More and more people believe that magic mushrooms and magic truffles are going to change the way we look at medicines and that they could significantly improve the health of millions of people around the world. New research tries to find a link between one of the biggest health issues in the world: obesity. Around 2.8 million people die from it every year, but The Yield Growth Corp thinks magic mushrooms might help.

Also read: One dose of magic mushrooms could affects your brain for months!

Psilocybin for weight loss

If you have kept a close eye on the world of psychedelics (or have been following Avalon Magic Plants), you know that in recent years a lot of research has been done into substances such as psilocybin, mescaline and dmt. At the moment, researchers are trying to confirm, among other things, that psychedelics could help with problems such as addiction, PTSD, depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder and pain. For example, the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins Medicine examines psilocybin in combination with eating disorders, depression and PTSD.

But it is The Yield Growth Corp, with its subsidiary NeonMind, that finalized the design for a preclinical study to confirm that psilocybin - the active ingredient in magic mushrooms and magic truffles - could work effectively in the treatment of weight loss and hunger. Many psychonauts will be able to confirm that eating a serving of truffles regularly leads to weight loss in the sense of immediately puking up the rather foul-tasting fungi, but that's not what they want to find out with this study.

NeonMind engaged Translational Life Sciences Inc. in to design the study. The TLS team is composed of physicians and scientists who are recognized opinion leaders in the fields of neurology, pharmacology, diabetes, addiction and biochemistry and who have significant experience in the clinical application of cannabinoid compounds. The aim of the study is to use preclinical models to confirm that psilocybin is an effective treatment for weight loss and hunger. The plan is to use models widely to identify compounds with therapeutic efficacy. The study is part of an application for a Health Canada trial to demonstrate potential efficacy and safety for new compounds.

Also read: Mescaline microdosers wanted for new scientific study

A growing problem

Obesity has been formally recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a global epidemic, killing at least 2.8 million people each year. According to WHO, more than 1.9 billion adults aged 18 years and older were overweight in 2016. Over 650 million of these were obese. Overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a health risk. In fact, it seems that during this crisis excessive eating occurs even more than usual, so there is a good chance that the number of people with obesity has increased considerably.

According to WHO, in its Global Strategy for Diet, Exercise and Health, there is a strong opportunity to create an effective strategy to significantly reduce deaths and diseases worldwide by improving people's diet and promoting physical activity. But as we know, taking a drug is often easier for many people than changing your lifestyle, so keeping looking for potential resources that can help with this is crucial. Perhaps our beloved magic mushroom will soon be a great weight-loss product!