analogue Act. For example, 4-Aco DMT is psilocin with an acetoxy group instead of a hydroxy group at the 4th position. 4-HO-DET is also an analogue of psilocin (4-HO-DMT) which only differs in the tail-end of the molecule, substituting two methyl groups, which contain 1 carbon atom each, for two ethyl groups, which contain 2 carbon atoms each.
The 4-hydroxy and 4-acetoxy tryptamine compounds we’ve reviewed are not explicitly listed on the federal controlled substances list. However, they are synthetic direct chemical analogues to psilocin, which is a banned Schedule I controlled substance. To be in that legal grey area, they must be sold “for research purposes only,” or “not for human consumption,” or the individual state in question must not have a broad tryptamine class ban nor explicitly ban the tryptamine by name. Also, they cannot be sold as a hallucinogenic drug but as a nootrpic, dietary supplement, or new dietary ingredient.
Let’s Talk Tryptamines in Detail
A tryptamine is an important chemical compound and a category of monoamine alkaloids that are naturally in plants, fungi, and animals. Its structure serves as the backbone for essential neurotransmitters. Every tryptamine contains an indole ring made up of carbon and nitrogen atoms in a twin-ring structure, and an ethylamino side chain, a short carbon tail ending in a nitrogen atom.
One category of tryptamines contains endogenous neurochemicals, which are natural to the human body. You know them as neurotransmitters like serotonin (which affects mood, sleep, and perception), melatonin (which regulates sleep cycles), and DMT.
Another category of tryptamines contain natural psychedelics found in fungi and plants, also called psychedelic or psychoactive tryptamines. These include the aforementioned psilocybin (4-PO-DMT) and psilocin (4-HO-DMT) within magic mushrooms as well as bufotenin (5-HO-DMT) within various seeds and certain toad species.
Then there is the category of synthetic tryptamines which are psychedelic or psychoactive — syndelics — so they mimic psilocin, and they may also mimic or bind to neurotransmitters like serotonin. One is 4-hydroxy, but which one is it exactly?
Looking at the CoA of Real Botanicals’ Mindless Mushrooms, which contains 4-hydroxy, it’s actually 4-HO-DET, or ethocin. However, it previously contained 4-HO-MET, metocin.
Neurochemistry
Ethocin (4-HO-DET) has 2 effects in its mirroring of psilocin (4-HO-DMT):
- Cognition and emotions: It partially binds to serotonin 5HT2A receptors to induce clear-headed focus, a mood lift or euphoria, and a wave-like trip between deep psychedelic concepts and normal reality and thinking.
- Perception: Psychedelic effects with vivid visual distortions, shifting, bright, or saturated colors, and synesthesia (“feeling sounds”) or seeing sounds as colors.
When it comes to microdosing, people mainly seek the cognitive and emotional effects which are common at small doses. Perception-altering effects usually occur at moderate and high doses.
It’s the mental benefits of microdosing many people seek out – particularly those interested in biohacking for activities ranging from studying, coding, data analysis, and math problem-solving to art, social ease, and switching smoothly between tasks in a mental flow state. For this reason, it’s important to be able to control the dosage.
A Legal Microdosing Product with No Mystery Ingredients
There exist a few popular brands of legal magic mushroom microdosing products that secretly contain other synthetic psychoactive tryptamines as active ingredients, which would leave you with unpleasant and unintended effects. This is why you should never trust “proprietary” formulas that mention only some of the ingredients.
Instead, know exactly what to expect with vendors that are transparent with information in their ingredients and Certificates of Analysis reports. Real Botanicals offers Mindless Mushrooms for a modern and legal magic mushroom microdosing experience that’s fully within your control with precisely-dosed, easily-splittable tablets.
Final Thoughts
Buyers need to beware when shopping for syndelics as a modern legal alternative to psychedelic or psilocybin mushrooms. The best way to stay safe is to make sure your vendor is transparent with ingredients and lab reports. After all, you should expect microdosing to be a controlled experience for positive cognitive and emotional effects.
Relevant reading: Fadiman vs. Stamets Stack: What’s the Best Microdosing Protocol? and Why Tablets Work So Well for Microdosing and Introducing Real Botanicals’ Mindless Mega: An Upgraded Mushroom-Style Experience