The Stamets Stack: Can Microdosing Really Change Your Brain?

Danielle Simone Brand // August 25, 2021
Updated January 12, 2022

People may choose to microdose psychedelics for many reasons: to enhance productivity, as a way to boost mental health, or a means to explore consciousness without the higher-stakes experience of a full psychedelic trip. The Stamets Stack is an increasingly popular microdosing protocol, introduced by the renowned mycologist, Paul Stamets. Stamets is the author of six books on mushrooms and was also featured in Netflix’s documentary, Fantastic Fungi (2019). Yet, he is considered an amateur mycologist because he didn’t come up through the traditional academic ranks. Still, Stamets has been studying and working with medicinal fungi since the 1970s and is one of the most well-respected mycologists in the world today.

The Paul Stamets Microdosing Stack

The Stamets Stack combines three components: A microdose of psilocybin mushrooms along with Lion’s Mane mushroom and niacin. Stamets designed the stack to enhance cognitive function and confer a host of benefits related to neurogenesis—although his hypothesis has not been reviewed by a medical professional nor has the protocol been put to the test in rigorous clinical trials, which are considered best-practice in nutrition science and public health. The claimed benefits of the Stamets Stack include:

• reduced anxiety and depression 

• stabilized mood

• enhanced creativity

• regeneration of visual and auditory neurons

• reduced irritability

• relief from PTSD symptoms

• reduced incidence of neuropathy

• increased ability to socialize, empathize, and feel courageous

• mediated effects of aging on the brain 

• enhanced self-awareness

• greater sense of interconnection

In essence, the stack is intended as a nootropic (brain-enhancing) protocol that’s meant to help people break free of the habits of their ordinary minds and thereby think in novel, more adaptive ways—ways which, according to Stamets, can spur the evolution of human consciousness. To achieve this, Stamets combines microdose to low-dose psilocybin mushrooms with other potentially synergistic compounds.

Some benefits may be conferred at a microdose level of psilocybin. A microdose of psilocybin is quite different from a low dose. A microdose is sub-perceptual, or below the threshold of intoxication. This micro amount is usually one-tenth of a regular dose and can therefore be consumed while going about daily life. A low dose may cause some perceptible psychedelic effects.

Paul Stamets | via Fungi Perfecti

To date, we have limited—but promising—research on microdosing. In a study published in 2013, lab mice who had previously been conditioned into a PTSD-like fear response were able to overcome the learned trauma after ingesting microdoses of psilocybin. A preliminary study from 2019 looked at the benefits and challenges of microdosing and concluded that the area is indeed promising enough to warrant further research. 

Anecdotally, a quick search through YouTube videos and psychedelic message boards turns up dozens of first-hand accounts from psychonauts and mental health advocates on the stack’s ability to promote physical health and mental-emotional wellbeing

 m long-term benefits of psilocybin, the formula’s most celebrated ingredient. In fact, Stamets referred to Lion’s Mane as the “second smart mushroom,” while delivering the keynote address at the 2020 Bioneers Conference. It’s bested only by psilocybin i Long-Term Effects of Microdosing

Stamets Stack Dosages

Paul Stamets recommends different dosage ranges for each element included in the Stamets microdosing stack. The following guidance is based on a 154-pound (74-kilogram) person:

• Psilocybin mushrooms: 0.1 to 1 gram dried mushrooms (with likely perceptual effects nearing 0.5 grams and up)

• Lion’s Mane: 5 to 20 grams fresh (or 50 to 200 milligrams of extract containing erinacines and hericenones) 

• Niacin: 101 to 200 milligrams 

In part, dosage should be determined by body weight; people weighing less than 154 pounds should start on the lower side of the scale, while those weighing more than 154 pounds may benefit from a dose closer to the high end of the recommended range. In any case, it’s a good idea to start low with any psychedelic substance in order to get to know your body’s receptivity to the compounds and their effects on you. It should also be noted that natural variabilities exist in the psilocybin content of mushrooms—some are more potent than others—and these differences can be further complicated by how the mushrooms were grown and stored. 

The Paul Stamets Microdosing Protocol

The Stamets Stack is associated with two, slightly varied, microdosing schedules. In Stamets’ first appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience in 2017, he recommended a repeating regimen consisting of five days of microdosing followed by two days off. In 2019, his advice had shifted to reflect a four days on/three days off model. In either case, taking two to three days per week off from the stack anecdotally reduces tolerance from psilocybin.

Accounts also vary in terms of recommended duration of the nootropic stacking routine; some microdosers and psychonauts continue the 5:2 or 4:3 schedule for prolonged periods—even indefinitely—while others discuss using the stack for a month at a time before taking a longer tolerance reset of two to four weeks.

Read: What You Should Know About Microdosing For Anxiety

Other Microdosing Protocols

The Stamets Stack can be contrasted with another well-established microdosing protocol developed by James Fadiman. Fadiman introduced his own microdosing protocol in his 2011 book, The Psychedelics Explorer’s Guide. The Fadiman protocol, touted for promoting productivity, focus, and emotional regulation, involves microdosing a psychedelic compound every fourth day. Developed for LSD, Fadiman’s protocol has been expanded to include psilocybin. 

Experienced microdosers often experiment with both protocols and frequently cite advantages and drawbacks to each method; some claim that the Stamets Stack is the more robust and effective protocol for promoting mental health. For those interested in contributing to the body of microdosing research, an experimental app called microdose.me has been developed in collaboration with the health research company Quantified Citizen and the Canadian arm of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).

Note: The Stamets Stack is not a medically approved protocol for brain health or any disease. Its potential risks are unknown. In addition, the dosages of niacin suggested by Stamets in public discord far exceed the recommended daily allowance determined by the National Institutes of Health. As such, this information is intended for educational purposes and should not be used in place of medical advice or treatment. Consume at your own risk. The Stamets team declined to comment for this article.

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James Fadiman wrote The Psychedelics Explorer’s Guide in 2011. Fadiman introduced his own microdosing protocol in his 2011 book, The Fadiman protocol, touted for promoting productivity, focus, and emotional regulation, involves microdosing a psychedelic compound every fourth day. Developed for LSD, Fadiman’s protocol has been expanded to include psilocybin. 

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