KEY TAKEAWAYS: Paul Stamets

• MUSHROOMS HAVE THE POWER TO HEAL YOU, HURT YOU, KILL YOU, OR TAKE YOU ON A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY 

• 23 PRIMATES CONSUME MUSHROOMS, HUMANS BEING ONE OF THEM 

• SUN DRYING MUSHROOMS FOR UP TO (8) HOURS CAN INCREASE THE VITAMIN D IN THE MUSHROOM BY 1000% 

• WHATEVER MUSHROOMS YOU’RE CONSUMING, “MAKE SURE THEY ARE ORGANIC, AND PLEASE DON’T BUY THEM FROM CHINA”. CHINESE MUSHROOMS SOMETIMES HAVE UP TO 2,200 PPM OF LEAD (SO 2-3 CAPSULES WOULD BE CONSIDERED TOXIC) 

• THERE ARE ABOUT 5 MILLION SPECIES OF MUSHROOMS

• 30% OF SOIL IS FUNGAL MASS. FUNGI OUTNUMBER PLANTS ABOUT 8 TO 1

• “FOR EVERY METER OF A TREE ROOT, THERE IS A KILOMETER OF MYCELIUM

• “HUMANS SEPARATED FROM FUNGI 650 MILLION YEARS AGO” 

• WE SHARE MORE IN COMMON WITH FUNGI THAN ANY OTHER KINGDOM

• THE OLDEST MULTICELLULAR ORGANISM IN FOSSIL RECORDS IS A FUNGUS (2.4 BILLION-YEARS-OLD)

• MUSHROOMS HAVE HAD THEIR FORM FOR NEARLY A BILLION MORE YEARS THAN HUMANS

• “FUNGAL NETWORKS ARE THE FOUNDATION OF THE FOOD WEB 

• OUR BEST ANTIBIOTICS COME FROM FUNGI (I.E. PENICILLIN)

• THE LARGEST LIVING ORGANISM IN THE WORLD IS A MYCELIAL MAT AT ABOUT 2,200 ACRES IN SIZE (ABOUT 665 FOOTBALL FIELDS!)

• “ALL GOURMET MUSHROOMS ARE MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS” 

• “ALL MUSHROOMS SHOULD BE COOKED” – ESPECIALLY PORTOBELLO MUSHROOMS 

• COOKING MUSHROOMS EVEN FOR A FEW MINUTES HELPS BREAK DOWN THE “CHITIN” (SOUNDS LIKE “KAI-TIN”) WHICH, SIMILAR TO PLANT CELLULOSE, THE HUMAN BODY OFTEN FINDS DIFFICULT TO DIGEST.